We all have that one horse that changed our lives–maybe it was the first one you ever rode, or perhaps the one who won you the most awards. Perhaps, it was the one who gave you the hardest time and taught life long lessons that have carried over into the real world. GoHorseShow asked notable competitors and trainers what that one horse was that changed their lives and why.
Angela Fox–His name is The Heat Seeker, aka Bomber or Bee Fuzzard. He is special for so many reasons but mostly because of his heart. I have shown quite a few talented horses over the years, but none with the amount of heart that Bomber has. He will do anything I ask him to and try his hardest to do it right. It is a very comforting feeling to walk into the pen knowing every time that your horse has your back. I think that is why we are such a good team. I appreciate and respect him and he tries his best for me. I think a good display of this is when we were named the 2011 AQHA World Champions in Amateur Horsemanship. He was injured just before the Congress that year and I was unable to attend. We were unsure if he would be okay for the World Show, and it was up in the air until just a few days before we left. He had not been ridden for weeks; he was wild and certainly not as prepared as one would want to be for that level of competition. I had to trust him to pull it together at the just the right time and did he ever. He has changed my life in so many good ways; he has taught me what a true partnership really is; he helped me fulfill my dream of becoming an AQHA World Champion; he has carried me to more wins and accolades than I ever thought possible but most of all he makes me smile everyday. He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse that I feel so fortunate to call mine.
Ted Turner–The horse that changed my life would be Mr. Conclusion. When I switched breeds, I helped a client purchase him and then I became associated with him. He ended up siring great babies and great horses and he helped me get to where I needed to be in quarter horses. For a while, I didn’t show any other horse besides Mr. Conclusion and he put me on the map. His presence, class and his siring ability makes him great. Not only was he a World Champion, but he has produced more World Champions then any other horse there has been. He was just a great horse, and he not only produced halter horses, but he produced performance horses that did pretty well. He really left his mark on the breed that no other horse has.
Carey Nowacek–Certify This Chex was definitely the horse that changed my life. Though some people may assume that he changed my life when we won the Horsemanship world title, it was way before that moment. “Lugnut” was a very special horse and I came to realize this after having him a few months, as we began teaching him new events. He was so willing and tried so hard for Brad and me. When I would get frustrated and upset, Lug was always there just trying his best to understand what we wanted. At a very influential time in my life (beginning high school), I was working with the most amazing animal in the country. I knew in that moment that Lugnut had changed my life. I knew that the goals I had dreamed about since I started showing Quarter Horses would be reached with Lugnut. He changed my life by being there for me every time I threw a leg over him and every time we stepped in the arena. I attribute the confidence I have in life and on a horse to the amazing Lugnut.
Leonard Berryhill–Vital Signs Are Good and Good I Will Be have equally been a highlight of my career. The reason I put them both on equal terms for the horses that have changed my life, is because, even though they were two very, very different horses, they were the two that I accomplished great things with. Lucy was always my benchmark, and still is today, of what I try to achieve with all of my western riders. They both equally did as much for me professionally as the other and it’s really hard for me to put one over the other. They both have been a source of great love. I had great admiration for Lucy as she continued on with Jason Martin and had heartbreak at the death of Willie. They were both very honest, could do multiple events and do them well and just were just great, great show horses. As I ride foals by or out of both, it’s always a joy to remember the times I had with them.
Ross Roark –I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of influential horses in my life, but in my early career, the two horses that had the most influence was Sheza Perfect Clu and Wincredible. Sheza Perfect Clu was a mare I bought for Jim Dunn, who was a great customer of mine who I eventually worked for full-time. I won the World with her, and she was grand-champion mare at the Congress. I showed her as a weanling, where she was Reserve World Champions and then showed her as yearling, when she won the World Championship. I think she was just one of the greatest mares of all time and was very influential on my early career. Wincredible was a stud I bought as a weanling for the same man, Jim Dunn. I showed him that year and he was Reserve World Champion. I then showed him as a yearling the next year and he won a World Champion. A year after that, we showed him as a 2-year old and he was World Champion in both the Open and Amateur. They were both horses that had a lot of presence, a lot of eye-appeal. They were good-legged, good-footed horses and were beautiful with their head, neck and torso. They turned out to be exceptional horses and I was fortunate to have them both early in my career, in my early 20s and they were just turned out to be great horses.
