Stock Horse of Texas Crowns Six Champions at the 2015 Stock Horse World Championship.
Mike Major and Smart Whiskey Doc at the 2015 Western Horseman Stock Horse World Championship. Photo by WillieGomezPhotos.com
By Jill Dunkel
More than 150 horses and riders gathered in Abilene, Texas, October 30—November 1, 2015, for the Western Horseman Stock Horse World Championship. Six world titles were awarded as well as more than $70,000 in cash and prizes. Contestants tested their abilities in four Stock Horse of Texas classes—stock horse pleasure, trail, reining and cow horse—in several different divisions.
The weekend also included the SHOT Futurity and Derby, where aged-event horses showed in the four SHOT classes. Here are some highlights; find the complete SHOT World results at stockhorsetexas.org/results.
Major Wins
Despite a fall in the cow horse, Mike Major of Bowie, Texas, and his stallion Smart Whiskey Doc prevailed in the open division, winning the duo’s first SHOT world championship. Major and “Whiskey” have won several titles together, including an American Quarter Horse Association Select working cow horse world championship as well as AQHA versatility ranch horse world titles in 2009 and 2010. Mike brought Whiskey out of retirement for the SHOT World.
Mike Major’s wins at the Stock Horse World Championship included the open title aboard Smart Whiskey Doc (pictured), open reserve on Cowpony Express and the SHOT Derby on Reata B Rejoicing. Photo by WillieGomezPhotos.com
Major also won the reserve title on Cowpony Express, owned by Diamond JK Ranches and R. Snider of Cyril, Oklahoma. Major’s daughter, Shanae, also earned a buckle winning the youth reserve world championship on Chica Shine.
The non-pro and youth titles went to a father-and-son duo from Anderson, Texas. William Lewis piloted Shiney Vintage Chic to win the all-around on both days of competition. William has worked his way up through SHOT’s divisions, starting as a novice, and is now a non-pro rider. The SHOT World win secured Lewis as the 2015 non-pro year-end SHOT champion.
Lewis’ son, Christopher, 12, earned the youth championship on Colonels Colonel. Colonels Colonel is a SHOT Merit Hall of Fame inductee, having been shown by three different SHOT members during his career.
Jenifer Ingram of Pilot Point, Texas, and Rey Jay Boonsmal repeated as limited non-pro champions. Ingram, who had never ridden a reining or cow horse before purchasing Rey Jay Boonsmal, has become a steady SHOT competitor. Rey Jay Boonsmal won the 2014 AQHA senior ranch pleasure world championship with Mozaun McKibben.
In the junior horse division, Stacey McAlexander of Austin, Texas, took the world title on Who Whiz Hank in a close race with Brianna Parnell and Surely Dolled Up, who took reserve.
The Texas Tech University ranch horse team finished at the top of the collegiate standings at the Stock Horse World Championship, with two team members winning the top two spots in the novice division, Kameron Buchanan and Courtney Reynolds. Photo by WillieGomezPhotos.com
Members of the Texas Tech University ranch horse team from Lubbock, Texas, finished as world and reserve world champions in the novice division. Kameron Buchanan and Heza Hickory Colonel won the title by one point over Courtney Reynolds and Cows Playboy. Their consistency also helped propel the Texas Tech team to the top of the collegiate standings for the team world championship. The Texas A&M University stock horse team earned reserve in the collegiate division.
Fielding “Bozo” Rogers of Rhome, Texas, rode 3-year-old Kuki Sioux to the win in the SHOT Futurity; Kuki Sioux is owned by Wes and Sarah Williams of Rhome, Texas. The Derby win went to Reata B Rejoicing, owned by Jody Brooks of Lipan, Texas, and ridden by Mike Major.
Stock Horse of Texas is a family-friendly horse show association that has been “helping people ride a better horse” since 1996, regularly hosting clinics and shows. For more information and dates of upcoming events, visit stockhorsetexas.org.
