 Well, there's been a lot of hooping and holler in this week in the water arena for the 2017 NCAA World Finals and nobody's been on the receiving end of that more than Austin Shepard, the newly crowned world champion on deluxe checks. Congratulations to you, Austin. Thank you. How does it feel to be a world champion? You know, I mean, it's a great accomplishment. It takes a lot to do it all year long, not just for the going and the showing but the juggling your business. It's a great accomplishment. It's a wonderful title, but it means a lot. Well, it is a great accomplishment and you've won world champion before. You've won horse of the year. You've won just about everything, if not everything in the wheel rogers, but it still doesn't lose its significance to you. No. I mean, that's everybody's goal and to win wherever you go, but it feels great to win. You know, we put so much into this. I mean, there's so much that goes into it, not just me, but our entire crew and our owners and our horse and everything and to be able to get a title for them is more important than for me. People have really been loving this horse. What's been your favorite time, you know, this year that's been on the road showing this horse? You know, there's a lot of them. I mean, the first two nights here in the World Finals was awfully fun. The McCurry Finals at the Congress was a lot of fun. There's been numerous runs, but I mean, the first two nights here was probably as good as it gets for me. Okay. Yeah. So you're top two, you got two, two 33s. Tell us what the runs were like when you're sitting on that horse and you're getting that kind of run and the crowd's going wild. Can you describe it to us? You know, when the horse does that, I mean, they're so into it. It's really a neat feeling because you can feel that horse wanting to win because we can show as good as we want. We can do the best job training showing to feel that horse wanting to win like that. It's incredible. And it hasn't been an easy year for you because you and Tatum Rice have been going neck and neck for most of the year. Does that make you raise your game or does it just add more pressure or both? It does. I mean, I think Tatum and I have had excellent years. We've enjoyed each other's company. Our families have spent a lot of time together and our friendships gotten a lot stronger when we were talking yesterday. It's the first time two horses have ever won $100,000 in the same year in the open. So that means we had a pretty good race going. You know, like back this summer, he and Clint Allen and I were all in the top three at the Derby and the four-year-old and we were kind of joking, you know, we were teaching each other how to show. Deluxe checks. Tell us about this horse and how the horse held up over the year. You know, I'm not really sure. We showed her so much. I'm not sure how she did it, but she was always sound. She was always bright. She always gave her heart every run and honestly, I think she's an excellent horse and I think a lot of her durability and how sharp she stayed is Seth Holcomb that works for me. He lived with her all year. And the last time I won the world in 2011 on Betty's a Cat, Seth got that horse ready too. So I think he was a huge part in it. Now you came by this horse. You've had the horse most of its career, correct? Yes. We bought her as a yearling out of the sale here and a Randall Ward that works for me wrote her as a two-year-old and I've shown her ever since she was a three-year-old. And I believe it was a pretty good deal when you bought it. So imagine the value you've put on it now. Yeah. I think she's maybe gained a zero or two since we bought her. Yeah. Just one or two. How do you choose when, you know, you've got a big stable. How do you choose which horse you're going to go haul on? Or is it really the horse that dictates to you and you think, okay, I've got to take this horse on the ride? It's the horse and it's the owner's goals too. Amanda was pregnant this time last year and she told me, she said, you know, which Amanda showed this mare a good bit during her aged events. She said if you would take her and try to qualify for the World Finals and show her at the major aged events, we would stay off of her all year. And you know, at the beginning of the year, I just went, I wasn't really trying to win the world, but, you know, we looked up in the spring and we were ahead of a pretty good bit and decided to try to do it. And how strategic did you have to be, especially because you had Tatum breathing down your neck? Did you have to match his shows, you know, go the same shows, I mean, or did you have to, I don't know, go somewhere else? You know, we cut together a good bit. I mean, we kept up with each other all year and picked at each other all year. But you know, I just went as much as I could and did as good as I could. And I tried to manage my horse and my business. I would like to have gone to the McCreary's on the West Coast, but I couldn't take my entire business, plus my fertility horses out there. So luckily we had some shows in our area and that helped out. I mean, you've got two horses in the semifinals and the fertility. You've won here the World Finals. It's it's a huge credit to you because you're on the road and you've got horses to train, aged, aged event horses. It's it's a juggle. And as I say, it's a huge credit to you to get it done. Yeah. And I mean, most of them were very understanding. I mean, sometimes I wouldn't be there when they practice at home or they understood what we wanted to do. And I had great help at home. The guys that helped me at home. I mean, the guys on the road that have helped me take care of it. I mean, it took a village to do it. It wasn't just me. OK, so what are your goals now? Looking forward, obviously you've got this fertility coming up. But you know, long term, what are your goals? I'd like to make dirty finals this year if possible. But I mean, long term, I just want to do as good as I can do and do as good a job as I can do. I mean, ride as good a horse as I can ride. See where it all happens. I mean, I I enjoy every bit of it and, you know, hopefully one day I'll be able to help Kate and Kaylee do the same thing. Sure. And they're on their way to following in the footsteps of their dad. Thank you very much. Congratulations to you, Austin. Thank you.