NSBA Champions On Day 3 Include Alissa Boersen, Rebekah Kazakevicius, Casey Willis, Angela Wade, Hillary Roberts

By: Brittany Bevis

Todays classes at the 2017 NSBA World Championship Show ran the gamut from Showmanship and Trail to Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure. In the very first class of the morning, Alissa Boersen led her 12-year-old gelding, Hot Nuff To Glow, to win their first World Show title in Novice Youth Showmanship. Alissa is 14 years old now and has had Johnny since she was just five years old!

“I won Equitation at the Novice Championships, but this is one of my bigger wins! This is my first time at the NSBA World Show, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Earlier in the show, Alissa and Johnny placed 10th in Youth Equitation and the plan to compete in Youth Horsemanship as well before heading off to the Quarter Horse Congress this fall.

This team currently competes under the guidance of Adam Winter, who gave his young handler some sage advice before she entered the pen. “He said not to scramble it all together, but to pause between maneuvers. He also said to enjoy it.”

“I really liked my first line from the trot to the breakdown to the walk and then his back up too. Usually he takes a little time to set up, but he set up good today.”

Rebekah Kazakevicius and Not Just Anyhoo scored their second big win of the horse show in BCF 4-6 Year-Old Limited Open Hunter Under Saddle. Just yesterday, they won the BCF 4-6 Year-Old Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle and Beth Case won the Open division of the class.

“Horton” is five this year, so it’s his final show season in the Junior age division. In addition to competing in Maturity and Amateur Hunter Under Saddle events, Horton is quite the Pleasure Driving superstar as evident from his Congress Championship win with Charlie Cole last year. “Ryan Painter has been jumping him too, so hopefully he will be back and ready to go for the World Show. We’re working on English All-Around events.”

Rebekah is very excited about two young horses that she plans to campaign in the near future. One is a yearling by Good I Will Be and out of Beautiful Maiden that was purchased from Alexandra Chavez. The second is a weanling by Allocate Your Assets and out of Sky Strawberry, the dam of Horton. But until those two prospects are ready to compete under saddle, Rebekah will continue to show Horton, with their next stops being the Quarter Horse Congress and AQHA World Show.

Casey Willis and KM Suddenly So Easy scored a big win in the BCF 4-6 Year-Old Open Western Pleasure. “Penelope” has had quite success at NSBA World Shows past, winning as a two-year-old and a three-year-old. She’s now four and continuing her winning ways in the 4-6 year-old events and Junior age division. She will be showing in Junior Western Pleasure on Friday and has qualified for the event at the AQHA World Show. “She’s farm-raised and has been there since she was a baby.”

Penelope holds a special place in Casey’s heart because he won his first AQHA World Championship in 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure with this mare during his first year working for Ken and Marilyn Masterson. Like many horses born on the farm, Penelope is by the Mastersons’ celebrated stallion, RL Best of Sudden. “She reminds me of her father in movement and temperament. She’s really quiet and easy to get along with.”

Masterson Farms, LLC, has brought several new young horses to the NSBA World, in addition to a few reliable standbys. Marilyn Masterson is very excited to show KM WeKnowShesHot at the upcoming Select World Show. You can see this beautiful pair on the cover of the latest edition of The Equine Chronicle! Casey is also excited about a 2-year-old mare named Km Surely Best, aka “Chanel,” who is also by RL Best of Sudden and out of Winnie Three Bars. In addition, a three-year-old they plan to campaign is KM Best Made, aka “Popcorn,” who is out of a mare Marilyn used to show named Taylor Made Sheik.

“Actually, each of the horses we’ve brought here, with the exception of Penelope, Marilyn has shown their dams in the past,” Ken Masterson says. That’s quite common with the Mastersons, who believe, not only in the impact of a strong stallion, but also the influence of a great group of foundation mares.

Angela Wade had a fantastic day claiming the top two spots in Amateur Trail with A Soxy Dream and The Perfect Kryme. Angela was overjoyed to take the top two spots, especially because A Soxy Dream, aka “Sister,” is just four years old. Stay tuned to EquineChronicle.com tomorrow for an in-depth interview with Angela about her Amateur trail sweep!

Finally, Hillary Roberts rode Johnnie On The Spot to a win in a very competitive 3-Year-Old Open Non Pro class. Something our readers might not know about this particular mare upon first glance is that she is double-registered thanks to a small white spot under her chin.

“We got her as a two-year-old at the Larry Little Futurity from the Mastersons. She is by RL Best of Sudden and out of an Investor mare. She’s super fun to show, and I’m glad to get the chance to show her in three-year-old events after my mom showed her last year in two-year-old events.”

We wondered if Hillary’s mother, Susan, was reluctant to give up such a stellar show partner, but she laughs as she says, “It’s only temporary,” with a smile. That’s because Susan will be showing “Johnnie” in Amateur Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Show in the fall. Later on here at the show, Hillary and Johnnie have more 3-Year-Old Non Pro events and Capital Quarter Horses, LLC’s new resident trainer, Andy Cochran, will be showing in the open division.

Having been blessed with numerous, talented, young futurity horses over the years, we wondered what Hillary thinks is so special about this little mare. “For me, it’s that she’s so consistent, and she has a killer front leg and a hock to match. She’s beautiful to look at, and she’s got a lot of arena presence. I really like that she loves her job, because I think that’s important, especially for a young horse to start out that way. I think she has many more years of success ahead of her.”