Around the Rings at the 2023 QH Congress – Tuesday, Oct 17th
Tuesday, October 17th wrapped up competition for many of the all-around Youth at the 2023 All American Quarter Horse Congress!
Reagan Thenhaus and Sudden Top Notch won the L1 Youth Showmanship 13 & Under, and the duo are having a great Congress, which she says was her second time here – and obviously the charm. Watch our EC TV video to see Elvis’s smile and to hear what Reagan has to say!
Reagan Thenhaus and Sudden Top Notch win L1 Youth Showmanship 13 & Under
In the Cooper Arena that same morning, Vera Jane Barnes won her very first Congress Championship with Dont Skip Ms Scarlet. Watch our interview with Jane, who won the L1 Amateur Select Showmanship after attending for many years!
Vera Jane Barnes wins first Congress Championship with Dont Skip Ms Scarlet
Results for L1 Amateur Select Showmanship:
A little later on Tuesday, the audience went rather wild in the Coliseum when I Am The Party won his 14th Congress Championship in the 6 Year Old & Over Maturity Open Trail Stakes Limited with Jonathan Meilleur for Dr. Ted Filandrianos.
Jonathan says that “Benji” keeps getting better and better every year. “As a three year old I showed him strictly in the Pleasure, I won some futurities with him then and as a four year old, that was the first year I showed him in the trail,” he explains.
“I believe as a four year old, I was third here in the green trail, and right after I got my awards for the green trail, I ran to the Celeste to show the maturity limited finals,” says Jonathan. “And he won the performance halter here the first time as a three year old.”
He believes what has kept this horse so successful for so long is his huge heart and his amount of try. “I’ve never really pushed him, but all his siblings are the same way; every year, they just keep get stronger and stronger, that’s why we keep showing him as he loves what he does. He goes to breed for six months a year, then he comes back the first of July, and from there we go right to start showing, and I pick up where I left off.”
Benji, he reveals, is phenomenal-minded, the best minded horse he’s had in his life, including stallions, mares, and geldings.
That work ethic came into play in this particular Trail course, too, when there was an obstacle Jonathan found to be tricky and he was concerned about – diagonal lopeovers. “He’s such a big horse and has such a big stride and he covers so much ground, and it was a tight spot. I practiced right before I went in and it was kind of a disaster, I did it three times and every time it got worse and worse, and I trusted him to help me out and that’s what he did. He’s so athletic and he just bailed me right out two – three times in that pattern.”
Results for the Limited 6 Year Old & Over Maturity Open Trail Stakes:
