A return to Guthrie, Oklahoma, saw the NRSHA National Championship soar to new heights in entries and prizes awarded
At the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, the staff is dedicated to creating a fun, family atmosphere, and that shone through during the 2025 National Ranch and Stock Horse Alliance National Championship show held May 14 through 18. The event saw the “E’s” barns filled with ranch horses hauled in from as far west as California and as far east as Virginia for the championship show that brings together riders from 11 different ranch and stock horse associations nationwide.
The NRSHA National Championship Show was part of The Gathering, presented by Equinety, which included a Stock Horse of Texas show, standalone American Quarter Horse Association classes and an AQHA Ranching Heritage Challenge event. It was the first year the NRSHA show was held separately from the AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show, and the numbers proved the decision to move the event back to Guthrie was the right one, with more than $97,000 awarded for all the events, and $47,000-plus in NRSHA awards. This is the second year The Gathering has been held.
“When AQHA moved the VRH championships here, it was a phenomenal success. People loved it — the outside trail and ranch riding, it has a park-like atmosphere, the chuckwagon that AQHA initiated,” says Dan Wall, vice president and general manager at the Lazy E Arena. “When AQHA moved that show to Amarillo, [Texas], we didn’t want to lose that atmosphere here. We decided to partner with SHTX and create our own [show] that would continue what AQHA had created, and it has been a phenomenal success.”
Part of that success is the dedicated group of riders who traveled to Oklahoma from far and wide. Additionally, the support of sponsor Equinety allowed for larger payouts and custom Montana Silversmith belt buckles, YETI coolers and cups, custom embroidered sheets and custom show jackets, and more to be awarded.
“We sponsor with the Lazy E partnership, and when they called in 2024 and said this would be a good fit, I trusted them,” says John Dowdy, Equinety owner. “This year, the numbers were up quite a bit. When you start a new event, you look at the long-term, the three-year mark. Already, from year one, this event expanded. Based on what has happened over this week, next year will be even bigger. There are a lot of great people; everybody helps everybody. There’s a great crowd, and there are people from Virginia, California, Colorado and Nebraska, all over the country. It’s neat to see people drive in from all over for this event.”
To compete in the NRSHA National Championship, riders had to show in three events at one or multiple of the 11 alliance member organizations. This year’s NRSHA championship was up 17% in entries, the concurrently offered NRSHA Derby was up 56% and AQHA Ranching Heritage entries were up 51% over the 2024 event held in Amarillo.
PERFECT PRESENTATION
Texas-based horse trainer Bryce Briggs brought three entries to the NRSHA National Championship show, his first time to enter the event. In total, he says that his barn drove away with nearly $10,000 in earnings, and that isn’t even the highlight of their trip to the Lazy E Arena. Aboard CW Bet Hesa Alln, owned by Lesli Gilbert, Briggs earned the Open Champion title.
“When we saw the NRSHA National Championships were held with The Gathering this year, we thought it would be a prestigious award to win,” Briggs says. “That horse show was just like going to the VRH World there; it was the atmosphere we all love in Guthrie. We got to show outside, and the weather was great, better than we’ve ever had. The ground was great, the cattle were great and the hospitality was awesome, with the awards presentation every night. Me, my wife and our customers really enjoyed it.”
Briggs showed the Open Champion, CW Bet Hesa Alln, as well as fourth place winner Gun A Lida, owned by Cynthia Thiel, and sixth place horse, A Charming Lady, owned by Jennifer Dees Tenney. He tied to win the championship with Ben Baldus riding Bleau, owned by Lisa and Adam Gatlin. The cow score broke the tie.
“This horse [CW Bet Hesa Alln] is a newer one in my program; I got him in December,” Briggs explains. “He was with Garrett Thurner before, who does a lot of cow horse shows. Garrett suggested to Leslie that she bring the horse to me for versatility. He was trained as a cutter, so the cow work out of the herd and down the fence is a piece of cake. He is automatic; he grabs hold of a cow better than any I’ve ever rode. His weaknesses are the pattern classes. They are new to him, but he is getting the hang of it. We won the stock horse pleasure and ranch riding there, and that was his first big win. To be the class champion and the national champion in that class was a huge milestone for him.”
