Newsdate: Wed 03 June 2015 - 09:15 am
Location: SACRAMENTO, California

The most elite expo in the United States, California’s Western States Horse Expo is a must-attend event for any horse owner. In three short days, you can catch up on the latest training and education, shop the nation’s premier equine vendors and connect with your horse friends.

Bob Avila cutting cow from herd in Magnificent 7 Stock Horse Competition

Here’s an incredible opportunity to cheer for competitions that star our favorite animal — the horse as Expo audiences explode with enthusiasm and applause at the contests slated for this year’s Western States Horse Expo at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California, June 5-7, 2015.
© 2015 by Kate Riodan

Attending the expo is more than a weekend away, its a yearly pilgrimage with friends, a way to stay engaged in the horse industry, making sure you have the tools, knowledge and products to help make the most of your investment in the horse owning lifestyle year round. California’s equine industry is strong and on the move and Western States is at the center of it all!

Maybe it’s in our DNA. Or it’s just that we get an adrenalin rush from watching. Whatever the reason, competitions intrigue us — from cupcake wars, race cars flying around a track, or belly-to-the-ground barrel racing.

Sometimes we root for the underdog, sometimes for the favorite. Whether the victorious outcome is decided by the tallying of judges’ cards, the wave of a checkered flag, or the last Roman chariot left with wheels still spinning, humans have loved competitions since the dawning of time.

And here’s an incredible opportunity to cheer for competitions that star our favorite animal — the horse. Expo audiences will explode with enthusiasm and applause at the contests slated for this year’s Western States Horse Expo at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California, June 5-7, 2015.

When renowned horseman and trainer Charles Wilhelm thought about what a Super Horse really was, in the back of his mind he considered developing a competition that would be both exciting and educational for riders looking for a contest that would showcase their horse’s abilities as well as their riding skills. And now over the past several years the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge is a contest all expo attendees look forward to.

The Ultimate Super Horse Challenge is not a timed event, but rather stages the horse in a variety of tasks and exercises, hopefully executed with complete confidence and success. “A Super Horse can appear in a parade one day,” says Wilhelm, “work cows the next, compete in western dressage the following day, then confidently hit the trail. The Super Horse can do all that with proper lightness, cadence, carriage, fluidity and responsiveness.”          

The Super Horse competition is presented Friday and Saturday, with finals on Sunday. Judged by world-renowned horsemen, the Super Horse competition is a crowd pleaser and puts participants to significant tasks.

Reflective of Old West traditions, year after year the Magnificent 7 competition has become a monumental event at Horse Expo. Each year more than a dozen of the nation’s top stock horses and their riders convene for an intense competition, where one horse and one rider demonstrate their skills and versatility in four events: Herd Work, Rein Work, Steer Stopping and Fence Work.

The finals are highlighted on Friday evening when seven finalists vie for a $25,000 purse and the title of Magnificent 7 All-Around Stock Horse Champion.

These competitions — and so much more — can be seen for the one-day ticket price of $18 at the gate or $45 for all three days.

Here’s an even greater way to save on tickets. Until May 1, on-line tickets are only $13, and from May 1 to June 5, on-line tickets are $15 each. So visit on-line at www.Horsexpo.com to buy tickets and save enough money for corn dogs at the expo!