NSBA’s second annual Riders Cup horse show paid out $22,351 to exhibitors showing in Trail, Western Pleasure, Horsemanship and Hunter Under Saddle classes on Saturday. The show is taking place at Roberts Arena in Wilmington, Ohio, October 3-4, and we caught up with Saturday’s winners.
A Trail of Champions
Nick Mayabb was a triple class winner with More To Zip, showing for owner Ken Mullen of Grayson, GA. The duo won Green Trail as well as Junior Trail and 3-4 Year Old Trail, earning estimated payouts of $82.50, $1,542.65 and $1,714.05.
“We’ve been working on Trail for almost a year,” Mayabb said of the four year old mare, who is by Radical Rodder. “She always shows very honest for as green as she is. She’s just so good minded. This was a very good course for us.”
Trainer Jason Gilliam showed Hours Yours And Mine to a unanimous win Senior Trail for Kaleena Weakly, earning an estimated $1,714. Weakly returned to the pen to win All Age Non-Pro Trail and an estimated paycheck of $1,549, as well as winning All Age Non-Pro Horsemanship, winning an additional estimated $2,254.83.
“I really appreciate NSBA holding this show,” Weakly said. “It’s great preparation for the Congress. My mare, Blondie, wasn’t feeling good, so we didn’t get to practice yesterday. I’m really happy with her go with as little preparation as we had.”
Marley Mainwaring and HF Tahnee Too earned two class wins, taking Youth Trail and Youth Horsemanship. The pair earned jackpotted winnings of $41.25 for each class win. They are shown at left. “We’ve been together for about two years,” Mainwaring said of her mount. “In the Trail, the hardest part was getting our strides in the lopeovers.”
Mindie Maus also piloted HF Tahnee Too to win the Limited Non-Pro Horsemanship, earning an estimated $1,127.42 for their win.
Western Pleasure Winners
Some familiar faces earned big checks in the Western Pleasure classes. For One Night Only and Rusty Green, bested the field in the Three Year Old Open Western Pleasure, earning an estimated $1,837.58.
“He’s a fun horse to show, but he has a lot of character to him,” Green said of the gelding by Invitation Only known as Sid. He is owned by Capital Quarter Horses.
Alexandra Chavez piloted Hot Lopin Goodbar, to win the Maturity Non-Pro Western Pleasure, earning an estimated $1,076.55.
“She is such a good girl,” Chavez said of the five year old mare she calls Dolly. “She’s a lot of fun to show. I’m sure we’re going to continue to show her but she also has a baby coming next year, so we’re excited to see it get here. We bred her to Nite Moves.”
Adam Mathis and Sleep Machine continued their winning ways in the Three Year Old Limited Open Western Pleasure. The pair, seen at right, earned an estimated check for $1,633.40 for owner William Cox.
“She was actually orphaned at two and a half months old,” said Cox of the mare by Good Machine, whom he calls Candice. “She was born at R11, so she’s always been special to the girls there. We didn’t start her until late last year, and started showing her this summer. She’s won every futurity so far from the Tom Powers, Little Futurity, and the NSBA World. She’s pretty special to us.”
Deanna Green and Bestseatnthehouse also continued their winning streak by earning first in Youth Western Pleasure. Their jackpotted earnings were $82.50 for the win.
“She’s just so much fun to show,” Green said of the mare, known as Jodie. “She’s just always good. And she’s so pretty.” They are seen at left.
It took a tiebreaker judge to determine the winner of Green Western Pleasure, with Randy Wilson getting the win aboard Step Aside Boyz for owner Ron Shelly. Wilson earned $99.00 for the jackpotted win.
It was Wilson’s first time to show the mare known as Cookie. “She’s full of talent, and she’s just the sweetest thing,” Wilson said. “She’s by Battman and out of a Radical Rodder mare. She doesn’t want to go anywhere and just stays there and does her job. On top of it, she’s a beautiful mover. I’ve only had her about a month.”
Hunting A Big Check
In the Three Year Old Hunter Under Saddle, Ashley Lakins brought out jodhpurs and and hunt coat for the first time in seven years to get the win, catch riding Certifiably Good for Ken Mullen. The pair earned an estimated $2,408.75.
“I’m amazed I still had my hunt clothes in the trailer,” laughed Lakins. “We had talked with Nick Mayabb about showing yesterday, and Nick did a great job preparing the horse. I hadn’t ridden the horse until today, and I had to ask if I could trot around a little bit so I could get my diagonals. It felt really good. I really like showing the Hunt Seat horses, but it takes so much more work to prepare them, so I haven’t done it in a long time.”
The Riders Cup operates similar to NSBA’s Breeders Championship Futurity in that the purse is funded through participant nominations. To be eligible for participation, all trainers must be sold through the Trainers Sale program, in addition to an owner’s nomination fee as mentioned above. Owners must declare their nomination under the name of a sold trainer.
The Riders Cup continues on Sunday with Showmanship, Western Riding and Hunt Seat Equitation, as well as additional Western Pleasure, Hunt Seat Equitation and Hunter Under Saddle classes.
CLICK HERE to visit the NSBA website for more information.
