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YORKTON — A local horsewoman recently earned accolades at the 2025 edition of the World Clydesdale Show.
Twylla Newton and her husband Cameron loaded her Clydesdale riding horse and headed south on Sept. 27, — destination for Springfield, Illinois, and the world show.
“I was going to be riding my horse in eight different riding disciplines,” she told Yorkton This Week, adding the World Show is a major event for Clydesdale horses being held typically “only once every three or four years.”
The trip was more than 2,000 km one way and took the couple two-and-a-half days to get there.
Twylla noted part of the time on the road was “making sure that the horse got the rest she would need to be able to perform at the show.”
The show started on Oct. 1, and ran for five days.
“I rode in eight riding disciplines; two dressage classes, a trail riding class, a hunter-jumper class, a western pleasure class, an English pleasure class, as well as the pole bending race, and finally the barrel racing,” said Twylla Newton.
And Newton and her mare excelled in most disciplines.
Her placings were as follows: first in both dressage classes, first in the trail riding class, first in pole bending, and first in barrel racing. She placed third in English pleasure and third in Hunter-jumper and eighth in western pleasure.
The competition was fierce as one might imagine at a world event.
“The class sizes ranged from 12 entries in dressage to over 40 in the pleasure classes and close to 60 in barrel racing,” said Newton.
The local rider came home justifiably proud of her accomplishments.
“To bring home five world titles in the riding events was an incredible moment,” she said.
Again Newton noted the sheer size of the event.
“At this particular World Show, there was about 650 Clydesdales from all over North America, and of that, there was approximately 70 riding contestants, which is a huge testament to just how many people are starting to enjoy the Clydesdales for their riding in various disciplines,” she said.
The success was in no small part because Newton said she went south well-prepared.
“The preparation and work that it took to get to a show at this level was years in the undertaking and planning,” she said.
“It was accomplished by many hours training under the guidance of my coach, DJ Cairns, as well as the help and support from my family and friends.”
It all added up to a most memorable trip.
“My experience at the show was nothing short of amazing,” said Newton. “The Colosseum that we rode in and the other buildings were built in the early 1900s; they were something to see in itself.
“The fellow competitors, no matter what barn you were walking through, were all so happy and friendly. It just made it such a joy to be there and part of something so exciting.”
