The show is in the books. Now that Executive Director Taryl O’Shea has recovered, she shared with us some of her favorite moments of the show…and not all of them happened inside the ring. And English judge John Lambert reflects on his Scottsdale highlights.  

Please give us numbers of horses and entries for this year’s show compared to last year.

Total number of horses competing – in 2022 we had 2,080 competing. In 2021 there were 2,050 horses.

Commercial Exhibitors were very happy this year. Although we were down in total vendors, many of them reported that this was the best show they had ever had. The Shopping Expo was busy and everyone seemed very happy with the show this year.

The SSS Auction was a wonderful success; we sold breedings to over 166 stallions. Results were:

2022 SSS Auction Total = $391,233.65
2021 SSS Auction Total = $290,700.00

2022 SSS Stallion Nominations = 165
2021 SSS Stallion Nominations = 152

2021 SSS Mare Nominations = 728
2020 SSS Mare Nominations = 638

2021 Gelding Incentives = 376
2020 Gelding Incentives = 332

What new classes were offered this year, and why?

The Arabian Halter Association $10,000 In-Hand Trail Extravaganza for Two-year-old Fillies/Colts & Geldings — this class was created to encourage exhibitors to get their two-year-olds out into the showring and to do something a little different. The prize money attracted many new people to the show and gave the non-halter horses a special class where they had to perform through an in-hand trail class.

Your personal favorite moments?


Some of the special moments were: HoofbeatZ Immersive Arabian Horse Experience, Friends of Vail Scholarships, and the Leadline classes.

Everyone’s favorite competitor was Stephen Bishop and his 13-year-old Arabian gelding “Guiness,” Khasta Beaujalais DT (Khasanova DT x Starberry Wine). They made a splash at the 2022 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show becoming an online sensation! This dynamic duo showed in 21 classes across multiple divisions, winning Top Tens in reining and the “Fan Favorite” award during the Arabian Costume AATR.

Please share with us the sweet story of Keith King and the late Vicky Bowman’s dog Freckles.

We know that many amazing friendships develop at our horse shows but this one is a very special one between a man and Vickey Bowman’s dog!

Keith King has worked the show for ProEm Security for three years, always near the north road horse crossing. The first year, he was on the north side of the horse crossing, in front of the Burkman stalls, where Vickey Bowman used to stable. Each day Vickey’s dog Freckles came out and spent the day with Keith. The following year Keith was assigned on the opposite side of the crossing. Freckles continued to come out each day to see him. Now that Vickey is gone, Freckles seeks Keith out first thing in the morning and spends the day with him. Freckles knows which truck Keith drives and comes out as soon as he pulls in. When it’s cold out, Keith puts the dog in his truck to stay warm. When she wants to come back out, she pops her head up and he lets her back out. Keith brings a blanket and some toys for Freckles and they spend each day together watching out for our exhibitors and their horses. They have an amazing bond that brings tears to everyone’s eyes.

Vickey’s daughter Devin has invited him to take Freckles out after the show and Keith says he plans to do so, spending some days with his friend. Thank you Keith for your kind gentle nature and for watching out for our show competitors and for Freckles. I am sure Vickey still has a smile on her face watching this beautiful friendship from above!


Favorite classes?

Championship night was electric this year. We had a full house and the competition all night was amazing. We started with the Gamblers Choice, which is a crowd favorite. We had many great horse and rider competitors this year; it was fun to watch. The liberty is always fun for so many reasons. The horses and handlers seem to have fun but the crowd is what makes this one a favorite for me. To see the crowd engage and get so excited about the beautiful Arabian horses is so exciting.

The English Divisions

By John Lambert

John Lambert reflects on the standouts of the English divisions.

“Judging Scottsdale this year was a treat,” says Judge John Lambert, who was kind enough to share some of his favorite horses from the English divisions. “I was on a great panel with Bruce McCrea and John Rannenberg. We got to see some really nice horses.

“Arabian trainers are so talented. The Arabian horse is so intelligent and intuitive, and has a strong self-preservation instinct. You have to be a good trainer to understand them and get them to do the things that we’d like them to do.  As long as they understand what we are asking, they will do whatever we ask. They really try, but they will quit trying if you force them. Our trainers are great at what they do and they continue to raise the bar. It made for a great Scottsdale show!

“We had unanimous Champion and unanimous Reserve Champion in the Arabian Country Junior Horse class, and both horses are sired by HA Toskcan Sun (Baske Afire x Matoska).  Unanimous Champion was CP Valiant (HA Toskcan Sun x CP Visionaire ), owned by Cary and Lori Lawrence and Nicole Chapparone, bred by Cal Poly Pomona, and ridden beautifully by Leah Beth Golladay. A very nice example of a country horse; Leah Beth made it look effortless. The gelding’s expression was bright and energetic, and his manners were fantastic. That was one of the better classes of the show. Unanimous Reserve was HRA Marti Gras (HA Tosckan Sun x JR Mata Hari), owned by Susan Dressier Mulzet and shown beautifully by Jonathan Ramsay.

“Jimmy Stachowski showed CS Pure Heir (Afires Heir x Pristene) in the open country driving. He was a superstar out in Wendell. When a horse in ON and it’s outside, it’s hard to beat. He was the epitome of a country driving horse. He was beautiful, tons of quality, really high-set neck, pretty face. Great quality motion, really good hind legs. Perfectly straight tail, looked super happy. Went forward really good. Great manners at the same time. Another beautiful performance. Owner Liz Haar made her driving debut with CS Pure Heir, winning the Purebred Country English Pleasure ATD championship.

“The unanimous Champion Half-Arabian Park was Toskcan Stars (HA Toskcan Sun x Kalaramas Celeste), shown by John Golladay for owners Glenmoor Farms. When he showed her in Wendell in her preliminary class, she was absolutely brilliant. That mare put on a performance of what a brilliant Half-Arabian park horse should look like – up-headed, and ears forward the whole time. She had a great cadence, not working too hard, made it look effortless. It truly was brilliant. Gave me chills. For me that was the presentation of the entire horse show.

“There was a Half-Arab Junior Hunter, Morrison LR, sired by Thunder Struck LR out of Duizandra, that I did not judge but that Jonathon Ramsay showed in the qualifier and Nestor Gonzales showed in the championship for owners LMJ Investments LLC. That horse was unique. Half-Dutch Harness horse, I believe. He was well over 17 hands. He looked like he could jump! He was really round, covered a lot of ground…a cool, cool horse. I got to watch him from center ring.”