Shannon Curl Holbin Joins Prestigious NSBA Quarter Million Dollar Club
Shannon Curl Holbin was honored for her accomplishments in the Grand Arena during A Sudden Impulse 2025 at World Equestrian Center – Ocala.
Shannon Curl Holbin of Vero Beach, Florida, was honored by the National Snaffle Bit Association during A Sudden Impulse 2025 for reaching the milestone of more than $250,000 in lifetime NSBA earnings during the preceding Orange Blossom Circuit.
At the recognition in the Grand Arena at World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida, Shannon was presented with flowers as her official status was announced, fittingly right after a horse under the guidance of Holbin Show Horses was crowned champion of the NSBA $25,000 3YO & Over $2500 Ltd Horse Open Western Pleasure. Lady Mamalade earned a $4500 check for owner Angela Wade with Chris Holbin in the saddle, with Shannon named as Fifth on Saltt Life for for Crawford Quarter Horses , earning $1200.
Shannon earned a unanimous win for Gumz Farms with Ten Kinda Southern at the 2025 Virginia Maiden.
“I knew I was close and I’ve kind of been keeping track of it, and I knew I’d had a good show here,” Shannon explained right after the class. “It just seemed like a very unreachable goal, and I don’t know that it has hit me yet.”
She had drawn even closer to that goal when she and Ten Kinda Southern were named unanimous champions in the 3 & Over Maiden Western Pleasure at The Virginia Maiden at March To Virginia 2025 for owner Gumz Farms, to the tune of a $9,300 payout.
Since achieving this significant career milestone, Shannon says she has found herself at this show walking around to see all the people she has looked up to and worked for over the years just to thank them. “They’re like – what’s wrong with you – you’ve earned this – but without them, I couldn’t be here,” she laughs.
Those mentors for the Florida native have included her parents, multi-carded judge Sandy Curl, and renowned professional farrier Tom Curl, followed by trainers such as Gil Galyean and the team of Rusty and Katie Green, who she trained with as an assistant early in her career.
Shannon, who started Holbin Show Horses after she and husband Chris married in 2017, followed by earning her judges’ accreditation for AQHA and NSBA, says, “It takes everybody and everything. Winning the world is something special, winning the Congress is something special, but this meant more to me.”
In that meaningful journey, she has trained and shown Whos All Invited, KM Best Of Brandy, Gotta Touch This, KM Milliondollarbaby, One Hot Henry, KM Boalicious, KM Smooth Moves, No Doubt Im Trouble, Battabing Battaboom, For One Night Only, If It Aint Southern, Fortheluvofthegame, Hot and Lazy, Moon Me, Scoot Over, WhatILikeAboutYou, Double Or Nothin, KM Zip Me Suddenly, Ready Set Lope, The Candy Mann, Suddenly Im Cool, The Candy Girl, Dark Ladie, Purljam, Get In Line Behind, Code Her Blue, Beecuz I Said So and Ten Kinda Southern (list source: NSBA).
As she continues down the path of her career, Shannon pays it forward to those who work for her, offering her support as the same kind of teacher she was lucky enough to have. “I always hear Gil and Rusty and Katie in my head, and I try to filter that down to all my people. It’s funny how it trickles down.”
She will receive her official recognition of this incredible achievement in August at the NSBA Honors Banquet during the 2025 NSBA World Championship Show and Breeders Championship Futurity in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
