Checkmate's HMS Ark Royal N, is the 2007 recipient of the Missouri Fox Trotter Horse Breed Association Open Versatility World Grand Championship held in Ava, Missouri at the 2007 World Celebration early in September. He is owned by Don and Mena Nebeker of Paradise, Utah. The young horse was trained and shown by their daughter, Suzanne Nebeker of Salmon, Idaho. It is a prestigious title; the horse and rider team competed and accumulated the most points in eighteen different competitions including Showmanship, Pleasure, Reining, Jumping, and Horsemanship classes, as well as Cattle and Speed events. There were over twenty competitors from all over the United States and Germany.
The bay four year old, Missouri Fox Trotter gelding was raised on the Nebeker's Flying N Ranch in Salmon, Idaho. He is out of their stallion, Cloud's Checkmate and their mare, Sun Dust's Spanish Dancer H. He is one of many colts produced by this combination that has gone on to win multiple performance and model championships.
As a yearling, he won the Utah Grand Futurity Model Championship. He went on to win the Two Year and Three Year Performance Futurities at the Utah Grand. Since, he has won numerous Performance, Versatility, and Model Championships throughout the Intermountain West.
In 2006, Ark Royal won the Boss Man's Three Year Old Versatility Futurity Reserve Champion title in Ava. The 2006 Futurity was the first national contest of its kind for the MFTHBA. It is a test performance for three year old versatility horses to prove themselves in pleasure, trail, and cutting classes. It is impressive and verifies the goals of the futurity to have a horse win the title and then go on to win the World Versatility Grand Championship as a four year old. Winners of the Boss Man Futurity take home a saddle generously donated by Harry Patterson of Texas, and also monies from a variety of sponsors.
Suzanne and her horse qualified for the MFTHBA sponsored 2007 Open National Versatility Circuit competition this year by winning the Open Versatility Circuit Championship titles in both the Intermountain and the Great Northwestern Circuits this year. The versatility circuits are sponsored by the regional MFTHBA affiliates in order to promote and encourage competitors to experience the vast array of talents that can be performed by the fox trotting horses. It is a program that is growing in popularity among show competitors. Ark Royal went on to earn the 2007 Open National Versatility Circuit Championship held in conjunction with the Celebration.
Checkmate's HMS Ark Royal N, is a proud gelding and lives up to his name. The horse's achievements have special significance as he was named after the British Flag Ship, HMS Ark Royal during the same year as his birth. The 2003 year marked the beginning of the Iraqi experience. The HMS (Her Majesty's Service) Ark Royal was the first British naval battleship to respond to the current efforts in Iraq. He is also named for Walter Farthing, an uncle of Mrs. Nebeker, a British Naval Officer who lost his life at sea during the Battle of Bismark in WWII. The honor of this horse's performance and titles has been dedicated to all of the men and women who have and continue to fight for peace and freedom around the world. |
