A mix of veteran horsemen and first time champions were crowned on Wednesday, October 18, at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, as the show continued with additional go-rounds, the Intercollegiate and Junior Judging Contest, as well as Youth Western Riding and Horsemanship and a new class added just for "ladies."
Veteran Hunter Champions
Beth Case not only won the Senior Hunter Under Saddle with Willy Has Potential for Shelby Ratliff, but she started or had shown several of the top placing horses in that class and several as well in the Maturity Hunter Under Saddle, Limited division.
It was the first win of the 2017 Congress for Beth. "Willy has I think six Congress championships now," she said. "He's won the Limited Maturity Hunter Under Saddle twice, the Open Maturity Hunter Under Saddle and the Novice Amateur and the Amateur."
The eight year old gelding by Good I Will Be is now eight years old and one of Beth's favorite horses to show. "He's just Mr. Perfect," she said. "He's the same every time, and he just goes and does his job."
Rebekah Kazakevicius and Not Just Anyhoo were double champions on Wednesday, winning both Junior Hunter Under Saddle and the Limited division of the Maturity Open Hunter Under Saddle.
Rebekah noted that the addition of several classes for 'Horton' helped the five year old gelding become even more competitive. "We had started him in Pleasure Driving and Hunter Hack, and I think it really helped him both mentally and physically," she said. "Especially in Hunter Hack, it encouraged him to go forward, which he does naturally, and it helped him move even better in the Hunter Under Saddle."
Horton was reserve champion in Junior Pleasure Driving with Charlie Cole and won Junior Hunter Hack with Ryan Painter in the irons. Rebekah will show Horton in the Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Maturity and Amateur Hunter Under Saddle.
Western Winners
Alexandra Chavez won her first Congress championship on Wednesday in the Limited division of the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity with Rock County Kid, held in the Coliseum.
"It feels amazing," Alexandra said. "I got Rocky last year after the AQHA World Championship Show. I consider Rocky family, because I saw him all the time in Rusty Green's barn when I was training there. It's a tough act to follow after Sharnai Thompson showed him so well, but he is such a good boy."
Now training with Maggie Granquist and Troy Lehn, Alex noted she has learned a lot about showing horses in the few years she has shown. "Sharnai had been riding for several more years than I have been," she said.
"Maggie has really helped me learn to better use my legs and body to communicate with Rocky. Especially at a show like this one, you need to be in complete control all the time. I'm so excited for our barn too, because we had four horses in the class and everyone placed."
Two trainers made it to the top of the class with very limited time aboard their mounts.
Shane Pope piloted Shes So Posh to win the Limited division of the Maturity $10,000 Limited Horse Open Western Pleasure for Garcia Quarter Horses. The seven year old mare is by RL Best Of Sudden.
"I've only had her about a month," Shane said. "Kirk Sanders is a good friend of mine, and he had leased her last year. He called me about a month ago and asked me if I could take her. I picked her up in Ocala last month, and they still didn't have any power after the hurricane. It was quite the experience.
"Once I got her home, I found that she was so willing. You can put her in any spot and she stays. You just have to figure out what spot to put her in to best show her off. Winning a Congress championship was a great way to start this year's show!"
Trainer Aaron Moses showed A Diva By Moonlight to the win in Senior Western Pleasure for owner Jeri Lockwood, and he didn't have much more preparation time than Shane Pope.
"I took her home after the NSBA World Show and started working with her," Aaron said. "She just kept getting better and better, and even more so once we got here. I really didn't know if I was going to show her until the day before the class. She's just so easy."
It is owner Jeri Lockwood's first Congress championship. "This is my first time to even have a horse showing at the Congress," she said. "We had sent Moonlight to Aaron without any expectations for this year - we thought we would be here maybe next year. When Aaron called us two weeks ago and said he wanted to show her here, we had trouble even getting airfare from Colorado to Columbus, but we made it. It's been amazing."
A Diva By Moonlight is by Only In The Moonlight. The mare's foal, Made A U Turn, is showing at this year's Congress and recently made the finals of her class with Gil Galyean.
A Special Class for "Ladies"
The Ohio Quarter Horse Foundation added a fundraising event to Wednesday night's schedule in which nine intrepid trainers dressed up and participated in a "Ladies Versatility" class.
Many laughs ensued during the event that included Western Pleasure, Showmanship and an interview, as well as a contest to raise the most money for the OQH Foundation. Complete with wardrobe changes and diva status, Cher, channeled successfully by Brad Ost, was named the winner, with "Ms Crystal Balls," a creation of Melvin Yoder, taking reserve champion. The trainers raised more than $10,000 for the Foundation.
The All American Quarter Horse Congress continues through October 29. To view complete show results or learn more about the show, please visit www.quarterhorsecongress.com.
