Saturday saw “Youth Weekend” in full swing with Youth Showmanship, Equitation and Western Pleasure classes crowning champions, as well as the Open Maturity Western Pleasure Stakes and Limited division of the Two Year Old Open Western Pleasure Stakes. Learn more about the day’s winners.
Youth Showmanship Champions Named
The Celeste Center was busy with all ages of Youth Showmanship Exhibitors on Saturday morning, and saw large numbers in all three age divisions.
Sydney Scheckel and A Perfect Pleasure won the AQHA and NSBA championship in 15-18 Youth Showmanship in their final appearance together, besting a field of 118 exhibitors.
“She is really a special horse,” Scheckel said of her 17 year old mare. “We’ve been together for five years, and she stays at home with me. We’ve won the 11 & Under, the Novice, the 12-14 and the 15-18 Showmanship here.”
Scheckel found one of the hardest parts to her finals pattern was not the course, but the song that was playing. “They started playing ‘You’re Gonna Miss This’ by Trace Adkins, and I started to get a little emotional,” she said.
“I just had to focus and get through the pattern. The circle was bigger than I expected, and our pattern had a lot of trotting.”
While her mare ‘Pip’ may be retiring from the show ring, Scheckel isn’t. “I bought a cow horse, and I’m really looking forward to doing the Reined Cow Horse classes,” she said. “I have two years left in Youth, and I’m really excited about it. Pip will be turned out with my two cows, and for the first time, she won’t have a blanket on this winter!”
Brooke Tubesing and Just My Cash were the AQHA and NSBA winners in Youth Showmanship 11 & Under. “I just got him last year, and we call him Dobbin,” she said.
“We had a pretty good pattern. Our turn around the cone was really good. He sort of put his head up when we got by the trees, but I fixed him. Our set up and our back and our 360 were all really good. My trainer, Dale Hamilton, just told me to smile and do your best.”
Jillian Stopperich and Invested Pine Asset completed the Youth Showmanship winners, after being named champions in AQHA and NSBA Youth Showmanship 12-14.
Hardy Is Double Winner in Equitation
Abigail Hardy and Pass The Details had a very busy afternoon, competing in both the Youth 11 & Under Hunt Seat Equitation and the Novice Youth 13 & Under Hunt Seat Equitation classes. Their hard work paid off, as they took home the NSBA bronze in both events, as well as the AQHA reserve champion in both classes as well.
The Way To Go caught up with her for a quick moment after her winning run in the 11 & Under class. “Our pattern was really good,” Hardy said. “It was really smooth and had a lot of flow to it.”
Novice Youth, Two Year Old and Maturity Western Pleasure Champions Named
When Brittany Bryant and MM Emma Dressy won the Novice Youth Western Pleasure 14-18, there was no one in the Celeste Center more excited about the win than Tami Thurston.
“I could hear Tami yelling and see her jumping up and down in the out gate,” Bryant said. “This is unreal. It doesn’t seem real. This is my first time showing at the Congress, and I can’t put into words what this means.
Emma just takes care of me. She was amazing out there, and she didn’t take one wrong step.” The eight year old mare is by Dress Western and out of an Invester mare.
For Tami and Paul Thurston, the mare, and the girl, are part of the family. “We bought Emma as a yearling in JR Reichert’s sale. She really is like a member of our family,” said Tami Thurston. “Brittany has ridden with us for several years. She has worked really hard to earn this too. She attends North Carolina State, so Emma is retiring to our broodmare band.”
Also in the Celeste Center, Pasley Puthoff piloted Bestdippednchocolate to the win in the Limited division of the Two Year Old Open Western Pleasure Stakes. “She just keeps getting better all the time,” Puthoff said.
“We’ve been working on her trot this summer, and this fall she got a lot stronger and it just all came together. This is the best she has ever gone. She did everything I asked her to do, and she was happy the whole class with her ears forward.”
Known as Amy, the mare is a 2014 graduate of the NSBA Kaplow Insurance Breeders Championship Futurity Yearling Sale. The mare was bred and is owned by Justin and Julie Voge. She is by RL Best Of Sudden and out of Gorgeous N Chocolate.
In the Open Maturity Western Pleasure Stakes, several familiar faces took center stage as a deep group that included several world champions competed for the NSBA and Congress bronze trophies. In the end, it was Karen Hornick and A Certain Vino (shown at left) who once again took home the title. Huntin Big Dreams and Adam Wainscott took reserve honors for Angela Wade, and Kenny Lakins Jr. took third with One Lazy Investment, showing for Peek Owen.
“We do our homework, but really when we get in there, I just let him kind of float around,” said Karen Hornick of Vino. “It really is amazing to have a horse like him to show. It’s like sitting in a rocking chair when you ride him.”
Earlier in the day, Darcy Reeve had shown Vino to the win in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity Stakes finals. “He just really loves his job,” said Darcy Reeve. “He loves being in the show pen and loves being a show horse. He just does it so naturally. There is nothing forced about him.”
The Congress continues on Sunday with the National Youth Activity Team Tournament classes as well as the finals of the Limited division of the Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Futurity, the Limited division of the Two Year Old Hunter Under Saddle Stakes and the Limited division of the Two Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Stakes. Amateur Halter Stallions, Green Hunter Under Saddle and Novice Amateur Western Pleasure will also take place. The evening will culminate with the naming of the 2015 NYATT high point teams and the crowning of the 2015 Congress Queen.
To view complete show results, the show schedule or a link to the live online video feed of the show, visit www.quarterhorsecongress.com.
