Midweek of Week 3 of the All American Quarter Horse Congress saw a number of futurity and stakes champions crowned as well as AQHA class champions.
Waffles For Another Win
JR Pickard and Waffle House picked up right where they left off by winning the Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Stakes on Wednesday. JR took some time away from college life to compete at this year’s Congress. “I drove up here on Friday and I have to go back on Monday, he said.
“We went home from Tulsa and honestly we didn’t do that much with Waffles,” he said. “We just started working with her again a couple of weeks before we got here. I was in the third split. The third split was kind of crowded so I showed off the rail a lot. Luckily, she’s pretty good off the rail so we just went with it.
“In the finals, I showed a little on the rail and off the rail the second way. There was a lot of navigating. She was really good. I think I’ll get to keep showing her next year.”
Waffle House has built quite the resume this year with both JR and his mother, Katy Jo Zuidema, with wins in the Maiden Three Year Old and Older Western Pleasure at the Madness and the world championship in the Three Year Old Novice Horse at the NSBA World Show. JR added wins in Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure at Back To Berrien and championships in the Limited Non-Pro and Non-Pro at the NSBA World Championship Show.
Hillary and Irene Earn Non-Pro Maturity Win
Aint Nothing To It showed that there really wasn’t anything to it to win the Maturity Non-Pro Western Pleasure with Hillary Timchak. The duo was the unanimous choice among the judges for the class. The class was presented on behalf of the friends of the Harter family in tribute to the late Brittany Harter
“I started showing Irene her four year old year at the NSBA World Show and won the $10,000 Limited with her, and she’s five now,” Hillary said. “This year we went to the NSBA World Show with Charles and Angie Cannizzaro and Brian Ale, and we won the Amateur Western Pleasure. We raised her, and we actually had three horses that we raised in the top five in this class, so that is what I’m proudest of. She’s out of the same mare as JR Cook’s horse, Line Up Behind. She’s by Machine made and out of Shes Immortal.
“The coolest thing about Irene is that she has so much presence but she really has to trust you for you to be able to effectively show her. She’s big and pretty and soft, but she has to like you. She’s really taken to Brian.
“In the prelims there are always so many horses to get around, so it was really making sure she listened and she trusted me and get as good of a spot as you can and try to stay out of any jams. In the finals is really where I try to put the showmanship on and really try to present her as best I can. I found some good spots and stayed off the rail a little bit, and she lets you show her off the rail really well. You can go on and off the rail and maintain the same speed and cadence, which is a real positive for a horse her size. She showed really well and I couldn’t be happier with her.
“One of the coolest things about this class is that Brittany Harter was one of my absolute best friends growing up, and we all got together and organized this for Brittany.
“She’s showing in Amateur and Junior here and at the World Show, and she’s already proving to be a producing broodmare. Her Hay Goodlookn babies are some of the best I’ve seen.”
Sara And Air Ryde Earn Another Win
Air Ryde and Sara Simons picked up another Congress championship in Senior Western Pleasure on Wednesday afternoon, adding to their championship a day earlier in the Maturity Open Western Pleasure Stakes.
“Air Ryde and I just see eye to eye. He’s kind of my BFF,” laughed Sara. “This was a really full pen, so I had to make some moves and come off the rail and tour around a little bit, but overall he was really good. I think the judges liked his consistency. He jogs so nice and he lopes so nice both ways. And he always has that expression, and that’s irreplaceable in my opinion.
“We go back and forth a lot between the Western Pleasure and the All Around, but it’s not so much my ability, it’s more his ability for sure. We’ll see if we do a few more classes here at the Congress if he feels like it. He’s a tired boy. We still have the AQHA World Show to go yet after this.”
Other champions on the day on Wednesday included Im Willy Good Today and Keith Miller, showing for owner Madeleine Bayless, winning Senior Hunter Under Saddle. In the Coliseum, Western Riders took center stage with Certenly A Good Time and Eva Johnston winning Level 1 13 & Under Youth Western Riding; Evie Doles and If Im Honest winning the Level 1 Youth 14-18 Western Riding; and Valentinosblazinride and Madison Stuart winning Level 1 Youth Horsemanship 13 & Under. In addition, a number of classes saw their first finalists named for futurity and stakes finals to be held later in the week.
The 2023 All American Quarter Horse Congress continues through Sunday, October 22. To view complete show results, please visit the Horse Show Tracker or quarterhorsecongress.com. You can also view the show’s live video feed at quarterhorsecongress.com/livestream.
