Ocala, FL – On the penultimate day of The Championship Show 2025, some of the week’s most anticipated classes took center stage. The spotlight shone on the $100,000 NSBA Senior Trail under the lights of the WEC Grand Arena, alongside the $50,000 NSBA Senior Ranch Riding in Indoor Arena 5. Additional highlights included the $10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Non Pro & Limited Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle, the $2,000 NSBA Open Hunter Derby, and the $2,000 NSBA Non Pro Hunter Derby.
$100,000 NSBA Senior Trail
Seventeen of the nation’s top Trail horse-and-rider combinations competed under the lights of the WEC Grand Arena in the highly anticipated $100,000 NSBA Senior Trail Finals at The Championship Show 2025. At the end of the night, Blake Weis and Hot Lopin Lily (RL Best Of Sudden x Shes A Lopin Machine), owned by the Cavallo Family Trust, claimed the victory for the second consecutive year.
Course designer Tim Kimura, with the assistance of Garry McAllister and the WEC Crew, built a challenging pattern featuring more than 80 poles. Weis welcomed the difficulty, noting, “I thought it was super fun. It flowed so nicely. The poles were high this year, last year they weren’t, so I really enjoyed the added challenge. The walk poles at the end were pretty tricky, especially because they had the plants right there. The whole course was very challenging, but it allowed you to find your rhythm and flow through it.”
Weis and Hot Lopin Lily were rewarded with a standout score of 248 from the judges to secure the win. Owner Caroline Cavallo expressed her gratitude for the talented 2017 mare, saying, “She’s a horse of a lifetime. We could have never imagined she has gotten this far with what we’ve done with her and what Blake has done with her. We are just so blessed to have her and have Blake. She is a total unicorn.”
The mare is just as meaningful to Weis, who shared, “She has been exceptional since she was a baby. I foaled her out and have had her pretty much her entire life. She was foaled at my mom’s farm in Missouri. She’s a part of the family. I showed her dam and was Champion with her mom. She’s such a special horse—she’s spicy, but that’s what is so special about her. She has that edge and that look, and she knows when it’s a special occasion.”
This victory capped an outstanding week for Weis, who also won the $40,000 NSBA Junior Trail earlier in the show, repeating the same results as last year. Reflecting on the opportunities, he said, “It’s incredible to have this type of prize money in Trail. It’s the way the industry needs to go. I am so grateful to Mrs. Roberts, she’s helping us push the industry in the right direction. I practice specifically for this show because of the offerings. And, I mean, it’s just incredible here—like, come on, how could anyone not love it?”
Sara Simon rode The Batchelor (How Bout This Cowboy x Shes Blazing Cool), a 2017 gelding owned by AK Performance Horses, to the Reserve Championship with a top score of 241.5.
Weis also earned third with Megan Gieringer’s 2018 gelding, Hes N Like Flynn (RL Best Of Sudden x Shes A Lopin Machine), fifth with Evon Werner’s RV Not For Hire (Machine Made x I Will Be A Good RV), and sixth with Two Step Stables LLC’s Snippity Snap (VS Code Red x Snap Krackle Pop).
$100,000 NSBA Senior Trail Top Three Results:
1 Hot Lopin Lily, Blake Weis, Cavallo Family Trust
2 The Batchelor, Sara Simons, AK Performance Horses
3 Hes N Like Flynn, Blake Weis, Megan Gieringer
$50,000 NSBA Senior Ranch Riding
On Saturday afternoon, the spotlight was on the $50,000 NSBA Senior Ranch Riding, where 30 talented horse-and-rider combinations gave it their all over a challenging pattern. In the end, two riders managed to score a 253, but in the way of tie, it was Elizabeth Yoder and Alexius Dorsey’s SS Wrecking Ball (SG Frozen Enterprize x Xtra Ruby Step) who came out on top, earning the prestigious NSBA trophy.
Yoder was overwhelmed with emotion after the win. “He is a six-year-old stallion owned by Alexius and Karmon Dorsey. He was a very successful reining horse, and I got to extend his career in Ranch Riding and he’s been a blessing to my life. I got him in December or January, I can’t remember exactly, it’s a bit of a blur at the moment,” she shared through happy tears. “It’s just been an incredible week. We won the Green Trail earlier today, and then yesterday, we won the Senior Rail. He’s been a very good boy all year. He’s so trustworthy, I never have to school him, and he’s just the best.”
