GoHorseShow would like to congratulate Shelley Shepherd of Riverside, California on the purchase of Must Be A Detail (Stewie) from the Papendick’s of South
Dakota. The Papendick family bought Stewie back last year from Stephanie Willsey who showed him in her last year of youth to a Congress Championship in the Youth 14-18 Hunter Hack.
“As many know, Stewie is and always has been my dream horse,” says Stephanie Willsey. “He gave me the best and most successful show year of my lif,e and I will always credit him for that. I am forever grateful for all that he did for me last year. Stewie is truly a great one; he has both talent and a great mind. That combination made every ride fun and always kept me looking forward to the next horse show. I can’t wait for Shelley to experience what I did. I’ll be her and Stewie’s biggest fan -I know they will be great together. I think Stewie is everything anyone could ever want in a horse and I’m so happy for Shelley!”
The 2002 bay gelding by Last Detail is an 11-time Congress and
11-time World Champion. Stewie has also accumulated over 800 points in
the english events and western riding. Shepherd is currently under the guidance of Jill Newcomb of San Marcos, California.
“I will forever remember Stewie’s personality. He is and always will be a goofball,” says former owner, Kristina Papendick. “There would be days at a show where he will drive you up the wall and then he will go into a class and perform flawlessly which will make up for all the stupid tricks he pulled.”
Papendick adds, “Stewie is mister consistent and had the biggest heart. He’s sensitive to his rider’s feelings which is why I think he has done so well over the lifetime of his career. I don’t know too many English horses that can consistently place in the top ten at every World Show. He has won the the youth, amateur, and amateur select. Not to mention all his success at the All American Quarter Horse Congress.”
Kristina told GoHorseShow about one special memory that stood out during their show career together. There was one summer where she had to haul to get qualified because Stewie had just recovered from colic surgery. Papendick thought she got qualified at the Big A and left early to rest up before the Southern Belle Futurity.
“Jason (Martin) calls me while I’m in Tunica and asks how many points it takes to get qualified in the hunter under saddle, and I told him, and he responded with, ‘and how many points do you have? You need to get to a show now. The deadline is this coming weekend!'”
Papendick remembers that her friend, Heidi Smith, drove from Pilot Point, Texas to Tunica, Mississippi overnight and helped her load up at two in the morning to drive to the “middle of nowhere Texas”.
“The entire drive we were in a severe thunderstorm,” Kristina recalls. “We literally pull up to the show as they are three classes away from mine. Stewie went from the trailer directly into the class and showed like he was going to win the World. I will never forget that memory. We ended up fourth that year in the Amateur Hunter Under Saddle.”
While, The Papendick’s will miss their “Giant Love Bug”, they had eight wonderful years together and felt it was time for someone else to continue his career.
“Stewie has given my family, the Willsey family, Beth Case, Charlie Cole and Ryan
Painter so much success over the years that we decided to give him a
vacation. During that time, Shelley offered to give him another home to
continue on his success. I wish Shelley the best of luck with Stewie. I
know they are going to make a great team!”
