Although it was Friday the 13th, for several NSBA members the day proved luck in some futurity classes that took place throughout the day.
Houston and Raspberry Win 10K Maturity
A small but mighty group competed for $2,000 in added money in the Maturity $10,000 Limited Horse Open Western Pleasure. Houston Huff showed Redwine Or Moonshine to the win, earning $1,434 for owner Kevin Spicer.
The four year old mare by Only In The Moonlite and out of Strawberri Wine was bred by Ken and Laina Banks. “Well we know how versatile her mother is,” laughed Houston. “Kevin just bought her in January, and since he was staying the winter in Florida, Chris and Shannon Holbin had her since he bought her,” Houston said. “She’s only been with me for about a week and a half when Kevin came back North.
“Aaron Moses actually had her as a two year old, and Bruce Vickery and Anthony Montes had her after that. I understand that she’s pretty good at Trail, and she has a really cool lead change, so we’ll start doing Western Riding soon. We mainly bought her for Kevin to show as a Select Amateur. She’s a super consistent show horse, which was really important to us for a Select rider. She’s very easy to show, and so soft. She’s a lot of fun to show.”
Katie Piper And Lazy Lopin In Lace Take $2,500 Rider/Horse Western Pleasure
“She’s a fun horse to go show,” Katie said of the six year old mare, who is by Lazy Loper. “She likes to do her job, and she makes it easy – she lets me do my job and she does hers.” The two won $938.25 for owner Melissa Straits.
Katie will be showing Lazy Lopin In Lace at the Tom Powers Triple Challenge, the NSBA World Championship Show and the Congress, and Melissa will compete in Non-Pro events.
Kaye Nell Ochetto Earns First Futurity
Kaye Nell Ochetto waited 13 years to raise a filly out of her old Amateur show mare, and now she’s raised – and shown – an NSBA futurity champion with Rhapsodizing. The duo won the $1,000 Added Three Year Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle, winning $634 for the first place finish.
“She’s actually very peculiar for a Hunter Under Saddle horse,” Kaye said. “She just likes her food and sleeping and she doesn’t get in a hurry for anything. She’s definitely a ‘push’ horse rather than ‘pull’ horse. But she’s very willing and she gets stronger every time I ride her.I’ve never had a Hunter Under Saddle horse like her. We call her Pelyn, and honestly she’s been Perfect Pelyn for me.”
The win brough Kaye to tears. “I’ve never shown the futurity classes before, let alone win one,” she said. “This is very special to me. I’m hopeful that it is the start of a long All Around career together.” Rhapsodizing is by Good I Will Be.
Since Kaye’s trainer, Jamie English, will be taking the summer off to have her baby, Kaye plans to return to the show circuit this fall for the NSBA World Championship Show and the Congress.
Bret Parrish And Good Miss Lazy Win Maturity 5K Western Pleasure
With a pedigree that had some familiar faces for Bret Parrish, it’s not surprising that he clicked well with Good Miss Lazy to win the NSBA $2,500 Added Maturity $5,000 Limited Horse Western Pleasure.
“She’s six years old, and I just got her at the first of this year,” Bret said. “Frank and Vicki Pugh had raised her, and they brought her to us. She’s by Lazy Loper, and we had shown her dam, Good Miss Sunny, so I see some similarities when riding and showing her. This is just our second horse show.
“This mare actually was just sold to Jan Pittman, but she’s going to stay with us. I will be showing her in Senior Western Pleasure and the Novice Horse classes and Jan will show her in the Non-Pro. We’re excited to get to continue her career and work with Jan.”
Bret was pleased with their performance in the class. “She was really soft and she’s such a consistent mover. She’s balanced and she has a pleasant look to her – plus she’s pretty,” he said.
