The feature class of the 2023 Spring Breakout AQHA and NSBA show, the Virginia Maiden Three Year Old and Older Maiden Western Pleasure, did not disappoint, with 25 entries vying for the $30,000 total purse on Saturday, March 25.
Aaron Moses and Saay My Name Named Maiden Champions
Aaron Moses showed a horse he hasn’t had very long to the win, a three year old mare whose name is Saay My Name. The mare known as Chevy is by Machine Made and out of HP Only The Best.
“I had seen her in Arizona and liked her, and when I rode her, I thought she could work well for our customers, Wes and Lindy Ashlock, who wanted a horse to show in Non-Pro events too,” Aaron said. “We bought her from Gil Galyean, Candace Hall and Corey Seebach. Daren Putnam started her, and he and Gil and his team put a great foundation on her.”
Of course Gil’s training program is no stranger to Aaron, who worked as an assistant for Gil for several years. “It’s a program I am pretty familiar with, so it was one I thought I could follow,” laughed Aaron. That’s not to say that he wasn’t nervous about competing in the maiden class.
“It was pretty stressful for me, because I don’t know her that well yet, and I wasn’t sure how she would take things,” he said. “But she was great. She was very consistent and just did what I asked her to do.”
Aaron noted that Chevy will compete at the Madness and other shows this summer. “At some point, we will be adding her Non-Pro classes too,” he said.
The top ten placings in the class were:
Champions: Saay My Name (Machine Made x HP Only The Best), Aaron Moses for Wes and Lindy Ashlock, $12,000
Reserve Champions: R WE There Yett (Machine Made x Diamonds R Best), Kelby Hutchinson for John Pauluzzi, $8,500
Third: Caution Hot Chips (Extremely Hot Chips x Oh So Pine), Taft Dickerson for Cindy Ruble Brown, $7,125
Fourth: Ladee Luck (Gone Viral x VS Code Me Lucky), Ashley Lakins for Mr and Mrs William Wilkes, $5,050
Fifth: Sundi Comin Down (Lazy Loper x Hotroddin On Sundi), Katy Jo Zuidema for Courtney Suthoff, $3,800
Sixth: Cool Like This (Machine Made x In My Sunday Best), Bret Parrish for Robert and Lisa Thomaier, $2,400
Seventh: Suddens Made Mann (Machine Made x Macs Dilemmas Magic), Cody Parrish for Richard and Malinda Baumann, $2,100
Eighth: Made For Naturdays (Machine Made x KM Little Bit Of Me), Justin Clay Arrington for Alexa Frencl, $2,000
Ninth: Made For The Bigtime (Machine Made x This Version Glows), Casey WIllis for Karma Equine LLC, $1,650
Tenth: KM Once Upon A Time (The Lopin Machine x Suddenly Its Time), Rusty Green for Tami Dallatore Bobo, $1,500
Brent Garringer and 'Ollie' Win Maiden Limited Bonus
The highest placing Limited rider in the class was Brent Garringer, who showed Persuadedbymartinis for his wife, Alyssa Justus. Persuadedbymartinis is by The Best Martini and out of Winnie Persuasion. Brent and Alyssa earned $2,500 for the Limited win.
“Alyssa and Brad (Luebben) raised this horse, and he is a four year old gelding. We call him Oliver, or Ollie for short. Alyssa showed him a little bit in the Longe Line, and we’ve just brought him along slow. He was a little bit of a late bloomer, but he’s super good minded. He’s one of those horses that you can trust, and that’s important, especially in these maiden classes. It's great to have the maiden classes, because it really is pretty wide open, and it gives those horses that are a little bit later to come together a place to show.
“We were originally going to show him at the Madness in the maiden class there, but he started coming together so we thought we’d bring him to Virginia He handled the class really well. He wasn’t looky, and he just let me put him where I wanted. We showed a little on the rail and off the rail.”
Alyssa and Brent plan to continue to show Ollie in Green/Level 1, Limited Horse and Maturity Limited Horse Western Pleasure. “We plan for him to be Alyssa’s Non-Pro horse, and maybe our daughter Bailey’s first horse,” Brent said.
‘O’ What A Nice Three Year Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle
Non-Pros took center stage in the English division of the futurities, with six entries vying in the Three Year Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle. Kelsey Bell piloted Al Be Best to win the class, earning $1,000 for the win. Al Be Best is by Good Better Best and out of Al Be Beautiful.
“I got ‘O’ as a yearling, and we had quite a bit of success last year in his two year old classes,” Kelsey said. “Saul Sliss and Keith Byers started him, and Melissa Jones catch rode him for us at the Congress and was reserve with him there. I also have to credit my husband Bryan, because he is also a great coach.
“We went to a few smaller shows in 2023, but this was our first big show of the year. We’re pretty excited about this show season. We plan to be at the Madness, the Premier, Back To Berrien, NSBA World and the Congress.”
Another Win For Elwood In Maturity Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle
In the Maturity Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle, a familiar face stood at the top of the class when Tali Terlizzi and Al Be Bleu took the top spot. “Elwood is seven years old now,” Tali said of her gray geldling by Allocate Your Assets and out of Makin The Boys Blue.
“I had some other horses to show, so he got a little hiatus, but it was fun to bring him back. He was really good. I know people think he’s probably easy to ride, but he makes me work for it. I did somethings during the warmup and thought I had my buttons, and trusted him – and it worked.”
Karen Johnson and 'Kangaroo' Top Non-Pro Working Ranch Rail
The nightcap class was the Non-Pro Working Western Rail, and another familiar face stood at the top of the class. Karen Johnson and Gotta Top Gun took the win and $2,000 for first place.
Kangaroo had some time off since I’ve been showing a young horse, but we brought him out for this class,” Karen said. “He’s just an amazing horse, a once in a lifetime horse for me.”
Reserve champions were Bad Habits and Cole Guthro, earning $1,500 and third place went to A Bueno Chic and Adrianna Runzo, earning $1,300.
Corgi Fun: Auction Benefitted NSBA
Foundation
Before the placings of the Three Year Old and Older Maiden Western Pleasure winners were announced, the Spring Breakout/Virginia Maiden held a live auction to sell a male Corgi puppy to the highest bidder, with the proceeds going to the NSBA Foundation’s Crisis Fund.
Tyler Stevens of CK Show Horses donated the puppy. Allison, the owner of A Bit More tack and show clothing and a vendor at the Spring Breakout show, had the winning bid of $1,100. NSBA Foundation Chair-Elect Ryan Cottingim was on hand to thank Allison for her donation.
After the Non-Pro Working Ranch Rail, a number of exhibitors from the Three Year Old and Older Maiden Western Pleasure participated just for fun and a $10,000 purse in a Maiden Mystery Western Pleasure, where the riders drew names of their mounts from a hat, and showed a horse other than their own. Riders were asked to post at the jog, a full circle at the lope and riders showed their personalities with bridless work down the middle of the arena,, hat's off salutes and more; fun was had by all. Katy Jo Zuidema took first in thee unique class.
The 2023 Spring Breakout featuring the Virginia Maiden concludes on Sunday, March 27.
