By: Brittany Bevis
It’s a BUSY day here at the 2016 All American Quarter Horse Congress with multiple finals taking place simultaneously in both the Celeste and Coliseum. Over in the Coliseum, Lacy Watson was named the champion in Maturity Limited Non Pro Western Pleasure with her horse, RR Magical Moonlite, aka “Mouse.”
This is Mouse’s first year competing in the Maturity division as a four-year-old. “We’ve had a great year so far,” Lacy says. “We’ve stayed around Ohio mostly and won a couple of futurities at the Buckeye and we also showed at the Pink show before we came here.”
“Probably my favorite thing about him is that he really loves his job. He always has great expression and he always has his ears forward. He loves what he does, and that’s by far my favorite thing about him.”
Lacy and Mouse compete under the guidance of Kenny and Ashley Lakins. Later on in the show, they will compete in the Non-Pro Open finals of the Maturity as well as Amateur Western Pleasure.
The Reserve Champion in the class was Cheryl Mullikin with KM Call Me Honey. Third place was Aubrey Alderman with Made U Want Me. Fourth was Abbey Rawlings with A Lazy Holiday. Fifth was Megan Hawkins with Extremely Dark Chips.
This is 11-year-old, Blythe Goguen first trip to the All American Quarter Horse Congress, and she’s having a fantastic time so far. That’s probably because she just won her first Congress title aboard Smooth and Chocolatey, aka “Ben.” Not only that, but she placed third with her other horse, Good Time To Win!
“I’ve been riding Ben for eight months. He’s really smooth and easy, but he can be mean around the barn!” But when Ben isn’t showing off his feisty personality, he’s a Western Riding and Trail super star. “I like doing lead changes on Ben. He’s really fun when he’s good. He likes to change early, so I was thinking about riding him past all the early lead changes and trying to get them as close to the center as I could.”
After Blythe completed her patterns with both horses, she had to wait to see how she would end up in the final placings. “Nobody would tell me what score I got, so I went in there and I had no idea!”
The Reserve Champion in the class was Jayna Lagace with Platinum Sensation. Third place was Blythe Goguen with Good Time To Win. Fourth was Lyla Bellar with Potentially Money. Fifth was Jordan Davis with Amblin Good N Easy.
Finally, in Senior Hunter Under Saddle, Jadasa Jablonowski came all the way from Germany to compete at her second Quarter Horse Congress. This time she was in the irons of Ain’t Gota Lot for owner Courtney Archer. This is Dasi’s first time winning a Congress Championship title and the emotion was visible on her face when she exited the pen.
Courtney has owned “Bob” since just before the Big A horse show this summer when she purchased him from Highpoint Performance Horses. The pair has had great success this year with multiple wins at the Big A, Show For Dough, and NSBA World Championship Show. Courtney describes Bob as “probably the best horse I’ve ever had the opportunity to own.”
Later on in the show, Bob will compete in Novice Amateur Hunter Under Saddle and Amateur Hunter Under Saddle with Courtney.
The Reserve Champion in the class was Beth Case with Look N Hott for Laurel Champlin. Third was Deanna Searles with She Says Aloha. Fourth was Leslie Lange with Kamanyawannadance for Peyton Bivins. Fifth was Keith Miller with Must Be A Detail for Carrie Ann Geldner.