Paint Horse Competition Fills Tulsa Fairgrounds

The World Wide Paint Horse Congress just wrapped up a long weekend of competition at the Tulsa Fairgrounds.

The competition drew riders and trainers from all over the country. It joins one of many horse show competitions held at the Tulsa Fairgrounds.

There were 1,000 entries that poured into this year's event.

One of the reasons why the organization chose Tulsa is because the fairgrounds can hold a lot of horses.

“It's one of the top quality facilities in our area and one of the few facilities that's large enough to hold our show," show chairperson Casey West said.

West says the entries drew more than 1,200 people to see the competitions.

Deborah Wartick came from El Dorado, Kansas.

Riders competed in a variety of disciplines that included English, western and trail.

“They judge them on their movement, the length of stride and the correctness of their gaits," West said.

West said the setup of the Tulsa Fairgrounds gives riders and trainers plenty of space to work their horses.

Watrick said she enjoys coming down to Tulsa to show her horse.

"It's one of the best facilities around,” she said. “They've got great warmup pens, arenas are air conditioned, it's not too far from point A to point B, unless you're clear out in the far part, concessions are good, not overpriced. I mean, we love it here.”