Mother's Day Quarter Horse Circuit

Longest Running AQHA Show in California Celebrates 60 years!

The San Luis Obispo County Quarter Horse Association will be celebrating our 60th year of putting on horse shows in 2027. The club started out with one halter class at the Mid State Fair and that grew into the Mother’s Day Circuit. During this time the club had its ups and downs, but continued to keep putting on the Mother’s Day Circuit along with some open horses every year. In the early 2000’s MDC started on a path of growth to become one of the biggest quarter horse shows in California, known for very large cattle classes and trail classes. The Cow Horse classes were some of the biggest in the nation and they were fueled by many people coming to Paso Robles to school horses for the NRCHA Derby.

When NRCHA made the decision to move their Derby to Scottsdale, Arizona, SLOCQHA had to find a new group of exhibitors to keep the show going. Ranch horse classes were starting to grow quickly so the decision was made to make those classes an integral part of our show. Those classes have grown considerably over the past few years and are now the biggest classes we offer. With the fairgrounds adding the Pavilion arena in 2018 it has allowed us to make a better arena for our trail and pleasure exhibitors.

The club encountered another unforeseen circumstance that was affecting the entry numbers. AQHA moved some other shows into May so SLOCQHA had to decide as to when to hold our annual quarter horse show. The show was moved to the middle of June in 2026 and it was received very well by the exhibitors and staff.

The SLOCQHA board wishes to thank our exhibitors and sponsors for being loyal and dedicated to keeping our horse shows alive and well in Paso Robles. We feel blessed to be able to bring our annual MDC show and two open shows to the horse industry every year.

Awards to Last 60 years and Beyond:
Various awards are offered for high point, circuit awards, and first and second place prizes for the Mother’s Day Quarter Horse Show. Over $15,000 in awards and cash prizes were awarded to the winners.

$250.00 Circuit Awards:
The 2017 SLOCQHA Mother’s Day Circuit offered $250 Circuit Championship awards in 25 particular classes that cover the broad spectrum of AQHA show events, stretching from Cutting Amateur Level 1 to Hunt Seat Equitation Amateur to Western Pleasure Junior Horse.

Wood’s Western sponsored $250 gift certificates as Circuit Awards in four events
Shorty’s Caboy Hattery sponsored $250 gift certificates Circuit Awards in 4 events
Santa Cruz Animal Health and Finishline provided some special awards in a variety of classes
Farm Supply Company offered special prizes to San Luis Obispo County residents

All Around Champions receiving custom SLOCQHA jackets:

Amateur-Taylor Brown showing Absolute Best Asset
Select Amateur-CeCe Campbell showing Skys Lady In Blue
Youth-Bobbie Piddock showing Radical N Style

Circuit Champion Amateur Level 1 Trail:
Marie Miller, a previous long time past President of SLOCQHA, also donates a special bronze trophy each year that is presented to the Circuit Champion in Amateur Level 1 Trail. The winner this year was Cassidy Miller. Marie also generously donated a bronze trophy for the Circuit Champion in Walk/Jog Youth Level 1 Trail.

Larry Mitchell Memorial Award:
A special bronze trophy is awarded each year to the Reserve Select Amateur All Around rider, in memory of Larry Mitchell and the 2016 winner was Gay Versteeg.

Hy Dimensions Trail Award:
This year, a new trophy has been introduced to the show, the Hy Dimensions Trail Award. The trophy has been donated by Lisa Lazarus in memory of her horse Hy Dimensions and to honor trainer, Cynthia Cantleberry, “Queen of the Trail”. Hy Dimensions suffered from lameness in his hind end from a possible flip over on his spine Lisa was never told about. When he went to trainer Cynthia Cantelberry, she alerted Lisa of his lameness and they had the horse in the hospital for two months. A year later, he was competing in the Select World Show in Amarillo! Despite being told the horse should be put down, he went on to compete and win in many shows. Unfortunately, while Lisa was fighting illness, Hy Dimensions ate a poisonous plant and died at eleven years old. This trail award is to honor Hy Dimension’s love for trail. The winner of the trophy was trainer Carolyn Rice showing Hez Pretty Extreme.