Many of us have watched countless classes at the horse show but some classes have left a bigger impression on us than others. However, for many, there is one performance that had such a profound effect on them that they can remember every detail from each step the horse took to how each judge placed them.
Can you recall a performance by which you measure all others? You would actually think it would be easy, and for some it is. But for top-level horsemen and women who spend their entire lives going to horse shows watching class after class, it can be challenging to name the single most impactful go they have ever seen.
GoHorseShow.com assembled some of the most accomplished trainers and exhibitors in the industry and asked them, “What’s the most dominant performance you have ever witnessed in the show pen?”
Three of the people we interviewed named three separate western pleasure performance as their most memorable. Interesting to note, all three answers were of performances that took place at the Congress during the 90’s. The first occurred in 1995.
Carrie (Russom) Quraishi, 2006 AQHA World Champion, recalls being a young girl sitting in the stands in Ohio.
“The most dominant performance that I remember was watching Blazing Hot and Joan Schroeder win the 3-Year Old Open Western Pleasure Derby at the Congress in 1995,” she recalls. “I was pretty young and I was in awe of the beautiful bay horse that was the best loper I had ever seen. I remember that after the announcer had called the individual judges’ cards, someone handed Ryan Schroeder, who had just turned four (he’s 18 now), over the rail to Joan and she put him in the saddle with her. When they announced Joan and Blazing Hot as the winner, they loped down and Ryan steered the way to get their awards. I think I remember this moment so much because it was a big deal then for a woman to win such a male dominated class such as the pleasure, but also because I knew then what a special horse Blazing Hot was and he was especially ‘on’ that day.”
Blaze was also Reserve Champion in the Junior Western Pleasure that year. The following year, in 1996, he was crowned AQHA World Champion in the Junior Western Riding with Robbie Schroeder and mere hours later was named the World Champion in the Junior Western Pleasure. Ryan was aboard to gather both of those trophies as well. “We were very blessed to have shared those precious moments as a family,” states Joan Schroeder today.
Robin Frid remembers another pleasure class at the Congress the following year . “I will never forget the Junior Pleasure at the 1996 Congress,” says the World and Congress Champion trainer. “Cleve Wells showed Mr Magnolia Zip. That still stands out in my mind as the best pleasure performance I have ever seen. That ride had everything we look for…self carriage and elegant yet strong movement. His topline was like a 2 by 4 in strength, slightly nosed out and free flowing. He just dominated.”
Mr Magnolia Zip was owned by Steve and Susan Thompson who had just bought him in May of that year. According to Steve Thompson, “Cleve hadn’t originally planned on showing Magnolia in the Junior. He was going to to show him in the Maturity but at the last minute decided to show him in the Junior. I’m glad he did. He had an awesome go!”
Mr Magnolia Zip never won the World Show while owned by the Thompson’s but won the 2001 AQHYA World Championship with Montgomery Lee Petty.
In Zippos Image absolutely dominated at the Congress and the World in 1999. According to seven-time World and Congress Champion Stephanie (Scheid) Griffin, “His go in the Junior Western Pleasure at the World Show with Steve Meadows is one that I will never forget. It was a time when smaller horses were the norm in the pleasure, and he was so big and pretty, and just went out and won it hands down. His lope was so soft and pretty and true and it looked like you could tie the reins around his neck and send him in without a rider and he’d lope like that all day long. (That actually wasn’t the case but he made it look that easy that day.) He had an incredibly strong top line when a lot of horses, especially the big ones, would bob some to stay deep and clean.”
In Zippos Image also won the Amateur Western Pleasure at the World Show that year as well as the Junior, Amateur and Novice Amateur Western Pleasure at the Congress. He went on to achieve success but 1999 will forever be remembered as the year the big chestnut gelding swept the Congress and the World Show.
“Bugs” lived the final years of his life at Troy Compton’s in Purcell, Oklahoma. He died this summer at the age of 15 due to complications from laminitis. “He was like a big German Shepherd dog and his old wheels gave out,” laments Compton. “He lived the good life in an extra large stall in our barn next to Skips Special Barb. When his quality of life started to suffer, we knew it was time. He’s buried in our front yard under a flower bed and we will always remember him.”
Ironically, Troy Compton’s most dominant memory did not come while watching a Western Pleasure performance.
“Todd Bergen at the 1995 NRHA Futurity really made a huge impact on me,” says Compton, a huge reining fan. “Bergen rode Todaysmyluckyday and he made that horse do things that we had never seen before. He turned around so collected and his stops and roll backs were phenomenal. He was Bob Avila’s assistant at the time and yet he went out there and really changed the way reining was done. It was a packed house and yet he was so cool under such extreme circumstances. I had never seen anybody show a horse with as much as style as he did that night. It was awe inspiring. I remember watching it thinking ‘That’s how you ride a horse!’ I was jealous of his performance – he was that good and I didn’t think you could be that good! His Finals score of 231 set a new high score at the NRHA Futurity and the whole place went crazy.”
