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2008 OKLAHOMA CITY LEADING OWNER RITA CRUNDWELL AND HER HORSE SHOW FAMILY WIN TOGETHER. BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, FIELD EDITOR For the fifth year in a row, Rita Crundwell of Dixon, Illinois, won the Oklahoma City Leading Owner Award at the 2008 AQHA World Championship show. Her 54 entries earned 191 points in the award tally. Rita led her horses to seven amateur world championships: Acoolest, 3-year-old stallion; STKS Coolest, yearling gelding; Good I Will Be, performance stallion; Jewel By Execute, weanling gelding; Subtle, yearling stallion; Bob Bob Barann, aged mare; and Shes Promiscuous, 2-year-old mare. Rita also rode Good I Will Be to a sixth-place finish in amateur hunter under saddle. Acoolest also won the open 3-year-old stallions led by AQHA Pro Horseman Ross Roark. When asked her what the show’s highlight was for her, she mentioned her homebred Acoolest doing so well, especially winning unanimously under all five judges in the amateur, and her aged mare, Bob Bob Barann, finally earning a world championship. “All of them, it was kind of like a fairy tale,” she said, “Unbelievable. A lot of their mothers and fathers, I showed and won with. Now I’m showing their get. It’s been really extra special to me.” Anyone connected with Rita knows how much she cares for her horses and the people who take care of them for her, from AQHA Pro Horseman Jim McKillips and the folks back home who take care of her Meri-J Ranch to the trainers across the country who train the hunters, halter horses and all-around horses and the veterinarians who handle the breeding. One visit to her stalls at the World Show or any big show will tell you her horse operation is truly a family. “It’s a great group behind us,” Rita said. “It’s a big undertaking, and we’re fortunate to have really good people.” The Oklahoma City Leading Owner Award is presented to the owner who has the most horses entered and shown in the 2008 AQHA World Championship Show, Bank of America Amateur Week and FedEx Open Week, combined. The American Quarter Horse Journal Reserve Leading Owner Award went to Vernon Habighorst of Phoenix, Arizona. Fun Fact: The Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce has presented this award since 1984. The first recipient was the late Howard Pitzer of Ericson, Nebraska.
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