Photo by Michael J. GallegosTribune

Tribune

John Rannenberg, Arabian horse trainer, makes a last-minute adjustment for rider Mari Kate Matthews before she competes with her horse, For The Love Of Thunder, as groom John Boy looks on (left). This is the last year Albuquerque will host the U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show at Expo New Mexico. The show moves to Tulsa, Okla., next year after more than three decades here.

Photo by Michael J. GallegosTribune

Tribune

Greg Gall£n and his wife, Nancy, owners of Gall£n Farms in Santa Ynez, Calif., ride past the horse stalls on at the U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show at Expo New Mexico. The Gall£ns have attended the championship in Albuquerque for 30 years.

Photo by Michael J. GallegosTribune

Tribune

John Rannenberg, horse trainer from Ocala, Fla., gets For The Love Of Thunder, a horse owned by Mari Kate Matthews, ready for competition.

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John Rannenberg won't have to drive his horses 34 hours from Florida anymore, or struggle to breathe in Albuquerque's crisp October air.

Still, he will miss his long-distance relationship with the city and the New Mexico dirt that is kind to his horses' hooves.

In more than 30 years of visits, the horse trainer from Ocala, Fla., has seen Albuquerque go through many changes and has won too many horse competitions to count at Tingley Coliseum.

As the U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show pays its last visit to Albuquerque, more than 2,000 competitors are saying goodbye to the place that first hosted the competition in 1969.

Since 1975, the city has hosted the championship every other year.

"It's an end of a long era for this breed not to be coming here," said Rannenberg.

The final championship in Albuquerque began Thursday and will end Saturday.

In 2004, Gary Dearth of Corrales, vice president of the national Arabian Horse Association, said the show would be moving to Tulsa, Okla., in 2008.

The association has a contract to be in Oklahoma for three years.

This year's championship features 1,740 horses, 2,557 people competing in classes and 115 events, said Amy Train, editor of Modern Arabian Horse magazine and a spokeswoman for the event. Most of the competitors are from all over the United States and Canada; only 29 New Mexicans have horses in the competition.

To commemorate the event's farewell to Albuquerque, the Arabian Horse Association will have a live presentation of Albuquerque's greatest past champions. Fans will have an opportunity to meet the horses during a meet-and-greet today.

Longtime competitors say they're carrying lots of fond memories with them this year.

Greg Gallún, owner of Gallún Farms in Santa Ynez, Calif., has also been coming to the competition in Albuquerque for 30 years.

He remembers when his brother showed a stallion named Strike, who took first place in one of the competitions in 1985.

"Having Strike win in Albuquerque was a great memory of mine," he said.

He pointed to a picture he keeps in his stable of Strike, who is retired now.

"Strike is still alive," he said. "He lives with a miniature donkey."

After 30 years, Rannenberg and Gallún have grown accustomed to Albuquerque and have seen many improvements.

"This facility (Expo New Mexico) does offer really good things," said Rannenberg. "They've done a lot of construction with the building of the new barns."

He said the dirt here is easier on the horses than the concrete will be at the Oklahoma facility.

"In Tulsa, our horses will be on concrete, so we will have to put in rubber mats," he said.

He also mentioned there are a lot of places to work your horse at Expo New Mexico, especially at the Downs at Albuquerque.

Gallún said he is sad to be leaving the Duke City.

"I think we've made a mistake in not staying in Albuquerque," Gallún said.

It's a scenic area and is close to Santa Fe, where his mother lives.

"It (Tingley) is an outdoor venue and the weather is cooperative and the sun is shining," he said. "That's something I look forward to."

Rannenberg and Gallún said Albuquerque has grown so much and has put in more restaurants, high-quality hotels and the new ABQ Uptown.

However, there are some people who are happy the championship is moving to Tulsa.

Craig Neil of Florida, whose wife shows in the competition, said he is looking forward to a shorter haul.

"It looks like it will be a great location," he said.

He also said he has a difficult time dealing with the weather in Albuquerque because of the altitude and dryness.

He said he is excited about going to Oklahoma in October.

"That time of year is perfect weather for Tulsa," he said.

But for others, it will be a lot more difficult to say goodbye.

"We've done it for so many years, being in Albuquerque in October," Rannenberg said.