Jennifer Paul continued her stronghold on Trail futurities, while Rusty Green, Mike Hachtel and Jacob Hartman took home the top prizes in the SOQHA Maiden Western Pleasure Slot Class Saturday at the Madness..
The Beat Goes On
Rusty Green, showing The Beat Goes On for Natasha Blanchard, was the unanimous choice of the judges in the Open division of the SOQHA Maiden Horse Western Pleasure slot class. They took home a check for $15,000.
“I’ve been looking a long time for a horse like Certainly Inspired, and she reminds me a lot of her,” Rusty said of the red roan mare whose barn name is Lucy. “Jay Starnes started her as a tw year old. She’s five years old, but she had some time off. Danny Hansson bred her. She’s by VS Code Red and out of a Hotroddin Zippo mare. We just got her about a month ago. She trained up really quickly.”
“We first saw her last August at Rob’s and all she did was jog in a little circle. When we went back to Rob’s to layover before the Congress, Rob was riding her around. When he loped her off, and we just loved her look,” added Katie Green.
“She’s got a very timeless way of going, no matter what the fads are. It’s very natural for her, and you’re not going to stop her from going the way she goes. We bought her to show in the Limited, Novice Horse, Green and $10,000 Limited classes this year, and then Natasha will be showing her next year,” Katie said.
“I’m really excited about her,” Natasha said. “I can’t wait to show her next year.”
Randy Wilson piloted Battmans Vital Gal to the reserve award for Ron Shelly, earning $7,500.
Jacob Hartman Wins Limited Rider Division
Jacob Hartman showed his mother’s horse, Chip Off The Good Bar to win the Limited division of the slot class, earning $1,000. “We got him last August from Roberts Quarter Horses,” Jacob said. “He’s three years old and he’s come along really well. He has so much try – he never says no when you ask him to do something. This colt is by Its A Zippo Good Bar and out of an Extremely Hot Chips mare.
“A lot of people helped me bring him along, including Pierre Brierre, Greg Dutton and Jody Capps. This horse is very special to us, especially after buying him from Waynon and Susie, and with Waynon’s health having some challenges.
“We really planned for this class at the Madness. We thought about doing the Virginia show, but we decided to hold him back for this show. When we go home to North Carolina, we’re going to start working on lead changes to possibly show in the Versatility Challenge class at the AQHA World Show in November. He’s for sale, so I will be showing in in the Novice Horse and Limited Three Year Old classes until he sells.”
The reserve Limited Rider award went to Darci Rapley and Cool Moving Machine, showing for Jennifer Fulsom, earning $500.
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Mike Hachtel Takes Intermediate Rider Title
Mike Hachtel showed RR Moonlite Moonshine to win the Intermediate division for Nettie Olsen, earning $1,000. The pair also placed sixth overall in the class, winning an additional $2,500. It was Nettie’s second horse to finish in the top five in a 2019 Madness futurity class – her horse Whoose On First won fifth place in the Three Year Old Open Western Pleasure with Jay Starnes on Thursday.
“’Moonshine is a four year old gelding, and he’s by Only In The Moonlite,” Mike said of his horse. “I’ve had him since he was a yearling, and we just took our time bringing him along. We picked this show and this class as our goal for him, and it worked out.”
Mike talked about the addition of the Novice Horse classes. “I think that these classes are excellent,” he said. “We have so much focus on the Junior, Senior and two and three year old classes, that it makes it nice for these horses to show on a more level field for their experience, whether they got started later, got hurt, or were just a little slower to mature.”
The trainer showed just one class at the Madness, and it happened to be at his first AQHA show. “It worked out well,” he said. “We definitely can build on this and we’ll plan some additional shows.”
Chris Jones showed IB Real Lazy to the reserve Intermediate rider award, winning $500 for owner Kaitlyn Smith.
The complete placings and earnings in the SOQHA Maiden Horse Western Pleasure Slot Class are:
1st – The Beat Goes On, Rusty Green for Natasha Blanchard, $15,000
2nd – Battmans Vital Gal, Randy Wilson for Ron Shelly, $7,500
3rd – Sure Am Southern, Jason English for Marilyn White, $5,000
4th – Enchanted Lexus, Kristy Starnes for Willam Oliver, $3,500
5th – Getting Blazed, Katy Jo Zuidema for Cheryl Schembri, $3,000
6th – RR Midnight Moonshine, Mike Hachtel for Nettie Olsen, $2,500
7th – Nothinbutlazy, Justin Clay Arrington for Ronnie Kent, $2,000
8th- Machine Made Crystal, Adam Mathis for Richard and Betty Jo Carr, $1,500
Adding Longevity and New Careers
The Maiden Horse champions talked about the addition of the Maiden and Novice Horse classes and their impact on horse show careers and how trainers education and plan their horses' careers.
“I think these classes are the greatest thing that’s ever happened,” noted Rusty Green. “It gives these horses a chance to develop into show horses that maybe aren’t ready earlier or had time off, and gives them a place to show before they jump into the big pool.”
“I think it’s phenomenal,” added Jacob Hartman. “For so long we had all the money on the two year olds, and not every horse is ready that early. With these classes, we have the ability to bring these horses along a little slower and know that if they didn’t make it early, they still have classes they can go and show in. It makes for more longevity in their show careers, and it really makes us better as trainers.”
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Tops In Senior Trail
For Jennifer Paul, the top of the class in the NSBA Senior Trail Futurity looked very familiar – only the names had changed. After winning the Four Year Old and Older Trail Futurity on Wednesday with Some Hot Potential for owner Emma Brown and second with Cruiz for the Janis family, today, the results were reversed but the two horses again took the two top spots.
“We got Cruize in the summer of his three year old year and have had him about four years now. He’s seven years old now,” Jennifer said. “We sold him to the Janis family last year, and Sabrina won the Congress Youth 14-18 Trail with him last year. This is the first futurity win for him since the Janis family bought him.”
Jennifer found the Senior Trail course a bit challenging. “You had to watch because the trot serpentine sort of led you to want to turn to the left, but you needed to turn to the right and pick up a left lead,” she said. “It just had a few things that made you have to think it through.”
Known as Speedy, the gelding has a busy show schedule. “He’s a great example of a horse that began his show career in the futurities and has a successful All Around career, because he showed in Western Pleasure when he was two and three,” Jennifer said. “Today, Sabrina shows him in Trail and Western Riding.”
The Madness show continues through Sunday, May 19, with Western Riding, Horsemanship and Western Pleasure classes completing the show schedule. To see the show schedule, please visit www.anequineproduction.com, or download the Horse Show Track App to view scores and results.
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