Sandy Bendele from Chandler recently won world champion in Amateur Select Ranch Trail and Amateur Ranch Horse classes with her horse, Playboys Shining, at the World Championship Horse Show, also known as the Palamino World Show, held on the Illinois Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois, on July 14-20.
There were 10 horses entered in the Amateur Select Ranch Trail class and three in Amateur Ranch Horse.
Bendele has been going to the show for about 20 years and Playboy is the third horse she’s shown, according to her husband, Mike Bendele. It’s also not Playboy’s first win. Mike said he’s won five or six other titles.
Sandy was entered in four classes and won two championships. Mike said she was very happy with the results. Playboy is a 10-year-old Quarter Horse Palamino gelding, so also shows with the Quarter Horse Association.
The World Championship Horse Show is held in July every year by the Palamino Horse Breeders of America (PHBA). The organization was formed in 1941 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The PHBA maintains records on more than 90,000 horses and owners and 250,000 horse show entries, according to the PHBA website.