2026 AQHA World Show Judges Are Named — Start Studying Now

Six names. That's what stands between you and a World Show buckle in Oklahoma City this October.

AQHA just posted the approved panel for the 2026 Markel AQHA World Championship Show and Adequan Select World Championship Show (October 29–November 18, Oklahoma City): Derek Hanscome, Mitch Leonarski, Rhonda Replogle, Robin Swinderman Mitchell, Carla Wennberg, and Shane Young.

Here's what most exhibitors won't do — and why they lose ground before they ever warm up a horse: they treat judge announcements as trivia. I don't. Every one of these judges has a track record in the pen. Some want expression and presence from the gate; some are counting footfalls and rewarding consistency under pressure. Those aren't the same horse.

If you're pointing at OKC, pull footage from classes these six have pinned in the last two years. Look at what placed first and what placed fourth, and figure out where your horse lives on that spectrum. Then train to close the gap.

You've got until the end of October. That's enough time to fix one real thing — if you know what to fix.

Honest question worth arguing about at the barn: do competitors actually adjust their training based on the announced panel, or do most just keep doing what they've always done and hope the judge sees it their way?