Totally Tops List — The Leading Riders and Handlers for 2009

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by Denise Hearst s Computer research by Douglas Tatelman

ach year in our “Totally Tops” feature, Arabian Horse World takes a moment to recognize those professional trainers and amateurs who have had a truly stellar year at the U.S., Sport Horse, and Canadian Nationals. It’s not a popularity contest, although some of them are mighty popular. Rather, we break it down by points to see who won what. The Totally Tops point system assigns ten points for a Championship, seven for a Reserve, and four for Top Tens. A trainer must have at least two Top Tens or one Reserve or better to make the list, and only the horses actually shown by such individuals are counted. Exhibition, equitation, and sidesaddle classes are not included. Our individual lists include professional trainers only — standout Amateurs are acknowledged in three separate charts following the professional charts. We cite winning trainers by discipline and give an extra round of applause to that trainer who has excelled not only in one, but who has shown the kind of breadth of talent it takes to compete and win in multiple divisions. This is our MultiDiscipline Trainer. For the past four years, Canadian trainer Todd Ehret has had a monopoly on the Champion Multi-Discipline Trainer title, partly by virtue of his domination at Sport Horse

Nationals. But this year the title was claimed by a trainer who has never shown at Sport Horse Nationals, Gordon Potts, who also reigns as the Champion English Pleasure Trainer of the Year. Joining Gordon as a “Totally Tops Champion,” is his wife and partner in Brass Ring, in Burleson, Texas, Wendy Potts, this year’s Totally Tops Champion Hunter Trainer of the Year. We caught up with Gordon as he was packing for Scottsdale, and asked him to comment on his remarkable achievements, and reflect on a lifelong career with the Arabian horse. He was particularly pleased to win the Multi-Discipline title. With wins on 13 different horses in six divisions, Gordon is as versatile as the breed he loves. His highlight from 2009? “Each win was special, but one that stands out was winning the U.S. National Champion Half-Arabian English Pleasure Futurity on Victim Of Love. I won it a few years ago on Americanbeautie in what was one of the best rides I’ve had on her. I was also 2009 U.S. National Reserve Champion Western Pleasure on Alerro after an extra tough work-off. It was a competitive class from top-to-bottom and the work-off was great fun — to get a piece of that was really gratifying.

Note: Totally Tops charts count only horses actually shown by these individuals. Exhibition, equitation, and sidesaddle classes were not included. U indicates the number of previous years an individual has appeared on any Totally Tops list since 1996, when AHW first began compiling these statistics. All classes include purebred and Half-Arabian wins: 10 points for champion, 7 points for reserve champion, and 4 points for a top ten. 2


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