Allison Philips Spotted at the NRCHA Champion of Champions

Alison and her leopard gelding, NU Grays Starlight, recently finished their first NRCHA Champion of Champions show in Fort Worth, Texas.  They were one of two appaloosas at the entire show. 

You may recognize Alison as the ApHC Director for Territory I as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Appaloosa Ranch Horse Association.  We caught up with Alison right after she got back to find out more about her experience.

Alison bought Nugget as a three-year-old after seeing Jane Cairo’s stallion NU Circle N Sign at the World Show in 2018.  She knew she wanted a horse just like Hot Dog. She wanted a colored appaloosa that would be competitive on the ApHC circuit as well as being able to compete against the Quarter Horses on the NRCHA circuit.  Roger Johnson found her the horse she was looking for and Alison brought Nugget home.  She said that it is the best decision she has ever made as he is good minded and incredibly broke. 

Alison started to show Nugget at her area NRCHA circuit in 2020.  She describes herself as an “all in” type of person.  Early into her showing at NRCHA shows she started to think about one day competing at the Celebration of Champion show.  In 2021, Alison and Nugget competed at the Eastern Derby and Snaffle Bit Futurity.  Their placings were good enough to land her a Top 5 berth in the Non-Pro 1k and a Top 10 berth in the Non-Pro 5k.  Non-Pro classes are based on how much winnings a rider has, and Alison knew that this year would be her last shot at riding in the Non-Pro 1k (she has won her way out of the division) and thought they might have a shot at the making the finals at the Celebration of Champions. 

This was the first time Alison has shown at this big show.  She said that all the attendees were very warm and welcoming.  It may have been a little intimidating doing run downs in the warmup pen with the “Who’s who” of million-dollar NRCHA riders.  It is a fun show, but Alison definitely recommends going with a trainer the first time as there is a lot to learn about the logistics of the show.  A perk of showing there is being able to watch the World’s Greatest Horseman competition live and being part of such a fun horse show.

As for her runs?  Alison was happy with parts of them.  She and Nugget had a few bobbles in their reining run, and she felt that she didn’t ride aggressively enough in her circles and turn around, leaving some points on the table.  She was a bit disappointed because she knows that they can put down higher scores.  She missed the 1K finals by 1.5 points.  In their second run, Alison decided to be more aggressive in her circles and turn arounds but felt just a little out of time in her stops.  Overall, the duo ended up 20 (CHECK) out of 90 horse and rider pairs.  She and Nugget definitely held their own and represented the breed well.

Since Nugget is loud colored, he did garner attention and it was all positive.  Alison said she had many people tell her how much they liked her horse and inquire about his breeding.  Alison also said she was so appreciative of her Appaloosa family as she got many messages from the Appaloosa family supporting her and telling her they were watching on the livestream.  That support really meant a lot to her. 

Keep your eye out for these two at Appaloosa and NRCHA shows.  Alison and Nugget are going to continue showing together for hopefully many years to come.  Nugget loves working cows and loves his job.  They make a fantastic pair, and we wish them continued success in the future.