Senior Trail Draws Record Entries at 2025 NSBA World Championship Show
With 105 entries in the open division and 93 entries in the limited open division, the Senior Trail class was the largest event at the 2025 NSBA World Championship Show & Breeders Championship Futurity in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When the scores were tallied, two riders stood at the top: Alex Bryner claimed the Open Senior Trail World Championship, while Kendra Weis took home the Limited Open Senior Trail title.
A Course Designed to Test the Best
Trail designer Tim Kimura crafted a challenging, technical course worthy of the record-breaking class size.
“This course had a lot of transitions, speed and changes in tempo and it was kind of like driving down a winding road,” Kimura explained. “You needed a lot of control to get through it clean. A Trail course should challenge the top third of the class, educate the middle third, and make it safe for the bottom third.”
Kimura also noted the advantage of holding the class earlier in the week, while horses and exhibitors were fresher and more alert.
Champions That Almost Weren’t
For Alex Bryner and her mare She Will Be Somebody, simply making it to the NSBA World Show was an achievement in itself. Just two weeks before the show, the mare spent several days in a veterinary hospital with an infection. At the same time, Alex herself was hospitalized with a severe bacterial blood infection that required intensive treatment and left her immobile.
Thanks to determination and support from her team, both horse and rider recovered in time for Tulsa. She notes the countless individuals who reached out to offer help and her assistant, Tori, who stepped up to help get her in the show pen.
“It was one of those rides that took your breath away,” Alex said. “Allie carries a lot of lift over the poles, she’s rhythmic, and she always wants to be careful. When she’s going to show, she’s on it.”
The Senior Trail win marked Alex’s first NSBA Open World Championship title. She Will Be Somebody, owned by Tracy Hritz, has been with Alex since late in her three-year-old year and also competes successfully in Performance Mares, Amateur Select Showmanship and Select Amateur Trail.
Kendra Weis and Hot Four Teacher showing in the Senior Trail at the 2025 NSBA World Championship Show - photo by Cody Parmenter Photography.
A Role Reversal For Kendra Weis
Kendra Weis is often found giving support to her son, Blake Weis, but the roles reversed when Kendra took the reins with Hot Four Teacher and won the Limited Open division of Senior Trail.
“It was surreal to get a call from Blake telling me how proud he was of me—usually I’m the cheerleader,” Kendra shared. “Mia always takes care of me. She was rhythmic, careful, patient, and put it all together.”
Mia has been a part of the Weis family program for more than six years, carrying Jordan Macan through her 13 & Under years and earning a Reserve World Championship at the 2025 AQHYA World Show just weeks earlier.
"She was such a good girl, she was rhythmic, she was careful, but also patient and just put it all together. I am very blessed to have her in our barn," Kendra commented about the mare. "This is the only class she does, it’s what she loves to do. It’s pretty amazing that she has gone from a 13 & Under Trail horse to the Open Senior Trail and is still be happy doing her job. She has an old soul.”
Congratulations to the champions in the largest class of the NSBA World Championship Show!
About NSBA
Established in 1983, National Snaffle Bit Association has expanded from its roots in the Western Pleasure discipline to recognize various disciplines and eight breed associations in competition. NSBA’s mission is to grow the show horse community through various equine programs and events where every activity benefits horses, breeders, owners and exhibitors alike.
National Snaffle Bit Association has more than 20,000 active members and more than 44,000 registered horses across its eight alliance breed organizations. NSBA members earn more than $13.5 million in monetary awards at NSBA-sanctioned horse shows annually, and the association sanctions nearly 600 horse show events and close to 200,000 horse show entries each year.
To learn more about NSBA, please visit nsba.com.
