AQHA Level One Novice Championships sloshes through the rain at Virginia Horse Center

The Youth 14-18 Novice Champion East went to Micayla Bragg of Vero Beach, Florida,
and her horse JDG Invited by Chip.

The Virginia Horse Center hosted the AQHA Level One Novice Championships East over the past week through some less than ideal rainy weather. But once you were in the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon, it was easy to forget the drizzly weather outside. The horses were gleaming and gorgeous, the exhibitors perfectly donned in sequined show clothes (sometimes perfectly white) and the arena was heavy with activity as the show moved swiftly by holding two classes at a time.

Laura Owen of Roanoke and ZipposHandsomeDevil had several placings
at the show, including a Reserve Championship in Rookie Amateur Trail.

The Virginia Horse Center was proud to have attracted the championship and the one-year contract also included and option to return. However, on Saturday afternoon while this year’s show was still deep in showmanship patterns, AQHA announced that next year the championships would be held during the spring in Raleigh, N.C.

This year’s show attracted about 600 entries from states across the Eastern U.S. Another Novice Championships show was also held in Las Vegas for West Coast exhibitors. Local exhibitors included Tabitha Thompson and Laura Owen of Botetourt County. Owen had several placings at the show including a Reserve Championship in Rookie Amateur Trail on her horse ZipposHandsomeDevil. Thompson also had placings in Novice and Rookie Amateur Ranch Riding with her horse Too Tuf to be Fancy.