Cathy Smith came to the Bayer Select World Championship Show hoping to have a solid hunt seat equitation pattern on Huntin For Justice. But with just five shows to his credit, the big bay 3-year-old gelding carried his owner to a world championship.
“In the prelims, with a horse this age, I just wanted to get through it smoothly and make sure he was happy about being in the show pen,” the Whitesboro, Texas, exhibitor said. “And to stay relaxed, and I tried to!”
Cathy and her youngster made the top15 in a class of 42 entries. The finals pattern was a good challenge.
“It had a lot of elements that were very difficult to hit on the mark,” she said. “But it flowed very well. It was a great pattern for the age and stage of my horse.”
Cathy bought Huntin For Justice in March when halter trainer Jason Smith called her husband.
“He was ponying his halter horses off him. He called my husband and said, ‘I think you should look at him,’ and he was a show horse, obviously,” she said with a laugh.
“He’s very quiet; he does his job,” she said. “He’s just a real nice horse to be around. Very calm, and I need calm. That’s a good thing!”
This was Cathy’s second trip to the Bayer Select World. Last year, she placed fourth in the equitation on a 4-year-old.
“I was very pleased to get that, and it made me want to come back again,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d do quite this well this time, but I’ll take it! It was fun!”
