Rock N Rolling Into CINCH Horsemanship Finals
Exhibitors had music and a cheering crowd to encourage them while performing their pattern during the CINCH Horsemanship Finals on Wednesday, August 19, at the NSBA World Championship Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The cheers and the music didn’t phase Ady Kallay, of Drayton Valley, Alberta, Canada, who won the first-place prize of $3,000 with her show partner, The Batchelor.
Exhibitors qualified to compete in the CINCH Horsemanship Invitational by placing in the top ten at the world championship show of an NSBA alliance association in 2025, or at the 2025 NSBA World Championship Show and came from Youth, Amateur and Select Amateur classes around the country. The event saw 64 exhibitors invited to compete in the preliminary round, working to reach the top 15 finalists for the finale where exhibitors competed for a total purse of $12,500.
Exhibitors were provided with four potential patterns for the finals, but did not learn which pattern they would perform until right before the class, and had ten minutes to warm up in the arena.
Ady had sat in the stands and watched the CINCH Horsemanship event for several years but had not competed in the class prior to 2026. “It had always been my goal to be able to come and compete in this class,” she said. “It’s pretty surreal to have won it our first time ever to show in it.”
She showed 2025 NSBA All Around Horse Of The Year The Batchelor to the win. “I’m very lucky – he is such a good boy,” she said.
“I was kind of prepared for any pattern that came my way, but being on a collegiate team at Texas A&M, I’m kind of used to having a short warm-up time and just getting it done and going in and showing,” she added. Ady is going into her sophomore year at Texas A&M. In addition to being on the equestrian team there, Ady is a finance major and plans to eventually operate her own business.
She was pleased with her pattern and felt that her preparation paid off. “I felt like my right turn going into the extended trot was really fluid and right away. It was something I struggled with, and I felt that it got a lot better in the finals and we were able to execute it well.”
Her trainer, Sara Simons, earned a $1,000 bonus for being the trainer of the winning horse. “Sara is such a great coach,” Ady said. “We had three riders in the finals including me, Myah Chaput and Izzy Hostetler. We also had such great support from our barn – they were all here in the stands cheering for us and it was great.”
Sara was also pleased with Ady and ‘Scout’s’ performance. “I thought their square corners at the beginning of the pattern on the counter-canter were really fancy, and she made a really aggressive attempt to make sure they were very square. Her rollbacks were fluid, and she really went for it – I thought the pattern was beautiful and she did a lovely job.” Sara coached first and third place as well as finalist Izzy Hostetler in the class.
A Shining Example Of Horsemanship
Laura Brainard, former equestrian coach at Oklahoma State University, Baylor University and the University of Georgia watched the class with interest. “This was not an easy pattern,” Laura said.
“The pattern had ten elements with tons of great maneuvers that really separated the riders. The maneuvers really showed you how the riders communicated with their horses and which ones could keep good cadence throughout. The class was such a great testament to true Horsemanship skills, and every one of the 15 deserved to be in the finals. You saw the best horsepower in the country displayed in the class and you could really tell that the riders pushed the envelope by going hard and trying to be clean in their runs. They did a great job, and the overall class was very impressive.”
As a former collegiate coach, Laura knows how a class like the CINCH Horsemanship can help showcase potential team members to college coaches. “Pressure is a huge part of the class and very similar to collegiate meets. There is no better place to recruit athletes, because a class like this really shows coaches what a rider is made of when the pressure is on, with the music, the crowd and the hype of the class. You can watch how the riders communicate with their horses and adjust to the energy.”
Laura was especially impressed by the top two riders. “Ady did an absolutely flawless job and has amazing horse power. The horse she shows, The Batchelor, is every horse show girl’s dream horse. She is a great horseman and a great showman, and Sara Simons has done a phenomenal job as her coach. However, I would also like to commend Klay McDowall. Not only did he have a target on his back as last year’s champion and being the only male in the finals, but he was also riding a four year old green horse. He did a wonderful job making his pattern look easy. He knows his horse, and he did an impressive job communicating and working with his horse, especially with his transition work.”
Awards and Bonus Payouts
Awards were presented to the highest placing Novice exhibitor and highest placing Select Amateur exhibitor, who earned $1,000 each.
Novice Bonus: Myah Chaput and Isthatcoolwithyou earned an extra $1,000 as the highest placing Novice rider.
Amateur Select Bonus: April Gentry and Hez Simply Western earned an extra $1,000 as the highest placing Select Amateur rider.
Alliance Bonus: Kenzie Bracken and Get Down N Wild earned a $100 bonus as the highest placing alliance rider showing an APHA-registered horse.
The top ten placings in the class included:
Champion: Ady Kallay, The Batchelor, $3,000/$1,000 Trainer Bonus to Sara Simons
Reserve Champion: Klay McDowall, Under Fire, $2,000/$750 Trainer Bonus to Kelly McDowall
Third: Myah Chaput, Isthatcooolwithyou, $1,500/$500 Trainer Bonus to Sara Simons
Fourth: Dana Moody, Rock N Repeat, $1,250
Fifth: Molly Mullady, The Roan Show, $1,000
Sixth: April Gentry, Hez Simply Western, $350
Seventh: Alysia Nielson, Dark Ladie, $350
Eighth: Sydney Swallom, Almost Invited, $350
Ninth: Hope Prickett, Ready Made, $350
Tenth: Vivienne King, Mouse Trapped, $300
Our thanks to corporate sponsor CINCH Jeans for making the CINCH Horsemanship Invitational possible.
NSBA Press Release: https://www.nsba.com/archives/exciting-cinch-horsemanship-finals