Andrea Simons–The horse that changed our lives was Zippos Sensation. We bought him when was just a few months old, and, today, he is the leading sire of performance horses in APHA. He is also the only colored horse that’s in the NSBA Hall of Fame and his colts have accumulated wins over a million dollars. My husband was out on buying trip, looking for halter horses, and he happened to come across him. Being out of Zippo Pine Bar, and his mother being a great mare, my husband called me and said this horse would really work. And he did. We showed him just lightly and he had a bit of an injury, so when that happened, his first foal crop was two years-old and the first one we showed was a World Champion. We just made the decision to use him as a breeding horse and the rest is pretty much history. He changed our lives because he gave us enough financial freedom for the girls to be able to go to college and not have to take out a bunch of financial loans. He directed them both, as far as their careers with Sara being a trainer and Jana being the breeding manager. I was able to go judge and do things that I like to do because of him. It makes me tear up thinking about it and I don’t even know what to say. I don’t know where we would be without him. He’s 23 now and he’s been here ever since he was four months-old.
Nancy Cahill–Well, I have two that come to mind immediately. The first horse I ever owned, I got when I was in the 4th grade. Her name was Trixie and my mom bought her and the saddle for about $150. She was just a rack of bones, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. She survived Hurricane Carla, and I don’t think my mom ever got papers, but I remember she had the most beautiful hair. After I had finally learned something and had graduated from college, we had a customer who bought a mare called Wahini Dancer. As a two year-old, I won the Junior Western Pleasure on her at the Congress, as well as placing in the futurity. When we went to the Congress, she was already a superior pleasure horse, so she was much more phenomenal than I was educated at the time and was just a great one. That mare introduced me to the world of showing big, because we had never been to the Congress before and had never driven or shown out of the state of Texas before. I’d like to thank my mom and just great customers.
Kristin Galyean–I got Vital Signs Are Good, or “Lucy” when she was two. She totally changed my life and I basically grew up on her back. I was only a freshman in college when we got her. I have a lot memories with her, like she would be out in the pasture and see me and come running. She was just kind of like a dog, and we had just such a strong bond from all of the time we spent together. In the show pen, we won the western pleasure in 2005 at the world show and then came back in the amateur to win the western riding with the highest score ever recorded, that was unbelievable with those classes being back-to-back. Then, a couple of years later, on her son, VS Code Red, when we won the Congress, that was something I will never forget. She changed my life, not only being around her but also with her babies. She helped build our ranch and I’ve had several of her babies, but the super special ones being VS Code Red and VS Flatline, who are both stallions now and breeding close to 400 mares a year. That’s been really great for me on the business side of things, but more importantly I just enjoy getting to show them and making memories on Lucy’s babies was special. It was really cool to go on with her babies and do what we did, and it’s something I will never forget.
Ellexxah Maxwell–Zips Bossy Chip or Annie B and I have been a team four years this year. There are many ways Annie B is special and it’s not only because of her performance in the pen but outside as well. Growing up in a trainer’s kid atmosphere, I learned that you get one once-in-a-lifetime horse and I know I’ve gotten mine. Annie has changed my life because she has taught me that anything is possible. She has shown me that if they say “you can’t do it,” that means you have to try harder until you make the impossible possible. Annie changed my life by being not only my being my horse, but my inspiration, and when I feel down she’s always there for me. She has become my best friend, and I couldn’t imagine showing horses without her. Annie has one of the best ground tie talents I know, I can stand at one end of the pen and she’ll stand at the other and never move.
Jessica Baird–Her name is Cool Movin Lady or Beulah. She’s 14 and my parents surprised me with Beulah in April 2007. We’ve been a team for the past 8 years and we have been extremely fortunate to accomplish more achievements and honors than I ever dreamed, like being three-time AQHA Reserve World Champion Amateur Western Pleasure, AQHA Reserve World Champion Amateur Showmanship, Amateur All Around Congress champion, and multiple top ten honor roll achievements. Beulah has been the horse that is everything I could have ever dreamed, but nothing I expected. Some of my favorite stories are bloopers that include her quirky personality traits, such as at the 2007 Youth World Show when she leaped out of the line up in the western pleasure as the announcer was reading the call backs. I truly cherish all of my memories with Beulah – from simply walking into the barn with her begging for peppermints to the all night riding sessions in the Celeste at the Congress, she has truly changed my life. I didn’t know it was possible to love an animal as much as I do her – through all of our successes and all of our failures, I wouldn’t trade her for the world.
