The last Monday of the 2015 Congress found all ages of Youth Trail, several Western Pleasure finals and Horsemanship champions being crowned. The Way To Go talked with some of the day’s champions.
Youth Blaze The Trail in All Shapes and Sizes
All three age groups of Youth Trail found champions being crowned on Monday. The youngest of the three NSBA champions was Isabella D’Onofrio and Just Good Enough, who won the NSBA championship and placed reserve overall in Youth Trail 11 & Under.
The ten year old piloted her 16 year old gelding, Roanie, to the win with a score of 219.5. “We’ve been showing together for two years,” D’Onofrio said. “My mom used to show when she was younger, and she got me started.”
“I really like showing in Showmanship and Trail. It’s fun going over the poles in Trail, and Showmanship is one of our best classes,” she said.
“The hardest part of this pattern was probably the lope overs and finding your spot. I really liked the back and the gate best. I was really excited when we won the NSBA trophy.”
In the 12-14 Trail, Ellexxah Maxwell and Zips Bossy Chip, or Annie B, took the NSBA champion award and placed reserve overall. “We were 20th in the order, so we just had to wait to see how our score held up,” Maxwell said. The pair scored 228. (They are pictured at right. Photo courtesy of Becky McLoughlin)
“Probably the hardest part of the pattern was where you had to stop and walk over poles in the middle of it,” she said. “It’s not something you usually see in the middle of the pattern. It was a fun pattern, because it had you lope over a set of poles to a slow walk over, then build up to another lope again.”
The win helped Maxwell rub in a joke she has with her dad about Annie B and Trail. “My dad told me in the beginning that Annie B would never make a Trail horse, so when we do well, I have to rub it in,” she said with a laugh.
Deanna Green and ‘Buttercup,’ or Blazinmytroublesaway, added another Congress AQHA and NSBA championship to their trophy shelf by winning the 15-18 Youth Trail. Green just started working on Trail a year ago, and is still Novice eligible in the class.
“There were a lot of elevated poles in our pattern, and the transition from the last lope to a trot was pretty tight, so I would say those were the most difficult parts of our pattern today,” Green said. “Buttercup was really good through the whole pattern, and she really listened to me.”
Western Pleasure Winners From Young to Adult
Abbey Rawlings and A Lazy Holiday tackled several firsts when they won the AQHA and NSBA Youth Western Pleasure 12-14. (She is pictured at left after her go in the Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Futurity.)
“It was my first time to ever show JD,” Rawlings said. “I was a bit nervous, because I only got to ride him twice at the NSBA World Show and then here. But he is awesome to ride. He is so smooth, he listens really well, and if he does something, you can always get him back.”
The 13 year old Australian tackled the Youth Western Pleasure showing a three year old against many older, more experienced horses, and she did so after being kicked in the leg two days before she showed. And, she not only showed in the Youth class, but also competed in the Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Futurity finals in the class immediately after.
“It didn’t hurt when I rode, but my leg does hurt when I walk,” Rawlings said. “It was a lot of fun to show in the Non-Pro class. I really like showing the young horses.”
Rawlings had admired the gelding for the past year. “I had been around him because Alexa Rowland had him in training with my trainers, Jay and Kristy Starnes,” she said of the gelding by Lazy Loper. “I always loved him, and I’m so glad to own him now. I love showing in the Western Pleasure, and I plan to keep on showing him.”
Hillary Roberts and For One Night Only continued their winning ways, picking up the NSBA and Southern Belle Breeders championship trophies in the Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Futurity. RR Magical Moonlite and Lacy Watson took the reserve title.
“That was probably one of the best rides I’ve ever had on him,” Roberts said of her Invitation Only gelding, known as Sid.
“He was so consistent, and just really good today. I was able to put him anywhere, both on and off the rail. It was a lot of fun to show him.”
In Junior Western Pleasure, Gil Galyean piloted Rewind And Repeat to a repeat Congress AQHA and NSBA championship for Gary and Susan Dempze, having won the same class in 2014.
“You know it is just so easy for him,” Galyean said of the gelding, who is by Repeated In Red and known as Rerun. “He just has such an effortless motion to him. He swings his leg, he lopes from his hip and he has elevation in his shoulder. Plus he is so pretty, with that soft eye, that he’s hard to miss.”
“He’s a big horse, and he can really move so soft and correct for as big as he is,” said Jenna Dempze, who shows the gelding in Non-Pro and Amateur events. “I think that’s one of the reasons he really stands out to the judges.”
Yeager, Huff Win Select Amateur, Youth Horsemanship
Riding a horse she’s owned for a year and a half, Harley Huff took both the AQHA and NSBA champion awards in Youth Horsemanship 15-18. She showed GW Jack Bar to the win. (They are pictured at right. Photo courtesy of J.R. Huff)
“When we went into the fast circle in the pattern, I asked for speed, and the more I asked, the more he gave me,” Huff said. “He was just awesome today.”
The 13 year old gelding, by Zippo Jack Bar and out of Sleepy Bimbo, is known as George. “He’s really fun,” she said. “He listens to whatever you ask of him.”
The Evansville, IN, youth does most of her own work with the help of her parents and her brother, Houston. “John and Jill Briggs help us at the big shows like the Youth World and the Congress, and at the local shows, I usually stall with Dale Hamilton, and he helps me if I have any questions,” she said.
Huff also competed in Hunt Seat Equitation, earning a fourth place, made the finals in Youth Showmanship, and earned fourth in NYATT Showmanship as well as 11th in NYATT Horsemanship.
Huff’s show schedule at this year’s Congress ended just in time. “I have to go back to school Wednesday,” she said. “We have a sectional volleyball tournament and I need to be in school or I can’t play.”
Dan Yeager got the perfect birthday gift – a Congress AQHA and NSBA championship in Select Amateur Horsemanship, showing his horse, Cee Money. (They are pictured at left with trainer Charlie Cole)
“You’ll have to pardon the pun, but he was right on the money today,” Yeager said. “He was ready, and he listened really well through the pattern. We knew we were just going to do the pattern once and then go back for rail work, so we just went for it.
“I loved that this pattern really allowed us to show off what we have with our horses, with a faster canter and a flying lead change and then back to slow. It had several transitions, so you had to be precise.”
It was Yeager’s first Congress championship in Select Amateur Horsemanship at the Congress. “I had won the Select Amateur Showmanship last year and the Novice Amateur Showmanship in 2006, but this was a great class win for us,” he said. “He has been good for me all week.”
The All American Quarter Horse Congress continues on Tuesday with Showmanship, Western Pleasure, Hunter Under Saddle, Western Riding and Horsemanship classes throughout the day. To view show results or the complete show schedule, please visit www.quarterhorsecongress.com.
