NSBA Expands World Show Ranch Classes
Images courtesy of NSBA and Cody Parmenter Photography.
Ranch classes have been proving to have ever-increasing participation and popularity in recent years and NSBA has grown with this phenomenon. The NSBA World Championship Show hosted its first Ranch class in 2013, with additional offerings added in the following years.
Non Pro Ranch Horsemanship was offered for this first time this year.
A Three Year Old Ranch Riding Futurity class was added in 2023, and this year, the NSBA Show Your Colors provided the show’s first Ranch Horsemanship class to exhibitors.
“I was excited to see our inaugural Ranch Horsemanship class,” noted NSBA Past President Leslie Lange. “It was a test class, and we had 14 entries in it.”
“Everyone was super excited about it and everyone that did it had fun. We have a vision for it. The emphasis was more on how you get your horse to do something than what they do. It’s going to be another class for someone to do in the Ranch division.”
Carly Estreich-Lueck was named the champion of the inaugural Non-Pro Ranch Horsemanship class. “I showed Smooth Cat Man, and we call him Little Red,” Carly said. “My trainer, Leslie Lange, told me about the class about a month ago and encouraged me to show in it. It wasn’t even on my radar and it sounded interesting to me. In the beginning we weren’t sure how it would be judged and so I had suggested that we have an exhibitors’ meeting at the NSBA World Show to talk through it.
The pattern included an extended trot, 360 spin, back, a 90 degree turn, half circle trot, trot logs, loping a square pattern with a walk transition to a lead change to an extended lope that transitioned to a collected lope with another turn and sidepass.
“It was very similar to a Ranch Riding pattern, but judged more on your position somewhat, but more of how you were going to be effectively riding your horse through the maneuvers,” Carly explained. “For example, if your horse makes a mistake and you fix it, that could be credit earning. You’re showing that as a horseman that you realize what is happening and you know how to fix it.
“Everyone I have talked to that showed in the class was very excited for the class and can’t wait to see where it goes. It will give the Non-Pros another class to show in, but something different.”
Carly came from a traditional All Around background. “I grew up doing Horsemanship, Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle and Trail,” she said. “I’ve been doing the Ranch classes for about seven years now. I love the Ranch community and the environment. Everyone is so friendly, everyone is cheering everyone on and it’s a much more relaxed environment, but yet the competitiveness is still there.”
New Ranch Breeders Championship Futurity
A huge addition to the NSBA World Show and Breeders Championship Futurity for the Ranch division is already underway with the addition of the Ranch Breeders Championship Futurity program. The Ranch BCF division will host its first classes at next year’s NSBA World Championship Show and Breeders Championship Futurity with a Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Open Ranch Riding Futurity.
The initial year of the program will have a projected $10,400 purse. In 2027, Four Year Old Open Ranch Riding, Four Year Old Open Ranch Rail, Four Year Old Non-Pro Ranch Riding and Four Year Old Non-Pro Ranch Rail will be added. During the 2028 NSBA World Championship Show, Five Year Old Open Ranch Riding, Ranch Rail and Ranch Trail as well as Five Year Old Non-Pro Ranch Riding, Non-Pro Ranch Rail and Non-Pro Ranch Trail will be added, and in 2029, the Five Year Old classes will become Five and Six Year Old events to complete the division. When the division is complete, a projected purse of nearly $50,000 would be available to the Ranch BCF division.
A total of 17 classes will be offered during the Ranch Breeders Championship Futurity once established in 2029.
How To Enroll
To participate in the Ranch Breeders Championship Futurity program, a horse must be sired by a stallion nominated to the Ranch BCF program for the offspring’s yearling year. Stallion owners have the opportunity to nominate their stallions into the new division this year for an introductory nomination fee of $500, which will make their 2023 and 2024 foal crops eligible for the new Ranch Breeders Championship Futurity division.
Breeders and foal owners can begin enrolling their 2023 and 2024 foals this year for an introductory enrollment fee. Following the introductory year, stallion nomination and foal enrollment will follow an annual schedule. Nominated BCF Ranch stallions will be listed on the NSBA website and will specify each year of participation.
NSBA Expands World Show Ranch Classes – National Snaffle Bit Association