Darla Lee–It is such a hard task to pick just one horse but I would have to say the horse I won the Congress on would have to be way up there. Debonair Deluxe MM, or Devon, was in no way ready to show. He had not been to a single show, he was too small and was just not what you would think would be anything near a Congress winner. He changed my life in a way that made me feel like anything was possible. If you would have told me at the beginning of the year or even the beginning of the show he would win that class I would have laughed. He overcame some major odds to become a great show horse. Later in his life when I got him back to show again, he was very smart and challenged me to think about training a horse’s mind and not just their bodies. He taught me so many small and large things that I will continue to use in my training for the rest of my career, and I am glad I got to share his Congress win with him.
Andrea Fappani –The one that comes to mind is RR Star, because he’s the one that I won my first NRHA Derby Futurity. I was an assistant trainer at the time and it’s almost unheard of for an assistant trainer to win a big open futurity there, and I never thought I was ready for it. It was kind of a surprise. I was 24 at the time, and it just kind of set my career off. A year after that, I went on my own and that horse just opened so many doors. He was the first paint horse to ever win a reining futurity, and I was the first European to win so we kind of made history together. It was just a special thing. He set my career up, and I just feel that he was the horse to put me on the map and ride in the United States and do what I’ve done. I’d like to thank the owners, Rose and Richard Lundin, for giving me the opportunity to ride and show him. They had no knowledge of who I was or what I could do, so I have to thank them for trusting in me and what I could do and letting me do my job.
Molli Jacobs–Taylored By Deluxe, aka Taylor, is so special to me for many reasons. He came into my life during my senior year of high school and has been very influential throughout my college years. One specific memory that I’m extremely fond of is winning the 15-18 horsemanship at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in 2011. Winning isn’t what makes him special to me though. He has the best personality of any horse I’ve ever been around. Taylor would live in the house if he could. He loves to be the center of attention and especially loves treats (of any kind). Tay aka “Grandpa” eats anything from popsicles to honey buns to ice cream cones, pretty much whatever I’m eating. He knickers whenever I walk in the barn and will lick my face if I let him. Taylor truly is something else. He hates to be in trouble and loves to go to a horse sho.! We have been a team since the end of 2010, so for about five years now. Taylor is 17 now and lives in Ohio with my family. He’s one of my favorite parts about home. He is pretty much retired now, but as I said earlier he loves to go to the horse shows, so we will still compete around home in the showmanship. Taylor will always hold a special place in my heart.
Vanessa Froman–“Rudy”, or Gentlemen Step Aside was a 2007 gelding I bought when he was just 24 hours old. I only was able to show Rudy for two full show seasons and a few months of our third season together before his death in May 2012. We had been training for just over a year with Jenell Pogue and together we had changed so much. Rudy was the horse that I looked at and could feel him looking right into my heart. I had that connection with him from the beginning that others only start to get after years together. However, it was in his death that my life and how I viewed things really changed. I remember everything from that day with such clarity. Not many truly know or can empathize with how devastated I was. Our trainer, Jenell, drove with him and my dad to Rood & Riddle to try and save his foot, but when they got there they discovered both arteries had been severed from kicking his foot through his stall. I had no choice, and nothing could save him. Jenell stayed with Rudy till he drew his last breath and she took his shoes off and cut his tail to bring back for me. After that I wanted to sell everything and quit horses, I never thought I could go on. Horses hurt my heart too much, but with time and a lot of help from my friends I started to think of ways to honor Rudy and our partnership. I had his sister, Gentlemen Prefer Legs, at home and started to focus on her. Because of Rudy, I am a stronger and a more confident rider. We never got to achieve the goals we set that year, but in 2014 his sister and I did, in his honor. His halter goes to every horse show with us still. I have his ashes in a large wooden box and haven’t found that “perfect place” to spread them until this year. We have found a final resting place for him that is perfect and it’s a place where dreams are coming true and I want his ashes to be part of the land those dreams are built on.
Carli Pitts–I’ve been lucky to show many great horses but the one that changed by life would have to be YouNeverLookedSoGood or “BB.” I’ve never had a horse that loved to show as much as she did. It didn’t matter what the situation was, as soon as she jogged through the gate her ears went up and she was game on. BB had so much personality and heart in and out of the show pen. I showed her in 2013 and she is one of the best pleasure horses I’ve ever ridden. I love watching her continue her success with her current owner and I will always be one of her biggest fans. I’m very excited because she has a two year old we’ve been riding and he looks like he’ll have a bright future like his mother.
