A Good N Hot Machine and the Kail and Archer family are coming off a fantastic Congress, winning three Congress Championships. Andrea Kail’s mother, Lana Farley won the Novice Amateur Select Western Pleasure and her son, Lane Kail was the unanimous winner of the Congress L1 Youth 13 and Under Western Pleasure as well as Congress Champion in the 12-14 Youth Western Pleasure aboard the mare. When looking back at where A Good N Hot Machine (Goody) started, it may be surprising that she has achieved this level of success.
A Good N Hot Machine’s show career is impressive. The 11-year-old bay mare by A Good Machine is a 7-time NSBA World Champion, 5-time Reserve NSBA World Champion, 5-time Congress Champion, 2-time L1 Novice Amateur Champion, L1 Novice Youth Champion, AQHYA World Champion, and AQHYA Level 2 Champion.
Last year, Ryan and Andrea Kail were looking for a horse for their son, Lane, to start showing in the Novice Youth Western Pleasure.
“Of course, we said we might just have the perfect horse for him,” Courtney recalls. “Lane and Goody made their show debut this year in Las Vegas at the Silver Dollar Circuit, and they were truly a match made in heaven.”
This year, Lane and Goody won the Triple Crown for the Youth Western Pleasure by winning the AQHYA World Show, NSBA World and Congress, and the Triple Crown for the Novice Youth Western Pleasure by winning the Novice Championships, NSBA World and the Congress.
And the list goes on ……Goody has officially won every Level 1 Championship. Level 1 East with Ernie Branson (Courtney Archer’s dad), Level 1 West with Courtney Archer and Level 1 Central with Lane Kail. This mare has also won every level 1 western pleasure class at the Congress – Novice Amateur with Ernie Branson, Novice Amateur with Courtney Archer, Novice Amateur Select with Lana Farley (pictured left), and the Novice Youth with Lane Kail.
While Goody now has an unbelievable show record, there was a time when trainer David Archer was the only one who saw any potential in her.
David bought Goody from Danny Desmond for Courtney’s dad, Ernie Branson, in September of her three-year-old year. Desmond was showing her at the Reichert and Dave was watching Danny ride her around. Dave saw a lot of potential in her.
“When Courtney saw Goody for the first time at the Reichert, she was not on board with buying an unbroke three-year-old for her Novice Select Amateur dad, and all I kept saying was you have to trust me, she’s going to be a great one,” David recalls.
The first show they took Goody to was the Sun Circuit in January of her four-year-old year. Dave showed her in the Green and Junior Western Pleasure, and Ernie showed her in the Novice Western Pleasure.
“By the end of Sun Circuit, everyone on the show grounds thought Goody’s name was Ernie from Dave yelling it so much when Ernie was trying to ride her around,” Courtney says with a laugh. “Ernie and Goody did make their show debut at Sun Circuit, but it didn’t quite go as planned. When they asked for the lope, Goody managed to kick the concrete wall and then just about took out half the class.”
Courtney said that is when they all made the executive decision that Ernie was going to have to sit out until Dave could get Goody more broke. Dave spent Goody’s entire four-year-old year hauling her up and down the road to horse shows getting her broke. It wasn’t until the Red Bud of Goody’s four-year-old year that everything started falling into place, and they could start to see the potential that Dave was talking about.
According to Courtney, from the Redbud on, Goody just kept getting stronger and stronger and, most importantly, broker. Her five-year-old year came in 2014 and that is when they felt confident to put Ernie back on her and the team dominated the Novice Western Pleasure that year. Ernie and Goody went on to win the Level 1 Championships and the Congress in the Novice Amateur Western Pleasure (pictured right). After Ernie and Goody won the Congress, Ernie was able to cross that off his bucket list, and he officially retired from showing.
We asked Courtney what she believed was the key to turning Goody around. “We never pushed her and Dave took his time getting her broke. Goody is a horse that you can’t make do anything; it has to be her way or no way at all. Dave and Goody have a special bond and he can tell you what she’s going to do before she even does it.”
Lane and Goody are already qualified for the 2020 AQHYA World Show, and Lane has one more year left in the 13 and under. So, as of right now, their plan is for them to go back next year and defend their title.
“We have always said if you’re having a bad day, jump on Goody and she will instantly put a smile on your face. If we’re not having a great show, we can always count on Goody to give us a good go and get our names called,” Courtney says. “For how many times Goody has been shown in the pleasure, she never tries to cheat and is as honest as they come.”
Ernie told Lane that Goody is all his until he doesn’t want to show her anymore. “Goody has become part of our family and she will always have a forever home with us.”
