Multiple World and Congress Champion, The Company You Keep, Has a New Partner With Heidi Rasor

By: Brittany Bevis

For the past two years, Angela Fox and her all-around AQHA gelding, The Company You Keep, have had quite a run. First, they were named Congress Champions in Amateur Showmanship in 2015 and returned the following year to a repeat win. Also in 2016, they were the Congress Champions in Equitation and named the All-Around Amateur team. At the AQHA World Show last year, they won Amateur Showmanship and were the Reserve All-Around team.

It was this extreme success coming off the heels of the birth of her first child, Ellis Jane, that prompted Angela to reflect on the time she and “George” had spent together and to make a plan for the future. “With having the baby and the really successful 2016, it seemed like natural timing to sell him and get a new project,” she says. “However, it was really hard for me, because, in order to become a really good team with a horse, you have to spend so much time with them. You know their personality and all their quirks. George has a really large personality, and I love that about him. I’m really going to miss him and miss competing with him, but I feel like this was a good thing for everyone. I’m going to be their biggest fan, and I can’t wait to cheer for George and Heidi!”

George’s new partner for the show pen is Heidi Rasor, who competes under the guidance of Jill Newcomb and Murray Griggs, an arrangement that works out perfectly for Angela, because Jill is a good friend. “Jill and Murray contacted Charlie [Cole] at Las Vegas last week and said they were looking for a great all-around horse. They flew out Tuesday morning and they owned him by Wednesday. I’m really happy, because I know what good care Jill takes of her horses. I’m very happy with the whole situation.”

“Heidi has taken a six-year break from showing horses and is getting back into it. She’s really good at Showmanship and will also be competing with George in pattern classes, like Horsemanship and Trail. I think it’s a perfect match.”

Heidi says the opportunity to purchase George came out of the blue, and she feels very fortunate that all the circumstances fell into place. “It was pure luck,” Heidi says.”I’d told Jill I wanted a new, big time, all-around horse, and Charlie was literally the first person she walked up to at the Vegas show. Angela was just getting ready to post a video of George being offered for sale, but I managed to step in before the video hit the web!”

“After watching the video, I knew I wanted him. But, I wanted to ride him to make sure that he was easy to get along with. He was super easy to get along with and super fun to ride.”

George and Heidi will be making their debut in Select classes at the NSBA World Show and from there they have plans to attend the All American Quarter Horse Congress. “We’re going to jump right in the deep end! I will be doing everything that George does, so Showmanship, Horsemanship, Equitation, Trail, Western Riding, and Halter. I haven’t ridden English in 12 years, so once he gets here next week, I plan to start practicing for Equitation.”

Heidi is thrilled with her new partner and is excited to start developing as a team. For Angela, her favorite classes to compete in with George were Showmanship and Horsemanship. But he wasn’t always the pattern superstar he is today. Angela reflects on the first horse show George attended as a three-year-old, the Reichert Celebration. “I got George during the summer of his three-year-old year, and he’s six now. He had never been shown, and Charlie and I took him to his first horse show to ride around. We could barely get loped off on the right lead. I decided to make a project of him and actually took him to the Congress that year.”

“When I bought him, Charlie had him in training for Donna Morgan, who owns George’s mother, Zipped Tight. I would go to the barn every day to ride my horse, and I always saw him tied up in the arena with the other two-year-olds. He was so pretty, and there was something that drew me to him. I asked if I could ride him for a few weeks to see if I got along with him, and I did.

“Every time I entered the pen with him, he really turned on the charm and performed. When he gets in the show pen, and he knows the stakes are high, he delivers.”

Over the past three years, Angela and George have become a solid team delivering consistent performances at major events across the country. Now, it’s time for George to keep new company, which means Angela is on the search for a new partner.

“I’m currently looking for my new project. I like making all-around horses, so I will be shopping for a two or three-year-old to get started and do the whole experience all over again. I’m ready.”

Click on the links below to view some of the articles we’ve written about about Angela and George over the years:

Angela Fox and The Company You Keep Win AQHA World Amateur Showmanship

Three Months After Becoming a Mom, Angela Fox Wins Congress Amateur Showmanship

Angela Fox and The Company You Keep Win Congress Amateur Showmanship