More than $10,000 was awarded in the Open division to the all-around champions and class champions. In the NRSHA Derby, $15,988 was awarded, and Baldus won aboard Bleau, taking home a check for $2,289.80. In total, $66,533 was paid out for the NRSHA National Championship and the NRSHA Derby.
REDEMPTION RIDE
Friends Marin McCarthy and Ella Hopkins battled it out for the Limited Youth NRSHA Champion title, and when it came down to the last class, it was Marin and her mare, Gottagetitmyway, that came out on top. But Ella, who showed Look Bak Bar Chick, was cheering just as loudly as Marin’s family for her friend’s win.
In 2024, Marin and “Audi” took home the inaugural The Gathering SHTX Youth All-Around Champion title. Two weeks later, Audi was lame, and the duo embarked on a 10-month trek to determine and overcome that lameness. After X-rays, ultrasounds, stall rest and more didn’t fix the mare, an MRI finally helped determine the lameness — a hairline tear in her pastern — but still left Audi slightly off.
“We were kind of at a loss,” McCarthy recalls. “One day, when I went to the barn, her front right and back left legs were really swollen. The vet scoped her because he thought she had gotten cast in her stall rolling. The scope showed her covered in one of the worst cases of stomach ulcers he’d ever seen. That was why she was still hurting and off, and Audi is such a gentle horse that wants to please her rider. She never showed classic signs of ulcers like grunting or kicking her stomach.”
Following intense medication, Audi was cleared to begin rehabilitation. It wasn’t until a vet check the day before the McCarthys hauled to Oklahoma from the Fort Worth, Texas, area that Marin knew she would show her mare.
“It was so emotional; she means everything to me,” says the future West Texas A&M University Ranch Horse Team competitor. “Thinking that I wouldn’t be able to bring her back, or that we might have to sell her so I could have another show horse, or maybe breeding her; it was a lot. The confidence to have her back and sound was amazing. I did not care about the results. I just loved riding her, with her giving her all in it. She hadn’t worked a cow since last year at Guthrie, and she ended up winning both our cow classes. She has passion for the sport, and it makes me enjoy it more. The coolest part was being at the awards ceremony and hearing her name called, winning our division.”
The Gathering event is owned by the Lazy E Arena and managed by SHTX. Plans to hold it in 2026 are underway, with improvements to the facility also underway, according to Wall.
“We have three new barns, a new washroom and shower facility, and a new production office going in,” Wall says. “Hopefully, by next year, we will have a new, 30,000-foot climate-controlled event center that is a multipurpose space. And, a new covered arena! The Lazy E is known for being a family-friendly, safe environment for kids, pets and a park-like atmosphere. When you come here, you make yourself at home. Treat the Lazy E like home, and we will treat you the same.”
Competitors interested in the NRSHA can visit ranchhorse.net for more information. For complete results from the NRSHA National Championship, NRSHA Derby, SHTX classes and AQHA classes, visit stockhorsetexas.org.
| Division | Horse | Rider | Payout |
| Open | CW Bet Hesa Alln | Bryce Briggs | $3,168.50 |
| Amateur | Pow Pow Pepto | Laura Yarbrough | $3,219.00 |
| Limited Amateur | Rush Hour Nic | Mary E. Del Olmo | $3,116.30 |
| Novice Amateur | SJR Diamond Catchya | Mary Katharine Fairbanks | $2,287.50 |
| Youth | Game Of Jonez | Mason Hodges | $720.00 |
| Limited Youth | Gottagetitmyway | Marin Elizabeth McCarthy | $1,623.00 |
| Novice Youth | Smokin With Royalty | Josephine Raines | $1,572.00 |
