Annette Kimball of Ransom Canyon, Texas, has competed in all but the first Bayer Select World Championship Show. She earned a Select reserve world championship in equitation over fences in 2005.
But she made her first Select world championship win an incredible triple in hunter hack, equitation over fences and working hunter September 2, 2007, all aboard her 1999 gelding Kelvan Gogh.
“It’s been a day I will never forget, ever. I’m so thankful, and I feel so blessed,” Annette said.
“I didn’t have expectations, but I knew that we were in the groove, so to speak,” she continued. “In all our warm-ups, I just felt so comfortable on him, and he was trusting me and I was trusting him. We were just really working together beautifully.
“I knew that we had a really good shot (at winning something). I was totally positive. If I started to have a negative thought, I just said, ‘This is not going to work; I’m thinking positive.”
Her husband, Sandy, was on hand for the win, along with Annette’s parents from New Mexico.
“She is the sweetest woman,” Sandy said. “She has such a low competitive spirit; she wants everybody to win.”
Annette showed as a child then sold her horse when she went away to college. She got married and had children and didn’t think about riding until 26 years had gone by.
“Then when my youngest son went off to prep school, I thought, ‘You know, I’m going to go do my passion again,’” she said. “So I bought a horse and started back.”
Annette bought Kelvan Gogh, aka “Big Bird,” almost four years ago after she had lost her previous horse to colic. Both horses happened to come from the same breeder, Dorothy Hornback of Denver City, Texas, and were by the stallion Kelvis.
AQHA Pro Horseman Kathleen O’Shea of Blarney Stone Equestrian Stables has trained Annette for about 13 years now but was unable to come to the show due to her mother’s sudden illness.
“All the Blarney Stone gang came up to help me,” Annette said. “But before that, Georgianna Busboom, Ben Smith and his wife, Lois, and Pat Munday have just been wonderful. And Kathleen had asked Chuck Briggs to school me for her here at the show. So I never felt alone, with so many people reaching out to help me.
“That’s what I love about this show,” she added. “Everybody is here for each other. Sure, there’s competition, but there’s a lot of love and support and encouragement. And you just don’t find that in many places. It’s a different atmosphere here at the Select. It’s a gift.”
What are her goals now, with three gold trophies to take home?
“My trainer has said, ‘Annette, you need to go and do jumping. You jumped as a kid; you’ve still got that kid in you,’” Annette said.
“I already have a point in jumping for 2008. We’re on our way.”