Brian Ale Is Over The Moon With Second Futurity Win, And Katy Jo Zuidema's Last Minute Decision Pays Off
Brian Ale has had a whirlwind week at the Madness after winning the Three Year Old Open Western Pleasure Futurity on Thursday, and he followed up that win by tying to win and winning the tiebreaker with the same horse in the SOQHA Three Year Old & Over Novice Horse Open Western Pleasure Slot Class.
“This week has just been unbelievable and I don’t think it has really sank in,” Brian said. “I’ve waited a long time and there was a time when I didn’t think I’d get to show at this level. My horse was getting tired, and we just tried to show our best. I can’t thank Charles and Angie (Cannizzaro) enough as well as Leroy’s owner, Jeri Lockwood, for letting me show this horse.
“This type of a horse is really a once in a lifetime horse,” he said of the gelding by Extremely Hot Chips. “We just really clicked, and he’s just such a nice horse. This was a really tough class and it says a lot that we had a tie to win it.”
The duo tied with Katy Jo Zuidema and Snack Attackk, with each taking home a check for $11,250. For Katy Jo, the decision to come to Wilmington was a last minute one with owner Sarah Nimigan. “We weren’t going to come up here,” she said.
“We just didn’t get things going that well in Ocala, and were going to go home and regroup. We had stalls for here and we sold them, and then at the last minute we decided that we had a nice horse and we just wanted to do a reset. And it was worth the trip!
“We bought Snacks at the World Equestrian Center from Kathy Tobin and Julian Harris. I feel like the more we go, the better she gets. She’s getting stronger, and she took my moving from a hackamore to a bridle really well. In fact, Sarah won the Amateur Western Pleasure on her on all three cards earlier this week. As the year goes on, we will add more things for her. She’s an angel.”
Sarah is also excited to have a new show partner. “It’s really hard to follow up when you have a great horse like I had with Shock Top (Best Brew At The Bar). I haven’t ridden in Amateur Western Pleasure since I showed Shock Top a few years ago at the Congress, but I’m excited to get back in the saddle. She’s a fun horse.”
The complete placings in the Three Year Old and Older Novice Horse Open Western Pleasure Slot Class were:
Champion (by tiebreaker) – Flying To The Moon, Brian Ale for Jeri Kay Lockwood, $11,250
Reserve (by tiebreaker) – Snack Attackk, Katy Jo Zuidema for Sarah Nimigan, $11,250
Third – ShesGotAWayAboutHer, Aaron Moses for G & S Performance Horses, $5,000
Fourth – Deja Whoo, Angie Cannizzaro for Scott and Linda Berwick, $3,500
Fifth – Just To B Cool, Cody Parrish for Butch and Robin Rice, $3,000
Sixth – Rip Roarin Good, Mike Hachtel for Cheryl Hayward, $2,500
Seventh – Gotta Go Viral, Brian Baker for Patricia Abbott, $2,000
Eighth – Shez Made To Code, Cody Conover for Starland Ranch LLC, $1,500
Although a Limited Bonus was provided for the class, none of the riders in the 12 horse field were eligible to receive it.
An All-Day Journey To Senior Trail Futurity Champions
With 103 horses shown in Senior Trail, it took all day to determine the champion in the Futurity portion of the class, with two horses tying for the win, splitting the first and second place money.
Carly Parks and Good Evanescence, showing for Lyla Bellar, and a $898.20 paycheck, while Terry Cross and Ponderosa Pine, showing for Gentry Pickett, also tied and earned $898.20. Taking third was Cruize, shown by Jennifer Paul for Stephanie Janis, earning $523.95. Ryan Cottingim showed Hand Made Machine Melissa Armstrong for third, earning $374,25 and Ryan also won the Limited Rider bonus in the class.
The Madness continues through Sunday, May 15. Saturday will find a full slate of AQHA and NSBA Futurity Trail classes, the SOQHA Dad’s Walk/Joy Western Pleasure fundraiser, and the Equine Chronicle NSBA 3 & Over Maiden Horse Western Pleasure Slot Class. To view complete show results, please visit the Horse Show Tracker app or visit anequineproduction.com.
