Those who have been in the horse industry for a while know that the shows are more fun when amateur competitor Ann Admonius of Ocala, Florida is around. When you leave Ann’s presence, you are always in a good mood because she has that innate quality to make you laugh and feel special. She is also one of those rare individuals who has the ability to fill up a room with her positive energy and glow.
Ann is a person who never seems to age and looks exactly the same as she did twenty years ago. She is the George Burns of the horse shows and a staple in our industry. You could never imagine her not being there. This charismatic lady is one of the few exhibitors who has won the Congress in three different disciplines: western pleasure, reining, and halter. How many people can say that?…. Not many.
Admonius has been involved with showing horses for over twenty years and started showing at AQHA shows in 1985 with her favorite companion, the late Deeno Man. GoHorseShow.com first contacted Ann about profiling Deeno Man in our Famous Retired Show Horse series, but unfortunately he passed away shortly before we contacted her. The 1982 sorrel gelding spent his last years at Ann’s farm in Ocala before he had to be put down last winter. Ann and Deeno won the 1986 Amateur Rookie of the Year 31-49, the Reserve Amateur All-Around in 1987 and amassed over 500 points in seven different events.
“Deeno was a big horse that could go really slow, and he was a cool horse to be around,” Ann remembers. “When I got him back and retired him at my farm, I remember him walking up to me and rubbing his face up and down on my chest like he used to do when I first had him,” Ann says before getting choked up and fighting back tears. “He was like a human. I would sleep with him in the stall and he would always do whatever I asked. He would never refuse or say no–even when he had never jumped a fence before, and I pointed him toward it. He would always be up for anything.”
Ann adds, “We never won anything huge besides the Rookie of the Year, but he was the first horse that ever gave me the chance of winning. He also gave me the opportunity to meet a multitude of people who have turned into life-long friends.”
Admonius credits trainer Junior Shelpman with her success with Deeno. “Junior had the incredible ability to see a diamond in the rough and had this innate ability to correct certain issues and problems people were having with their horses.” (Pictured Left- Ann aboard Deeno Man with Junior Shelpman)
Later on, Admonius also had the opportunity to own outstanding World Champion horses such as western pleasure champions, Zippos Tiger Bar, Im Up To No Good, Ms Potential Zip, and Good Version. Ann also won four halter World Championships in a row with the outstanding mare, Precious Mister and followed up that success with halter mare, A Mona Lisa Clu.
World Champion Western Pleasure trainer Troy Compton of Purcell, Oklahoma remembers that Ann was one of his first clients when he went out on his own. (Pictured right–Ann riding Zippos Tiger Bar, Compton far left)
“She is one of the top people I have ever done business with,” Troy says. “She believed in me wholeheartedly. She put a lot of faith in me, and I will never forget that.”
Compton tells us a few great stories about Ann. One involved Ann buying Congress Champion and World and Congress Champion sire, Good Version.
“When I saw Good Version, I had a special feeling about him, and I knew I had to buy him. I wrote the owners a personal check for $35,000, but at the time, I seriously had less than $1,000 in my bank account,” Troy recalls. “I ended up waking Ann up in the middle of the night and told her that I had found a horse she needed to buy. It took a lot of faith for her to just wire $35,000 into my account–but that is what she did–she had that much faith in me.”
Another one of Compton’s favorite stories involved Ann finding Zippos Tiger Bar who went on to be a World Champion and three time Congress Champion.
“A lot of people think that I found that horse, but it was Ann who found him from the late, great Rodney Miller,” Troy remembers. ” When I picked up the horse, I asked Rodney what he sold her, and he told me that she had found me a good one. And Rodney was right. Zippos Tiger Bar was the first horse I ever won a World Championship with in the western pleasure. “
Ann is also well known in the industry for loving and caring for her horses like they were her children. World Champion halter trainer Ross Roark said that Ann always instructed him to, “take care of her horses like they were my own, but send her the bill.”
Roark also said that Ann is a very generous person. In fact, she gave him an embryo out of Precious Mister after she won the World and was Grand Champion Halter Mare at the Congress.
Not satisfied staying idle for long, Ann got hooked on the reining after taking a lesson from legendary horseman Bob Avila. In 2009, Ann successfully switched gears when she won the 2009 Limited Non Pro at the Congress with her reining horse, Better Not Rest, with a score of 216 beating over 100 entries in the class. Another fun fact is that actor William Shatner showed her horse at the Make-A-Wish Celebrity Slide held in conjunction with the 2009 NRHA Futurity. Ann is currently showing in the Non Pro Reining events under the guidance of Shawn Flarida. (Pictured left with Better Not Rest)
“The reining is so challenging and very humbling,” Ann says. “I just enjoy the horses and the people. I’m also getting old and would definitely get too stiff if I stopped riding–so I guess I’m here for the long haul. There is nothing else I would rather be doing than spending time with my horses, family, and friends.”
Photos © Jeff Kirkbride
