It’s billed as the Little Futurity with a lot of fun and each year Larry and Gale Little work hard to make sure that happens. This year the futurity is celebrating 12 years of competition June 12-14. Judges are: Jeff Allen, Rhonda Replogle, Terry Thompson, Jonathan Meilleur and Jessica Gilliam.

The futurity is held in the middle of the Tar Heel Triple Classic, which starts off with the North Carolina Quarter Horse Youth Association Circuit June 9-12 and concludes with the North Carolina Jamboree AQHA Circuit June 15-18.

“We can’t estimate this year’s payouts until the entries are tallied but last year we had a significant increase of 25 percent and handed out over $150,000 in purse money,” said Gale Little.

Once again The Little Futurity will be featuring it’s two slot classes: the Non-Pro 3 & over $7500 Limited Horse Western Pleasure and the Southern Oaks 3& 4-Year-Old $1,000 Novice Horse Western Pleasure. There will also again be an inside purse offered in the Novice Horse to horses that have not earned $1,000 by the start of the Little Futurity.

“We feel offering an inside purse promotes more interest because so many Novice horses have already had an opportunity to earn quite a bit of money by the Little Futurity,” Little said.

In addition, the Little Futurity will also feature the Winehurst NSBA $10,000 Limited Horse Western Pleasure and the Heart of Stone class in honor of the late Stone Pope, son of North Carolina Quarter Horse Association members Shane and Holt Pope. All the proceeds from this class will be donated to the Heart of Stone Foundation, Inc a non-profit organization that supports families dealing with congenital heart defects and children in the Carolinas.

New for this year are the Little Futurity Maturity Non-Pro Intermediate Western Pleasure, Pony Western Pleasure and Pony Walk-Trot.

“We have had a lot of requests for a few years now for a Pony Western Pleasure class,” Little said. “So this year we are going to do it.”

According to Little, the Pony Western Pleasure has already had a lot of interest. The event will be for children 9 years old and younger riding ponies. The Pony Walk-Trot will be offered to exhibitors 7 & under.

Now in its 12th year, the Little Futurity has evolved into one of the country’s premier shows that draws exhibitors from all over the country.

“I just can’t believe how much it has grown,” Little said. “We are just as excited as the first year. Everyone is just so supportive- all the sponsors, exhibitors and owners. I am just humbled by the show of faith for the Little Futurity.”

For information visit www.littlefuturity.com