GrandMary Green and Buttercup Headed to Select World 2017
Buttercup, Deanna, and GrandMary at the recent BCQHA and Texas Amateur State Championship Show. Photo courtesy of EC Blogger- Kacie Scharf.
By: Brittany Bevis
Over the past eight years, our readers have witnessed the rise of a Palomino mare that has cemented her place as one of the most recognizable and popular Western Pleasure horses in the pen today. We’re speaking, of course, of Blazinmytroublesaway, aka “Buttercup,” the now 10-year-old Quarter Horse mare by Blazing Hot and out of Really In Trouble, owned by the Green family of Aubrey, Texas.
From her numerous futurity wins and thousands of dollars in NSBA earnings, to multiple World Championships, NSBA World Championships, Congress Championships, and a 2010 NSBA Horse of the Year title, there isn’t much this golden girl hasn’t done. However, this fall, Buttercup will be taking on a new challenge when she travels to Amarillo, Texas, to compete with the matriarch of the Green family, GrandMary.
We chatted with granddaughter, Deanna, and grandmother, Mary , to find out more about this exciting new partnership.
“We actually call her GrandMary, and she’s my dad’s mom,” Deanna says. “She showed Buttercup once last year, and she started showing her this year in February at the Prairie Classic. She’s been to the Select World Show before, but it’s been a really long time.”
GrandMary confirms, recalling when she attended the second Select World Show aboard a mare named Marian The Librarian. “I remember we went to the second Select World Show they ever had. At that time, I was showing Marian. I believe we placed seventh. Then, we went back again next year, but we missed making the finals. That was the last time I’ve been.”
Deanna and Buttercup after winning Western Riding at the 2014 AQHA Youth World Show.
For GrandMary, who’s now 75 years young, a lot has changed since those early days on the farm working cattle and loading up the rig to take her two young children, Rusty and Mary Carole, to open horse shows in east Texas.
“We lived on a farm and had regular, work horses that we rode on cattle,” she says. “The kids showed in everything: Halter, Showmanship, Western Pleasure, the whole mess. Rusty would stay on for the Roping, and we would head home. That’s what we’ve done all along. I probably didn’t start showing in AQHA until after Rusty moved to Indiana. My first show horse was a mare named Zippos CK. Rusty showed her as a two-year-old, and I bought her to show as a three-year-old.”
The first time GrandMary partnered up with Buttercup was in 2016 at a horse show in Topeka, Kansas. It didn’t go as planned. “I had ridden her only about ten times, and we didn’t get the points we needed to qualify.”
The duo’s first show this year was at the Prairie Classic in Oklahoma City. “We went in the pen and there were 24 horses, rather than 10 horses last year. It was rather complicated.”
Thankfully, GrandMary has the perfect assistant in the form of her granddaughter. “Deanna is a very good helper. She reminds me of a general. She’ll ask, ‘Why aren’t you doing what I told you to do? You’re a better rider than that!’ I tell her that I’m trying, but sometimes it just doesn’t work right all the time. You need to keep your feet in the right place; you have to keep them slow, and you have to pass with the horse’s hip to the inside. It’s much more complicated. It’s not like how we used to ride.”
Deanna confirms, “I definitely give her advice, and sometimes she takes it! But Buttercup loves GrandMary, and they’re getting along great.”
Deanna and Buttercup get a kiss from Dad after winning Western Riding at the 2016 AQHA Youth World Show last year.
At the recent Big Country Quarter Horse Association and Texas Amateur State Championship Show, GrandMary and Buttercup had their best ride yet, snagging the final points they needed for Select World Show qualification in Western Pleasure. “For the Select World, I want to be able to get through the class and have a good ride.”
“I just ride her like they say. These horses are a lot different to ride. There’s a lot more to it than just sitting there. She did really well on Sunday in Waco, and I told Deanna it was probably the best ride we’ve had.”
Looking ahead, GrandMary plans to continue working on her skills and hopes to make her granddaughter proud, while having a little fun along the way.
“I’ve always liked to ride horses, because you can bounce around and forget your troubles!” she says. “It’s fun. It’s a different way of life. Of course, I’ve been through medical problems two or three times, but we seem to be doing fine. We will keep working, going out to ride, and seeing if we can perfect the details, because Deanna wants it to be perfect. We’re trying to get there.”
Check out Buttercup’s storied past in these EquineChronicle.com interviews over the past three years.
2016
2015
Congress Youth Trail Winners Are Elsie Naruszewicz, Deanna Green, and Sindey Dunham
Deanna Green Wins Congress Novice Youth 14-18 Trail, Jess Bergantzel Wins Junior Trail
Deanna Green and Blazinmytroublesaway Repeat World Champions in AQHYA Western Riding
2014
Deanna Green and Blazinmytroublesaway Score 237 1/2 to Win Western Riding at 2014 AQHYA World Show
