There were over 170 exhibitors entered in Monday’s AQHYA World Show Showmanship
Preliminaries, and the judges had the unenviable job of picking the top fifteen
they wanted to see again in the finals. Nineteen-year-old
Jessie Hadlock of Goodlettsville, Tennessee was one of the exhibitors selected to return to the finals Tuesday morning. Jessie
let GoHorseShow follow and video her as she prepared for, and showed in, the finals in
Oklahoma City.
Jessie is no stranger to the Showmanship finals. For the past three years she had made the
elite list with her long-time partner, Zipped N Bar Teddy. Jessie and Zippy finished fifth last year and
she was excited to bring him back in 2010 for her final Youth World.
“I nationally qualified Zippy, but at the beginning of the
year I was starting to think that it wasn’t going to be fair to bring him to
Oklahoma City in August.” At
18-years-old, Zippy’s health issues, namely his insulin resistance, have been a
struggle. “He doesn’t do well with long
hauls, especially in the heat. Plus, the long days at the horse shows like we
have a lot of at the World Show are very tough on him. We had to make the decision based on what was
fair to him, even though he’s my security blanket.”
The Hadlock family (parents Donna and Greg and sister, Ashley)
collectively decided that Jessie should give a try at qualifying Ashley’s
horse, Structurally Correct. “I started
showing Oliver in March and I’ve been to five shows with him total. We did the Redbud and the Big A which were
world show quality competition and we did really well. But showmanship has been our worst class so it
was really just an accomplishment for me to make it to the finals.”
“My biggest issue has been letting myself trust him. He is lazy and if I don’t have him sharp when
I go in, he will be really dull in the class.
Then I doubt myself and anticipate that he’s going to make a mistake and
then we make a mistake. So when I have
doubt, I put it in his mind too.”
After a strong run in the preliminaries and an even better
one in the semi-finals, Jessie had one more chance with Oliver. Now it was time to prepare for the finals.
“I tried to get a good night’s sleep, but it was hard because
I knew I had to be out to practice really early. Whenever I go to bed the night before I show,
I imagine myself doing the pattern in my head and I imagine it being
perfect. I want to go to sleep confident
that he’s going to go with me.“
Jessie had to report at the stalls at 3:30 am to practice
for both the showmanship and horsemanship finals which will be held later the
same day. “We practiced showmanship just
like I’ll be showing it and then I saddled and did horsemanship practice.”
What did she focus on in her showmanship practice? “I came out and did my pattern exactly how
I’m going to do it in the show pen. I was trying to think the exact lines with
the exact distance. I did school it a
little bit but I really wanted to see how good we could be without schooling. He
was awesome in practice and I just have to have all the confidence with him
because the more confident I am, the more confident he is.”
“I want a pattern just like yesterday,” said Jessie’s
trainer, AQHA judge, Kendra Weis . “I felt like yesterday she was just right
on. In the finals she needs to
concentrate on closing off her spins and getting out of the spins. The hardest spot will be trotting around and finding
the right spot to stop where you are even with the judge because it’s from a
far off distance and I think a lot of kids are going to have trouble with
that. Then I want her to turn and
show her back off in front of the judges.
Oliver can do it and so can she.”
****Click here to see the finals pattern and instructions as
drawn by AQHA****
Jessie has enjoyed incredible success in the show pen her
entire youth career and she has always excelled in showmanship. “What makes Jessie so good in this class is
that she’s just a natural at the showmanship,” says Weis. “When she goes in
it’s like she’s on stage and she just comes to life. That’s her personality. But don’t let the fact that it comes natural
to her fool you. This is the culmination
of years and years of hard work. People
can work hard, but they must have that natural ability to shine in the show pen
and Jessie definitely has that.”
On Tuesday morning, Jessie’s pre-game plan worked with the precision of a marching
band. “Through trial and error we have learned the best way to prepare Oliver
to show in the showmanship,” Jessie explains. “Ten minutes before the class I warm up and then go
straight into the chute. He doesn’t need to stand around very much because he
gets lazy. He’s better if I go warm up
and go straight in.”
7am – Get dressed
7:15 – Hair and makeup
7:30 – Jessie visualizes pattern in the aisle way (pictured here)
7:40 – Oliver is finished being groomed
7:45 – Head to warm-up arena
7:55 – Last-minute grooming touch-ups
7:57 – Final words of wisdom from Blake
Weis, “Bring it!”
7:59 – Line up in chute third to go
8:00 – Class starts
8:03 – Give it all she has
After completing her pattern, Jessie walks out of the arena mildly disappointed. It is at this point that she takes her first deep breath
in a while. She knows that by overshooting her mark as little as one extra step, her chances of taking home a trophy are slim. She stands quietly with her family in the
make-up pen, reflecting on her pattern. Kendra appears and gives her a huge
hug. “I am very proud of both of you! You had a lot of really pretty parts,”
she said.
As the class wraps up, all 15 exhibitors were called back in
to the pen. “I was very emotional going
back in,” Jessie admits. “I was crying walking down the alley to go get our
prizes and I hope people didn’t think I was a poor sport. It hit me then and there that it was my last
walk as a youth exhibitor in the showmanship and I got choked up.”
Jessie stood patiently while the announcer called out the
placings. “We wound up eleventh overall.
As I was walking to get my ribbon I was thinking about the other kids who didn’t
make it to the finals. Some of them had really nice patterns and were very
deserving! So we’re really lucky to even be in the finals. I feel very good to have done as well as I did.”
Jessie found out after the class that she was fourth following the preliminaries go-round.
If you’re wondering where Jessie’s poise and maturity comes from, look no farther than her parents. Jessie’s mom, Donna, helped put it in perspective. “When they played the National Anthem this
morning I thought to myself, ‘there are people fighting battles half way
across the world and people are losing their loved ones so that we can do this.’
If our only worry is how Jessie does in
the showmanship, no matter what, we’re fine.
Don’t get me wrong, Jessie loves to win and wishes she could have one
step back, but when you look at the big picture, we’re all very lucky. These stories can’t always be about winning
and Jessie’s a winner as far as we are concerned.”
Click here to watch the photo slide show of Jessie’s day.
