The 2025 AQHA World Championship Show was full of records being smashed in the ranch events, with unprecedented scores and huge class numbers. The Level 3 Senior Ranch Riding became the third-largest class of the entire show with 84 entries, while the Amateur Working Western Rail class landed in the fifth-largest slot with an impressive 77 entries. With more than $4.75 million in purse money and prizes awarded, riders at this year’s event saw some of the biggest payouts in AQHA World Show history.
Dana Avila and Always Do Smashed Record After Record
Dana Avila and her flashy gray gelding, Always Do, delivered a dominant—and historic—performance on their way to earning the Select All-Around Amateur title at the 2025 AQHA World Championship Show.
The pair rewrote the record book in Select Ranch Riding, marking a stunning 244.5 to win the championship and more than $3,000. They also topped the jackpot for an additional $2,250. Their momentum continued into the Select Ranch Trail, where they posted a 239.5, breaking another class record and earning $2,738.51, plus $2,106 from the jackpot.
Their versatility shone throughout the show as they added another $1,800 with a fifth-place finish in the Amateur Working Western Rail and jackpot. Always Do and Avila also took third in the Headley Non-Pro Working Western Rail Stakes with a 189, earning $1,872, and picked up another $666 for their ninth-place finish in the Open Working Western Rail Stakes.
His success didn’t stop in the performance pen. Always Do also placed in halter, earning $242.17 with a seventh-place finish in the Amateur Select Performance Geldings class and another $300 for placing third in the halter jackpot.
Always Do, a 2018 gelding by Cat Man Do out of Greyt Little Steps, began his career in the reining pen, where he amassed more than $11,000 in futurities and derbies, including solid placings in the 2021 NRHA Level 2 and 3 Non-Pro Futurity. Under the guidance of Dana Avila and her late husband, renowned trainer Bob Avila, the gelding transitioned seamlessly into the ranch events. Today, he boasts more than 870 AQHA points across ranch riding, ranch trail, horsemanship, reining, and halter, with total lifetime earnings exceeding $83,000, according to QData.
Bud Lyon Breaks His Own Records
If one world-record ride wasn’t enough, Bud Lyon delivered two. Lyon and SUMAC Gunnabeflashy (Gunnatrashya x Chics Graceful Whiz) originally set the AQHA Senior Ranch Riding world record in 2023 with a 252.5—a score that went untouched until this year. In 2025, the pair shattered their own benchmark with an electrifying 257, securing another Senior Ranch Riding World Championship and $3,898.89 for owner Leslie Lange.
Known affectionately as Romeo, the 2017 gelding is no stranger to history-making achievements. After being named the 2023 NSBA Horse of the Year—the first ranch horse ever to do so—he went on to earn the coveted 2024 AQHA Superhorse title, becoming the first ranch horse to win a Superhorse title. At this year’s World Show, Romeo added to his legacy with a victory in the Headley Working Western Rail Stakes, earning more than $4,100. The duo also took the win in the Senior Working Western Rail. Romeo’s owner, Lange, grabbed the reserve championship in the class aboard Xtra Magic Doctor (Shiners VooDoo Dr x Aleena Starlight). Romeo now stands at more than $209,000 in lifetime earnings, according to QData.
Lyon also surpassed the previous 2023 Senior Ranch Riding record aboard Double Tapn, a 2018 gelding by Lil Joe Cash and owned by Dan Fox. The pair marked a 256.5 to claim the Reserve World Championship and a payout of $2,373.24, making Lyon the rider behind the top three highest scores ever recorded in the class.
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