Whitney Lagace and Range To A Te Win Congress Senior Trail With 241.5

By: Brittany Bevis

After nearly eight hours of Senior Trail competition and 152 goes, Whitney Lagace was named the Congress Champion aboard Range To A Te with an enormous score of 241.5. Our readers might remember an interview we did with Bruce Vickery last year at the Congress, when he rode Signature Absolute to win Junior Trail with a Congress high score of 239. Whitney can’t even put into words how she feels about the score she and “Troy” achieved today for owner  Isabel Scobie and trainer, Jess Ross.

“He felt really great in the warm-up,” Whitney says. “His trainer, Jess Ross, prepared him really well, so I had to do minimal warm-up. I just went over a few poles and made sure he was soft in his body. Then, I went in, and he was a ton of fun to show.”

Whitney praises this particular horse’s ability to be slow and methodical with every single step, even through the more challenging obstacles. “I like how he is at the slow stuff; he is very methodical thinking,” she says. “He really holds the ground, and he’s the kind of horse that scopes out the poles and point you to the poles. He really enjoys his job a lot.”

Isabel has owned “Troy” since he was a 3-year-old; he’s now five years old. “I never knew when I got him that he was going to be so great,” she says. “He keeps getting better and better. I feel really lucky, and I never take it for granted.”

Tomorrow, Isabel and Troy will compete in Select Trail and Select Western Riding. Trainer, Jess Ross, was also very pleased with Troy’s performance in the class today.

“He goes out there and has so much expression,” she says. “He’s very noticeable. Everybody sees that big white face, and he looks like he’s engaged and happy doing his job. Whitney has done such a great job showing for us. She just kind of floats him around and does a great job for us.”

The Reserve Champion was Terry Cross with Rageous Blaze scoring a 241. Third place was Chad Evans with Ginnin, 239. Fourth place was Jason Martin with Invite Me Some More. Fifth place was Miya Childres with My Bar Passer. Sixth place was Brittany Morgan with Lil Bit Western. Seventh place was Chad Evans with A Movin Machine. Eighth place was Brendon Mehochko with Lethals Hot Weapon. Ninth place was Michael Colvin with PF Put It N Park. Tenth place was Bruce Vickery with Good For The Ladys.