This past year’s 13 and Under APHA High Point All-Around winner, Madison
Malsch, and 14-18 APHA High Point All-Around winner, Paige Stawicki may
be close friends, but they have a lot more in common than just winning
the prestigious Number One title in 2010. Limited for different reasons to not being able to show the entire year, both girls did not
expect to win any titles. Faced with tough road blocks and interesting challenges along the way, each accumulated enough points to win the coveted number one title.
Madison and Paige have been great friends for a while. “We’re always looking out for each other, and we are there for one another when needed,” says Paige. 
Their mothers, Mary Malsch and Beverley
Stawicki, are good friends and very supportive of their daughter’s
passion for horses. According to Paige, “Madison’s mom was always on top of my points and figuring out totals. She seriously is a pro at Microsoft Excel. She could tell me exactly how many judges I needed from each show and how many points I needed under each. She and my mom were always figuring up numbers, and after all their calculations, they ended up only one point off. They’re truly partners in crime.” (Mary and Bev pictured top left)
Madison Malsch and her longtime partner, Hesa Super Cajun (Cajun), won the high point 13 and Under title in 2009, and according to Madison’s mom, they were pretty much exhausted from hauling all year. “A few people asked if we were going to run again in 2010, and both Madison and I said resoundingly ‘NO WAY!’ We finished the Oklahoma City show in January 2010 and went home to Colorado and sent our beloved Cajun to spend the winter in warm and sunny Tomball, Texas for some well deserved rest. We went to a couple of winter and spring shows and a few Missouri shows and then the APHA Summer World Show.”
Mary goes on to say that, “Our focus going into the Summer World was to have the best possible rides Madison could have as it was her last year (in 13 and Under) and she really wanted to do the best she could. She came away from the World Show with the World Championship in Showmanship 13 & U and third place overall in the all around competition.”
When asked what the biggest challenges were for her daughter, Mary explained that the decision to sell Cajun was a very difficult decision for the family. “We sold Cajun at the Summer World Show. We knew it was something we had to do, but how do you sell a beloved family member, a trusted friend that has carried your daughter to so many titles and championships since she was eight years old? How do you sell a 20-year-old show horse? You find the exact right trainer, program and new owner for them and that’s what we tried to do. Cajun is now owned by Sherry Mahaffee of Carthage, Texas under the guidance of Joe Frank Brown Show Horses. He is loving life as a Novice Amateur Horse and is spoiled rotten.”
Madison also mentioned that the toughest challenge for her this year was selling her beloved friend. “Every day through the World Show before he was sold I cried myself to sleep. It was very difficult for me to understand that he was no longer going to be mine. Since the age of seven, I had always been ‘Madison Malsch and Hesa Super Cajun.’ And knowing that my name would never again be associated with his was the most difficult thing I have gone though in my life. It was like I was ripping the heart out of my own chest. But then I reminded myself that I was giving that generous, loving, caring heart to someone else to enjoy and cherish.”
Turning over the reins to Cajun’s new owner just half way through the year, there was a good chance that Madison and Cajun would be passed and fall from the number one spot. However, this duo was able to pull it out and win the title for the second year in a row by fifty points. It is a great ending to the show career of Madison and Cajun. Look out for Madison and her new horse, Paintfully Innocent, as they debut this year in the 14-18 events.
The Malsch’s would like to thank many of their great friends: Blake Carney from Georgia, Spike Brewer of North Carolina, Bev Bass and Paige Stawicki of Texas, Cody Franklin and the Busby Farm Gang in Missouri, Becky George in Texas and most especially Suzetta Busby – their trainer for taking “a little walk trotter and a washed up old show horse” and making them five time World Champions and two-time, Number One Top-20 Winners.
While Madison’s title win was unexpected, Paige’s win was probably one of the hardest earned title runs in APHA history. It came down to the last show in Newberry, Florida with four girls having the capability of winning the title. Stawicki and her mount, HR Zip Me (Speck), ended up pulling it out and winning by a slight margin of just eighteen points.
However, their show season leading up to this show in Florida was anything but normal. At the beginning of the year, this duo showed at various shows and did so well that she had a very substantial lead in the title race. After arriving at a show in Kentucky, their luck seemed to change.
“It became very obvious to us that something was wrong with Speck. We had one of the best equine podiatrist in the country come look at Specks front feet,” Paige said. “We then discovered he had close to a year’s worth of white line brewing between his hoof wall and laminae. The disease was covered with acrylic at the previous barn which is absolutely, a hundred percent, the worst thing to put on white line since it locks in moisture and encourages the fungus to breed. The vet immediately drilled out the portion of Specks foot containing the destructive fungus which ended up leaving a hole the size of a golf ball missing from his front foot.”
Paige reflects on her struggle to show at the 2010 World Show. “This all happened within weeks of my 2010 World Show. The vets did everything they could to try and get me in the pen, but with a month and a half off, a strict no lunging order, and a maximum of 15 minutes of ride time a day, it made it close to impossible to show.”
On top of all of those problems, the Stawicki’s discovered that Speck also had two torn MCL’s and a torn hinge ligament. Speck had surgery and then had to be laid off for six months.
“Even though I was down for six months, I led the nation until the first week in December when I was passed by a fellow competitor, Katie Buff,” Paige recalls. “She had a 27 point gain on me, and I knew that if I wanted to stay in the race I had to go to the Florida show the next weekend. Katie was there, so we got to go head to head.”
Paige said that they were given permission from the vet to start riding Speck on a Monday, and Tuesday afternoon he was on his way to Florida. “I still couldn’t hardly lunge or warm up, but we ended up winning six of the eight classes we went in. Trail was the most important of these. I won trail across the board picking up 24 points that ultimately led to my being number one,” she said. “The ironic part was that I don’t even do Trail. Since he needed so much time off, we weren’t given the chance to practice the event, but Speck pulled out yet another miracle and went through a class he’s never done flawlessly.”
Paige adds, “This year really taught me life long lessons that I will keep with me forever. I’ve had to deal with issues I hope no youth kid ever has to deal with, but I’ve become stronger because of it.”
This year is Paige’s last year in youth and she looks forward to competing at all the major shows this year before her APHA show career comes to an end. She plans to start a new challenge when she will attend the University of Georgia this fall and ride for the equestrian team.
Paige would like to thank her mom for allowing her the opportunity to do what she loves. “No words can describe how appreciative I am for having her save my horse’s life! With that, I would like to thank Dr. Easter for opening his office on several of his off days to tend to Speck. Without his help and constant supervision, I would not be where I am today. Also I would like to thank my trainers, Chad and Shane Christensen, for always looking out for Speck and for the hours spent treating, rehabbing, and running Speck to and from the vet.”
Paige’s mom, Beverley, says she is extremely proud of Paige for being able to rise to the occasion and compete in less than ideal circumstances. “She was able to take a horse that at any time might be called lame and go show and try her best. I believe that takes a lot of courage. Despite the challenges we have faced the last couple of years in the industry, it has been the best ten years of our lives, and we wouldn’t change it for anything.”
