“The Gordyville Shootout started over 10 years ago and has been a huge success,” Jody Quiram, who helps run the shows with her family, told GoHorseShow. “A lot of people say it feels like they won the Congress because of all the prizes that we give away.”
The Shootout, which was comprised of a Western Pleasure and Showmanship class, was inspired by cutting horses who have these types of classes where winners from all divisions come back in one class and compete against each other. This year, winners of classes from previous Gordyville shows were invited back to participate in the Gordyville Shootout which is held during a Quarter Horse show and Futurity that featured six sets of points over four days.
The show paid places first through tenth with a $1,000 purse given for each class. Each finalist also received a free stall and the winner was presented with a silver halter designed by Kathy’s and donated by Pard’s Western Store. The judges for this show were Kendra Weis, Jerry Erickson, and Jan Hoskin, as well as the Shootout judges including, Rick Christy, Michael Weaver, and Gigi Bailey.
“It is such a cool class,” Jody says. “It is a huge draw and keeps people coming back to our shows. The judges also love judging this class because it has great horses and it’s lots of fun.”
The winners this year include Amateur exhibitor Jill Voss who won the western pleasure with her talented mare, One Hot Drama Mama beating over 19 other riders. The winner of the Showmanship was underdog, Dylan Easley who is a Novice Youth who has owned his new mare, My Deeva, for two short months. Easley beat over 26 other showman in this tough class and is helped by his mother and doesn’t have a full time trainer.
“This year I just wanted to qualify, but winning it? I still don’t think it is real,” Dylan said. “I trotted up to get my awards and I was in total shock, it didn’t make sense that I only had a few months to get to know her and I had only a couple lesson with her, so I really didn’t expect to win it. It is a real honor to be one of the select few to win the shootout and even rarer to be a guy that wins it. To know the people that have won it before me like Nicole Barnes and Kody Zaagman, they have both gone on to place very high at World and the Congress so it puts me in an elite group. Words really cannot describe how I felt; I was crying after I won I was so happy, it still feels like a dream.”
“It was really exciting to see Dylan win this class since he is a Novice, and a boy,” Jody said. “We also have really tough patterns for the Showmanship so it also helps exhibitors getting ready for the World Show showing against three judges with the same level of competition that you will see at the World Shows.”
Jill Voss, who won the Pleasure, said that Gordyville is one of her favorite places to go show. “I just love Gordyville, they’re always happy to see you, host excellent exhibitor parties and they hire great judges,” Jill said. “I’ve had so much success there for so many years. I actually showed Peach’s (One Hot Drama Mama) mom there on a regular basis during her show career and qualified her for this same shootout in 2002. It was a very special win for me.”
Click here for a slideshow from the Gordyville Shootout. Thanks to Carri Wilborn of Impulsive Concept Design for the great photos.
Click here for complete results from the show courtesy of Gordyville.
