Ima Smokin Zipper Sire of 7 World Qualifiers
JUNIOR AND SENIOR TRAIL
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE TWICE.
BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, AQHA FIELD
EDITOR, AND AQHA MEGAN
BROWNELL, JOURNAL INTERN
Nineteen-year-old Ashley Dunbar of Simi Valley,
California, had no idea her first AQHA World
Championship Show experience would be this
good. But 2007 turned into a banner year for her.
“You know, I never thought I’d make it back to the
finals my first year,” she said. “You have to ‘walk
the chain’ as they say.
“(With it being) my last year as a youth and still
being young competing with all these great
trainers, I was just ecstatic to make it back to
the finals on one horse, let alone on two.”
Ashley qualified the mare, Smokin Sensational,
to the junior trail finals and the gelding, RL Tune
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE TWICE.
BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, AQHA FIELD
EDITOR, AND AQHA MEGAN
BROWNELL, JOURNAL INTERN
Nineteen-year-old Ashley Dunbar of Simi Valley,
California, had no idea her first AQHA World
Championship Show experience would be this
good. But 2007 turned into a banner year for her.
“You know, I never thought I’d make it back to the
finals my first year,” she said. “You have to ‘walk
the chain’ as they say.
“(With it being) my last year as a youth and still
being young competing with all these great
trainers, I was just ecstatic to make it back to
the finals on one horse, let alone on two.”
Ashley qualified the mare, Smokin Sensational,
to the junior trail finals and the gelding, RL Tune
Up, to the senior trail finals. Both horses are owned by Rancho Brillando Inc., of
Moorpark, California, and they are trained by Ashley’s mother, Brenda Dunbar.
“And then in the finals, I just said, ‘I’m just going to go in and show my horse,’ ” Ashley
said.
Both patterns called for an extended lope with downward transitions – down to a jog
over poles in the junior, and down to a stop or break to a walk in the senior.
“In the extended part, I said, ‘I’m just going to push it and push my extension’ just to
show (the judges) they can make it through the course with a pushed extension,” she
continued.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams I would win two world championships back-to-
back.”
But that’s exactly what she did.
Ashley and Smokin Sensational scored a 224.5 in the junior.
“We’ve had her for two years now,” Ashley said of the mare. “She was just a pasture
pony; she came straight out of a pasture to us. In a million years, I never would have
thought that she would pull out for me as she has tonight.
“She’s a great little horse, and we always give her a hard time because she’s so little.
But she held her own. She showed that she can hold her own with all the (big)
horses.”
The biggest challenge Ashley had with the mare was that she tends to wake up a little
in the pen.
“Her big thing and my big thing together was, on all the trot stuff, don’t push too hard
and don’t lope off. But she held her own. She’s a great mare, and I love riding her.”
“It was incredible to me that they could (both) make the finals,” Lisa said of her world
champion trail horses. “And it didn’t seem to me that lightning could strike twice,
even though I knew they were both really great horses. That’s asking a lot to have two
winners. I was just crossing my fingers. I knew they had the capability of doing it. We’
re so happy and lucky.
“Ashley did such an incredible job,” she added. “I’ll always remember this ride. I am
just thrilled to be here to see it.”
JUNIOR TRAIL
Horse: Smokin Sensational
Pedigree: 2003 sorrel mare, Ima Smokin Zipper x Sensational Speed by Speedy Glo
Exhibitor: Ashley Dunbar, Simi Valley, California
Owner: Rancho Brillando Inc., Moorpark, California
Breeder: Sandy Arledge, Rancho Santa Fe, California
*Reproduced courtesy of AQHA
Moorpark, California, and they are trained by Ashley’s mother, Brenda Dunbar.
“And then in the finals, I just said, ‘I’m just going to go in and show my horse,’ ” Ashley
said.
Both patterns called for an extended lope with downward transitions – down to a jog
over poles in the junior, and down to a stop or break to a walk in the senior.
“In the extended part, I said, ‘I’m just going to push it and push my extension’ just to
show (the judges) they can make it through the course with a pushed extension,” she
continued.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams I would win two world championships back-to-
back.”
But that’s exactly what she did.
Ashley and Smokin Sensational scored a 224.5 in the junior.
“We’ve had her for two years now,” Ashley said of the mare. “She was just a pasture
pony; she came straight out of a pasture to us. In a million years, I never would have
thought that she would pull out for me as she has tonight.
“She’s a great little horse, and we always give her a hard time because she’s so little.
But she held her own. She showed that she can hold her own with all the (big)
horses.”
The biggest challenge Ashley had with the mare was that she tends to wake up a little
in the pen.
“Her big thing and my big thing together was, on all the trot stuff, don’t push too hard
and don’t lope off. But she held her own. She’s a great mare, and I love riding her.”
“It was incredible to me that they could (both) make the finals,” Lisa said of her world
champion trail horses. “And it didn’t seem to me that lightning could strike twice,
even though I knew they were both really great horses. That’s asking a lot to have two
winners. I was just crossing my fingers. I knew they had the capability of doing it. We’
re so happy and lucky.
“Ashley did such an incredible job,” she added. “I’ll always remember this ride. I am
just thrilled to be here to see it.”
JUNIOR TRAIL
Horse: Smokin Sensational
Pedigree: 2003 sorrel mare, Ima Smokin Zipper x Sensational Speed by Speedy Glo
Exhibitor: Ashley Dunbar, Simi Valley, California
Owner: Rancho Brillando Inc., Moorpark, California
Breeder: Sandy Arledge, Rancho Santa Fe, California
*Reproduced courtesy of AQHA