It’s not often that a 14-year-old and a failed cutter find themselves the senior western pleasure world champions. But, that’s exactly what happened when Brian Kissinger and Kings Bambi stepped into the AQHA World Show arena in 1984.
Rewind a few years, and Craig Kissinger is searching for a horse for his kids. He flew to Gainesville, Texas, and set his eyes on a 2-year-old sorrel mare by Sonnys Dyn O Mite and out of King’s Trinket by King P-234. “She was broke to death,” Craig said, “but it was clear that she wasn’t going to make a cutter.” He brought the mare home, and Brian started riding her. “She and Brian were a team,” Craig said. “ ‘Bambi’ was about as close to being human as a horse can be. Brian was just 11 years old when he started showing her, but I knew I could trust her – she didn’t have a mean bone in her body.”
Brian first showed Bambi in 1982 and earned a Superior in youth western pleasure. In 1983, they were 10th in year-end points. But none of that could have prepared them for 1984.
First, Brian and Bambi won the last AQHYA World Championship Show western pleasure title. The stage was set for the World Show. “Brian and Bambi were crowd favorites,” trainer Bruce Walquist said. “Understandably. He was fantastic in the way he handled the pressure, and she was a soft-moving horse with an expression that told you she enjoyed everything she did.” Brian fondly remembered two things about that day: that he only made it about one-third of the way around the arena for his victory lap and that nearly “everyone in the world wanted to buy Bambi.” However, Bambi returned home with the Kissingers to join their broodmare band. She would produce eight foals, including five performers.
Sadly, King Bambi passed away at age 16 from an acute burst stomach, and the Kissingers grieved. “This mare meant so much to us – and did so much for us. Kings Bambi was one of a kind.”
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