Pinto World Championship brings big crowds, bigger economic impact to Tulsa

Tulsa is welcoming hundreds of horses and thousands of visitors this week as the Pinto World Championship Horse Show continues at Expo Square.

The event, hosted by the Pinto Horse Association of America, draws competitors and spectators from across the country, and even internationally, bringing both excitement and major economic benefit to the city.

Horse Shows Driving Millions to Tulsa’s Economy

“We have a huge impact, over $88 million in 2024 with the 13 World and Congress shows that we host. And that's just the ones, the large ones that we work with,” said Kathleen Borgne with the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Bornier says the impact stretches far beyond hotel rooms and restaurants.

“These groups come in for two weeks or more, and they're not only in our restaurants, but they're also at our hardware stores, they're also at our grocery stores. A lot of the groups, they might show on a Monday and then they'll be in our attractions on Tuesday and Wednesday and not showing until Thursday. So they're taking all of Tulsa in while they're here.”

The shows attract people from around the world, not just from Oklahoma.

“We have even from International that come in and show at Daryl's show, also our raving show. We have a lot of international, national snuffle bit that's in August, are here from International.”

What Makes a Pinto Horse?

Darrell Bilke with the Pinto Horse Association of America explains that “Pinto” refers to horses with a particular appearance.

“Pinto, we are an international Show horse association. Okay, we register horses with color, which is got the spot the paint color. And then we have a solid division, all horses just different solid so they show in separate classes. So, okay, we we have a registry of about 88,000 horses. So and we have shows approved in about 52 states and so and we we have a lot a lot of horses going so yeah.”

Thousands of Horses, Hundreds of Events, and a Lot of Fun

This isn’t a small weekend show. The Pinto World Championship spans nearly two weeks.

“We've got from the miniature horses to the stock horses to the pleasure type horses to the saddle type horses and we have 720 different classes so we've got from Western pleasure to barrels to poles the jumping fences and the only thing we don't have is working cattle classes, so just come and join us for the next 13 days, and we'd love to have you. We've shown three arenas.”

The number of horses, and people, is significant.

“We'll have about 1,200 horses, and each one of those horses will bring about five people with them. So they're here basically 13, 14 days. So they go to a lot of restaurants and eat a lot, buy a lot of groceries. They like to come into Tulsa because of the museum, the water park, The Gathering Place. So they're here for a vacation. So it's been very good. And Tulsa's been very, very good to us.”

Bilke adds the city has been an ideal host for such a large event.

“Visit Tulsa. Kathleen is our support. The mayor, the chamber of commerce, the county commissioners. Tulsa Expo Square is probably the premier Horseshoe facility in the world so great great facility so people love coming to Tulsa.”

The Pinto World Championships continue at Expo Square through mid-June.