Capital Quarter Horses is just off a great Congress with several wins and significant momentum heading into the AQHA World Show. In Ohio, Hillary won the prestigious Non-Pro Open Maturity with Momma Knows Best (Myrtle), and the 22-year-old Texas native was the Reserve Champion in the Three-Year-Old Open Non-Pro Western Pleasure with Johnnie On The Spot.
“I was proud of our win in the Maturity Class,” Hillary told us. “Myrtle isn’t the easiest to get shown. She makes you work for it, and for the limited time I’ve been showing her, I’m pleased with our success. She is naturally talented and has the best legs. Johnnie is also fun to show, and she is so beautiful. She looks like a Breyer horse. Johnnie is so honest and gets better every time she enters the pen. The plans are for my mother to show her in the Maturity events next year.”
In Oklahoma City, Hillary will be showing Myrtle in the Amateur Western Pleasure and their trainer, Andy Cochran, will be showing Johnnie in the Junior Western Pleasure. Roberts’ favorite long-time partner, Chrome On My Zipper (Long John) will be showing in the Senior and Amateur Trail. “Long John is 14 and our team mascot. He is more of a pet than anything,” Hillary fondly told us. “He has the best personality and has a forever home with us.”
Over the years, Capital has become synonymous with winning and high-quality horses. The Roberts Family – Blair, Susan and Hillary, have strived to help grow the industry by breeding and training superior quality western pleasure horses. This is the Roberts’ first year having Andy Cochran as their primary trainer. “I have enjoyed working with Andy. We had a great show in Columbus. He’s easy to be around and I have learned a lot from him. I enjoy picking his brain about training horses.”
The family has transformed an impressive 84-acre facility in Pilot Point, Texas into the ultimate breeding and training facility. While Hillary’s father, Blair comes from a non-horse background, he has become involved in the breeding aspects of the business. With the help of breeding manager, Russ Smith, trainer Andy Cochran and assistant trainer, Greg Johnson, they are doing their part to help grow the industry.
“We want to keep breeding and raising high-quality prospects that will better our industry,” Hillary states. “I believe the western pleasure horses now are better than they have ever been, and we are glad to be a part of it. My favorite classes are the futurity classes because it is always a challenge to develop and show a new prospect.”
Roberts reflects back on why the AQHA World Show is her favorite show of the year. “I grew up in Oklahoma City and every year growing up, we would buy box seats, and being the starry-eyed crazy horse girl that I was, I always dreamed of trotting through the ‘Gateway of Champions’ and down the middle of the Norick Arena. Every year, I remind myself that I am lucky to be able to do that with the people I love and care about.”
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