BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, FIELD EDITOR
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| Hilary Carrel and PRF Hitchn Fora Ride take a victory lap jump for their first jumping world championship. |
“Double-clean is always a really good idea,” said Hilary Carrel of Sheridan, Wyoming.
And that’s exactly what she and the little chestnut mare, PRF Hitchn Fora Ride, did in the jumping finals on November 11 at the 2007 AQHA World Championship Show.
Tenth in the go, they set the fastest time with a 67.337 and had a clean round. In the jump-off for first through fourth place, her plan was simple – jump it clean. And it worked; she had the slowest time in the jump-off, but the only clean round.
“It was a technical course, and it was big for the mare but she tried really, really hard,” Hilary said. “She’s a good jumper. It was really fun.
“There were faster rounds, you know, but they all had rails.”
The mare is owned by Hilary’s mother-in-law, Nancy Carrel, of Birney, Montana.
“We’ve had her since she was 2,” Hilary said. “My husband, Charlie, broke her. She was bred to be an under saddle horse, and that wasn’t her thing.
“We took her to Scottsdale (Arizona) and did some green hunters with her, and then she went to (the All American Quarter Horse) Congress for her first jumper show as a 5-year-old and got a third there.”
From there she got qualified for this year’s World Show.
“She’s very, very funny,” Hilary added. “She’s really great out on trail rides; she’s really quiet, great with the colts, really mellow. And then it’s all business when you go to jump.
“I call her a Powerpuff girl: She doesn’t want to use up her jumps in the schooling ring so she’s just wild out there. And then she just walks into the ring and does her thing. She’s a really good horse.”
Hilary and Charlie had four horses qualified for the World Show in jumping, and three made it to the finals. Charlie’s mounts were No Accident OQH and Celebration Time OQH.
“The first year I came to the World Show was 2003, and we’ve had a group ever since,” Hilary said. “We wanted to have two for each of us, and this year we were able to get that done. The other horse of mine had a slight rub and had a rail in the first round.”
At this year’s World Show, every world champion signs limited edition t-shirts and takes a victory lap, throwing them to the crowd. Hilary took her lap in jumper style, taking the in-and-out along the way.
“I think the World Show this year with the added excitement, it’s great,” Hilary said. “The presentation of the awards and the announcing of the breeders and involving everybody is so awesome.
“I tell everybody in the jumper world, you’ve got to go to the World Show, you’ve got to go. I think it’s growing in a great way.”
Horse: PRF Hitchn Fora Ride
Pedigree: 2001 mare by WF Two Thumbs Up x Docs Jocassee by Docs Bodacious
Exhibitor: Hilary Carrel, Sheridan, Wyoming
Owner: Nancy Carrel, Birney, Montana
Breeder: Carmen Phillips
Total class entries: 19
Purse: $10,792.57 World Champion Prizes: Custom gold-tone trophy, Montana Silversmiths sterling silver buckle with a 14-karat gold overlay, Cripple Creek Outerwear World Show jacket, WeatherBeeta product, Justin smooth ostrich Techno Crepe boots, 100 pounds of Nutrena feed, Professional’s Choice products and neck wreath. Total purse and prizes for the 2007 AQHA World Championship Show: $2,634,750. |