World and Congress Champion halter trainer, Ronnie Casper, recalls the packed house at the 1991 AQHA World Championship show as his most dominant performance memory. The stage was set for a showdown in the Aged Stallions between Diversified, led by Ted Turner, and Noble Tradition, led by Jim Fuller. Many people point to this class as the greatest halter class in history.
“They were both so dominant at that time,” Casper remembers. “Diversified had won the World as a 2 year old in the western pleasure and as a 3 year old and an aged stallion in the halter, and Jim Fuller had Noble Tradition who had never been beat. I remember Fuller was wearing this red jacket and Fuller and Ted jockeyed back and forth trying to fake each other out to go in last. Fuller didn’t care if they closed the gate, he was going to go last. I’ll never forget it.
So Ted went in and then Fuller and it was by far the most exciting halter class I’ve ever seen. No question about it. Half the arena was yelling for one horse and half the arena for the other. Diversified ended up winning it, but Noble gave him a solid run for his money. The reason it was so dominant is that I couldn’t tell you about another stud that even showed that day. All eyes were on those two horses and if you weren’t showing one of those two, you didn’t have a prayer. It was a complete circus.”
That class is credited for why there are draw orders in halter today.
Charlie Cole has been involved in more Congress and World Show titles than just about anyone. He has won the AQHA World Show 10 times, and he and Jason Martin have trained over 100 World Champions in 15 events. Despite all of that personal success over the course of 25 years, Cole’s answer is one that dates back to his early days in California.
“I actually didn’t see it in person as it happened just before I started showing,” recalls Cole. “The story is legendary and you don’t have to be from the West Coast to appreciate it. The most dominating performance ever was Heather Ray Williams and Ki Ki Vi. Heather was a mere 8 years old when she won the Senior Trail at the 1981 World Show. Then she came back and won it again in 1982 when she was 9 years old. That is just crazy.”
An interesting fact, Heather was nearly unbeatable in trail, but she never won the trail at the Youth World on Ki Ki. “We were pretty good friends.” According to Cole, “Heather wasn’t a very talkative person, but Nancy Alto and I were two friends that she did talk to. She loved Ki Ki and owned her until she died, I believe in her thirties.”
Another dominating performance in the trail arena happened this August in Oklahoma City.
“I know I said Cleve and Mr Magnolia Zip earlier, but I actually have two dominant performance memories,” says Robin Frid. “The winner of the Trail this year at the AQHYA World Show was absolutely flawless! I’m not sure of her name (Kathryn Gorsuch), but she showed Bigbboppinbob on a full drape rein, never touched a pole, and he was so elegant in movement. It is the pattern that defines what our trail horses should look like. The judges agreed. She had a monster score of 244.5. You could have given a plus one and a half on every obstacle and not been questioned.”
The final Youth World in Ft. Worth was the site of a commanding performance.
According to 2008 AQHYA High Point Champion, Kara Oldford, “In the 2006 Horsemanship Finals at the Youth World, Caroline Gunn and Chips Time Machine knocked out their gallop circles, spun with ease, and wowed the entire crowd winning under 4 of the 5 judges in the horsemanship. I remember expecting their performance to be top notch and it was even better than I imagined. Her pattern execution was excellent and she had everything it took to pull off the perfect pattern. It was the kind of performance you just know that no one will be able to come close.”
Multiple World Show Champion, Courtney Suzanne Ryan recalls her most dominant memory, and it too has a personal connection.
“For me, it was in 2006. That was the year that Allison Clark showed Alotta Luke, a stallion my mother owned, and my mother showed The Only Escape for the Curiale’s. Allison and my mom were the only two left standing in the middle of the AQHA Open World Show Pen during the finals of the Junior Hunter Under Saddle. It is a mental image I can never forget. The Only Escape won but in my mind it didn’t matter who was World Champion or who was Reserve World Champion, both of these horses put on such a great performance and it was so amazing that both horses were in our barn and being shown by my two greatest idols.”
Tom Clopp, 2008 Reserve Congress Champion, recalls his barn mate’s performance a year ago. “Tiina Volmer is a real class act, a super nice person, and someone I look up to! She gave the most dominating performance I’ve ever seen last year at Congress. She won the Versatility class – she had the most versatile horse and she proved it that day. Not only did Tiina and Ima Moxie Man lay out the best horsemanship pattern by far, they were second in the Hunter Under Saddle and fifth in the Western Pleasure.
Tiina to me is one of the most beautiful riders out there and to see the precision of her pattern and to go on and be competent in the rest of the classes was a real pleasure to witness. Her pole bending was amazing as well! I couldn’t believe how fast he went and how tight he turned the poles. He was able to do better times than the actual game horses. Very impressive!”
That class had a profound effect on Clopp. “I actually had one of those ‘Ah Ha’ moments watching the way Tiina sat her horse that day. I feel that I was able to visualize how I myself should sit and think of it every time Robin (Frid) tells me sit up or pull my neck up.”
What is the most dominant performance you can remember? Did any of these make your list? Log in and share your memories by submitting a comment at the bottom of this story.
