Sarah Eberspacher Earns Back on Track Western High-Point Rider Title at the IHSA 2023 National Championship Horse Show
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Sarah Eberspacher Earns Back On Track Western High-Point Rider Title at the 2023 IHSA National Championship Horse Show
Middle Tennessee State University Rides to First Western Team Championship
2023 Back on Track Western High-Point Rider Sarah Eberspacher (University of Nebraska-Lincoln) with head coach Lori Jaixen and Bob Cacchione. Photo by EQ Media
Lexington, KY – May 6, 2023 – The 2023 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship Horse Show ended by naming Sarah Eberspacher from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the Back on Track Western High-Point Rider. A first for Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), they rode to the top as the Western Team Champions.
Watch Sarah Eberspacher's Back on Track Western High-Point Rider - Reining round on Slim, provided by Middle Tennessee State University
Western Judges Holly Hoover and Debra Jones-Wright Share Their Thoughts About the 2023 IHSA National Championship
Western judges Holly Hover and Debra Jones-Wright with their scribes. Photo by Danielle Dunn
Holly Hover (Cave Creek, Arizona) and Debra Jones-Wright (Abbeville, South Carolina) officiated all the Western divisions at the 2023 IHSA National Championship Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky. Both bring more than three decades of judging experience, holding cards with AQHA, APHA, NSBA, NRHA and more. They shared their experience from the last few days of judging the IHSA riders.
Awards Presented on Final Day of 2023 IHSA National Championship Horse Show
NRHA's Senior Director of Corporate Relations, Christy Landwehr and Bob Cacchione with the Western Semi-Finals Indivual winners. Photo by EQ Media
The IHSA welcomed the National Reining Horse Association’s Senior Director of Corporate Relations, Christy Landwehr, to the arena for a special presentation. At IHSA Western Semi-Finals, representatives of the NRHA were unable to attend the three events. At the National Championship Horse Show, they took the opportunity to present the awards for the Individual class champions.
Western sportsmanship awards were also presented to a coach, rider and volunteer.
The Rise of the UCONN Western Team
Successful Nationals Under the Tutelage of Head Coach Jeremy Mimitz
Colin "CJ" McLaughlin on Tommy, provided by Midway University, in the AQHA Individual Beginner Horsemanship with UConn Head Coach Jeremy Mimitz and Bob Cacchione. Photo by EQ Media
After an eight-year drought without a Nationals qualifier, the University of Connecticut Western Team had two riders qualify – one in AQHA/NRHA Individual Ranch Riding and AQHA Level II Horsemanship and the other in Individual Beginner Horsemanship.