Despite the demanding pattern, Yoder trusted SS Wrecking Ball every step of the way. “I was able to call on him where I knew I could. I was a little worried about the side pass because I thought that was the toughest part of the pattern, where it could get anybody. The extended trot to the extended lope is always a hard maneuver, too, but he was perfect and was right there with me the entire time.”
Grateful for the moment and the opportunity, Yoder reflected on what the win meant. “It’s absolutely unbelievable, I am still in shock I came out on top. There were so many good horses and riders here. I am so blessed to do what I do. I am so grateful to the Dorseys. I am so excited about this victory for them. I wish they were here! I also can’t thank Mrs. Roberts and WEC for putting this kind of money into a Ranch Riding class. This is unheard of, and I am just grateful to be a part of it.”
Bud Lyon also turned in a score of 253 to take the Reserve Champion title in a way of tie aboard Rancho Verde LLC’s Alpha Black. He went on to claim third with Lane Kail’s Winn Like Flinn (In Like Flinn x Prettiestfaceintown) on a score of 250.5, and fourth with his own Chillinlikeavillain (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Oaks Steady Star) on a 248.
$50,000 NSBA Senior Ranch Riding Top Three Results:
1 SS Wrecking Ball, Elizabeth Yoder, Alexius Dorsey
2 Alpha Black, Bud Lyon, Rancho Verde LLC
3 Winn Like Flinn, Lane Kail, Bud Lyon
$10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Non Pro & Limited Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle
In the $10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Non Pro & Limited Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle, 10 horse-and-rider combinations vied for the champion title, but it was Stephanie Mohindra of Pilot Point, Texas, and her own gelding A Top Gun (Required Invitation x Ms Silver Sensation) who came away with the win, along with the Limited Rider title.
Mohindra recalled how their story began: she and her husband bought the gelding “when he was three months old, out of the pasture at the Simons. He was born and raised on their property, out of one of their really good mare, Silver Sensation, who we’ve had the opportunity to own three of her babies. I knew when Andrea Simons called me that he was going to be a really good one. I remember the day we went to see him, it was raining that day, and we trucked up in the pasture in the rain, Andrea and I did, and she said, ‘This is the one you need’, and I was sold.”
Now, three years later, the 2022 gelding has grown into the easy-going partner she hoped for. “He’s just so laid back,” Mohindra said. “We tease around the barn that he is super pokey, almost like Eeyore the Donkey from Winnie the Pooh. That’s his personality all the time, and it’s nice to own a horse with that much personality and that much talent on top of it.”
$10,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle Top Three Results:
1 A Top Gun, Stephanie Mohindra, Stephanie Mohindra
2 I Got The V Eight, Lauren Allen, Lauren Allen
3 Dancin N Sleepin, Sarah Hooks, Sarah Hooks
$2,000 NSBA Open Hunter Derby
Tyler Haney dominated the $2,000 NSBA Open Hunter Derby, sweeping both the Champion and Reserve Champion titles. Haney piloted Morgan Miller’s 2017 gelding Hows That For Ya (Hot N Blazing x Queen Of The Blues) to the win, and secured second aboard Hesa Frequent Flyer (The Mile High Club x DGS Indylacious), a 2019 gelding owned by Kate Upton.
$2,000 NSBA Open Hunter Derby Top Three Results:
1 Hows That For Ya, Tyler Haney, Morgan Miller
2 Hesa Frequent Flyer, Tyler Haney, Kate Upton
3 Hubbas Gone Platinum, Julian Harris, Mollie Christine Crayton
$2,000 NSBA Non Pro Hunter Derby
In the $2,000 NSBA Non Pro Hunter Derby, Bella Vass rode Kristen Crowe-Rajan’s Westminsters Dancing In The Moonlight (Untouchable x Orissa M) to claim the victory.
$2,000 NSBA Non Pro Hunter Derby Top Two Results:
1 Westminsters Dancing In The Moonlight, Bella Vass, Kristen Crowe-Rajan
2 Zane Gray, Isabella Agliano, Isabella Agliano
Competition at The Championship Show 2025 continues through Sunday, September 14, at WEC – Ocala. To learn more and view the competition schedule, click here.