The National Barrel Horse Association celebrates its 2023 Indiana State Championships winners.
Submitted by Lauren Bair
With more than $15,000 in added money, Indiana NBHA hosted its State Championship Show June 23 – 25, 2023, at Hoosier Horse Park in Edinburgh, Indiana. Prizes included 10 Pro Rider saddles with wooden racks, 10 NBHA wildcards, 10 buckles, a Youth Fast Time halter, a Youth Target buckle, as well as an array of additional prizes. All division champions walked away with a saddle, saddle rack, wildcard, in addition to a folding chair. Buckles and tack sets were part of the award packages for the reserve champions. Over the course of the weekend, 837 runs were made in the Open, Youth, and Senior classes. In the small but mighty Lil Bullets classes, there were 22 runs which created smiles both in and out of the pen.
Offered for the first time was a redemption round where the first place in each division earned a spot back into their respective Finals. 61 riders tried to capitalize on this opportunity, with several of the winners cashing in and receiving awards on Finals Sunday. While earning a spot back to the finals was the end goal, the redemption round classes paid out over $2,000 collectively.
In the Open division, over $8,000 was paid out per day in Rounds 1 and 2 with the Short-Go boasting a total payout over $11,000! After the dust settled, Angie Cunningham came out the 1D winner riding TDL Smoke N Ice. Over the course of the weekend, this pair earned over $1,600 in the Open division alone. Your 2D winners were Cheyenne McKnight atop Frenchmans Lucky Sox winning a total of $1,105 from her Open runs. In the 3D it was Cindy Harlan and MCB Sunkinda Pistol winning $584. Rounding out the Open 4D was Heidi York and Kiss with weekend earnings of $552.
Claiming top honors in the Seniors was Brian Langworthy aboard Busy Leaving Memorys. This pair cashed in with $942 in Senior earnings alone. Running a 15.120 to win Round 2, they cruised through to run the same exact time in the Short-Go. Your 2D champion in the Seniors was Raymond Duke with PYC Speedwagon, bringing home over $450. Dana Sparks finished out as the Seniors 3D champion, riding Simply Bold. The pair earned $312 in the Senior class over the course of the weekend.
Moving into the Youth age division, there were 2 special awards presented during the awards ceremony. The Chalee Gilliland Youth Fastest Time award was won by Kaylee Weaver and Friday Night Cowboy. Their Youth Round 2 time of 15.222 won the duo a custom halter presented by Chalee’s family. The second award was a Youth Target Time buckle, generously sponsored by an anonymous patron. With a time difference of only .027 between her Round 1 and Round 2 runs, Gracie Durham claimed the award aboard Mi Miz Ante. Jumping to the Youth 1D, it was Kaylee Weaver on One Smart Peptocat winning $509 in the Short-Go. The 2D saw Kacie Huffman taking the top spot and $305 with Mojo Bullybug. Last but certainly not least was Addison Justice on Blue Poco Grin finishing as your Youth 3D champions and bringing home a check for $203 in addition to the division winner prizes.
Each night offered different activities for members to participate in, including Bareback Barrels and the Coke Race which was used to determine Indiana’s representatives at the Youth/Teen and Open World shows. Friday night consisted of a Cornhole tournament with the winners each earning a set of customized Indiana NBHA cornhole boards. Saturday evening was hit with the Eric Hamblen Band and a state-wide pitch-in dinner.
This article was originally published in the June 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
