Renee Howes of Prescott, Arizona, heard her name called and jogged up to accept her world championship in performance halter geldings. She might have been shocked, but winning is old news to Acoosamatic, a 12-year-old gelding with points in hunter under saddle, equitation, horsemanship and showmanship. As soon as he had on his comfy halter instead of his silver one, he sweetly relaxed enough to offer the drug testers a urine sample and then stood quietly while Renee talked about her win.

Q: Congratulations. Is this your first world championship?

Renee: Thank you so much. It’s my first world championship, but I was reserve last year at the amateur world with him. This was very unexpected.

Q: Tell us a little bit about Acoosamatic.

Renee: Well, he’s 12 years old, and he was actually retired to my ranch a couple of years ago. My other all-around horse got injured, so we started riding him again and showing him and got him qualified for the performance geldings in his first show, and then we kind of did it as a lark – oh, yeah, that was kinda fun – and when we went to the World Show, we were surprised at how well he did. So this is his last year. Hopefully, he’s going to be retired and sent back to the ranch after this.

Q: What do you call him at home?

Renee: Matt.

Q: Is there a special reason for that?

Renee: No, it just really suits him. He’s definitely a Matt.

Renee Howes and Acoosamatic

Q: How long have you had him?

Renee: I’ve had him for seven years.

Q: Is this your first trip to Bayer Select?

Renee: It is.

Q: What do you think of the show so far?

Renee: It’s much more laidback than the amateur show, but you still have to get up in the middle of the night to ride.

Q: Are you doing any other events while you’re here?

Renee: Yes, I have my all-around horse here, and we’re doing the western riding, the horsemanship and the equitation.

Q: How are you going to celebrate?

Renee: I think probably with the way the show works, when it’s all over, we’ll have a big celebration.  

Fun Fact: Renee qualified for the western riding finals with her gelding Triplicate Pleasure.