Tuesday saw a cold, blustery Columbus day at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, but the competition was hot as the first pleasure futurities of the show got underway.
Aaron Moses And “13” Start Off With A Win
Aaron Moses piloted Anti Hero for owner Mallory Menard to win the first Western Pleasure Stakes class at this year’s Congress. They won the Two Year Old Open Western Pleasure Stakes, earning $1,835.
“Mallory started her, and then I worked with her over the summer and then I showed her in Tulsa,” Aaron said. “She has a lot of self-carriage and you can really sit up there and show her. She’s very strong for a two year old and she’s getting stronger all the time.”
Keeping It In The Family: Parrish 1-2 Repeat
In the $10,000 Limited Horse Open Western Pleasure Stakes, father and son duo Bret and Cody Parrish finished first and second, just as they did at the NSBA World Championship Show in Tulsa in the same class. Bret showed Made Ona Blue Moon for owner Cynthia Kaufman and Cody showed Sarahenade for Jane Elsa Damaske.
“Bret and Candy found her, she had been in the barn with one of their other clients,” Cindy said of ‘Luna.’ “She is six years old. I purchased her in February. Bret had said he had thought about showing her in the $10K classes, Green horse and those types of classes this year, so we did. It’s been so fun to watch her progress throughout the year. We got her right before March To The Arch, and every time I’ve watch her show, she gets better and better.
“Slowly, behind the scenes, I’ve been riding her and getting ready for next year for me to show. Next year in January, the goal is for me to be up there and for Bret to be coaching me to get around the pen. I’m excited to get back in the saddle.”
Cindy had shown No Doubting Me to success a few years ago. “I had come back to showing after a 25-30 year break, and started showing another horse and then purchased No No. We quickly qualified out of Level 1 and then showed through 2022. In early 2023 we decided to retire him and he’s living the good life, and we found Luna about a year later.”
Im Willy Fabulous Lives Up To His Name
Im Willy Fabulous performed just as his name says for owner Sandra Morgan in the NSBA Maturity Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Stakes. “Fabio loves to show, and he just gets stronger and stronger,” Sandra said of her stallion. “He was really great in the finals.”
The four year old stallion by Good I Will Be and out of Fabulicity was bred by Nancy Sue Ryan. He has now won five Congress championships – including the Two Year Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, Three Year Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, and the Three Year Old Open Hunter Under Saddle Futurity and the Level 1 Hunter Under Saddle with Tami Thurston.
Riding On Air: Air Ryde Wins Maturity Open Western Pleasure Stakes
Aaron Moses earned his second Congress championship aboard Anita Weiscamp’s Air Ryde in the Maturity Open Western Pleasure Stakes.
“I’ve had ‘Luke’ five years now, and he’s nine years old,” Anita said. “There was a very, very good group of horses in this class and lots of great reputations. He’s just happy and does his job. Aaron, Sara (Simons) and he just click. I’ve gotten to ride him more this year since he’s been with Aaron, and our goal is to show at the AQHA World Show. I haven’t got to ride that much in past years and we’d love to win a world title.
“He’s set records in the industry in Western Pleasure and Trail and Western Riding. He’s a phenomenal animal. We might retire him after November or we might go back to the Trail and Western Riding. He’s still happy doing his job five years later.”
Anita also looks forward to the future. “We have a few pleasure horses coming up that are bred like him,” she said. “I’ve taken an RL mare, Best Ticket In Town, that we won quite a bit with, and bred to Machine Made. Every horse is different, and it’s hard to compare them to Luke, you really can’t. It’s exciting to see the genetics and what the trainers are doing today, it’s very exciting to see the industry is moving in a positive direction.”
Travis Born and Ricky Win Open Hunter Longe Line
“Amanda Beck found him and purchased him and called me out of the blue to ask if I would do a longe line horse with her,” said Travis Born of working with ‘Ricky.’
“It’s been a great year. We had a lot of fun and this was a great way to end the year. We showed at the Premier and NSBA and a few local shows before coming to the Congress.
Travis liked all aspects of his go in the Open finals. “We made it through the inspection, probably the best we did all year with that,” Travis noted. “He always seems to show up and show for me. I think he likes to get out there and show off a little bit.”
Amanda and Travis look forward to giving Ricky some time off before starting Ricky under saddle. “We’re not in any big rush to start him but we look forward to seeing what the future holds,” Travis said. “He doesn’t have to go, but if the price is right, he could be for sale,” laughed Travis.
“He’s definitely earned a stall at home,” added Amanda.
Catching Up With Queen Madi Heilveil
Madison Heilveil was crowned the 2024 All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen last week and has been performing her official duties for five days now. The Way To Go caught up with Madison to talk about her experience so far as the Congress Queen.
“It was a whirlwind week last week. We got to play Top Golf, and we had a surprise trucker hat decorating party at All That Show Clothing,” Madi said. “The contest has three parts that include the written exam, the interview and the Horsemanship contest. We do submit a biography and an application with our show experience, but those parts really make up the contest.
To win the queen’s title, Madi won the written exam, and was fifth in the interview and ninth in the Horsemanship contest. “The interview is more like a job interview where they look at your presentation skills,” she explained. “The written exam is really compared to the exam the judges take to get their AQHA judges card.”
It was Madi’s second year to compete in the Congress Queen Contest. She represented Tri-State in the Queen’s Contest in 2023 and was first runner up last year. “I represented Tri-State Quarter Horse Association, which represents Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. We have three shows throughout the year held in Harlansburg, Pennsylvania. It’s a great smaller but mighty association and I have loved representing them for the past two years.” Of the 12 contestants in the contest in 2024, half were contestants in 2023 and half were new to the contest.
Madi has been taking in the moments as Congress queen. “It's so busy, going from arena to arena and the classes always seem to finish up at exactly the same time,” she said. “My favorite moments are those winning moments when the exhibitors are choked up and tearing, because I understand that special Congress win and get teared up too. Even the exhibitors who come up and say this is their first Congress and can’t believe they won a medal regardless of the color. They are special moments.”
When she is not representing the Congress or showing her own horse, Madi is an academic advisor in the department of Animal Science at Penn State University. “I advise students and help them pick out their classes as well as recruit future students and have a small teaching position in our Introduction to Horse Judging class,” she said.
Madi first thought about running for Congress Queen when Kylie Good, who is also from Pennsylvania, was named Queen.
Look for Madi representing the Quarter Horse Congress and the American Quarter Horse at shows across the country over the next year. “I’m looking forward to attending several shows that I’ve never been to before and representing the Quarter Horse,” she said.
The All American Quarter Horse Congress continues through October 27. To learn more about the Congress, view the schedule or show results, please visit the Quarter Horse Congress website or visit the Horse Show Tracker app.
