Blake Weis and Snap Krackle Pop Score 232 to Win Congress Junior Western Riding

By: Brittany Bevis

Blake Weis and Snap Krackle Pop were first in the gate and last out this afternoon at the 2015 Quarter Horse Congress. The pair scored an impressive 232 to win Junior Western Riding among a tough field of competitors.

The Reserve Congress Champion was Charlie Cole with VS Flatline for the Glover/Galyean Partnership. Third place was Chad Evans with Suddenly Extreme for Ruth Marie Rowe. Fourth place was Reid Thomas with KM Boshotinvestment for Juliana Carlisle. Fifth place was Jamie Dowdy with It’s A Southern Thing for Gumz Farms.

This was not only “Brandi’s” first Congress title in Western Riding; it was also Weis’s first win in the class as well. “It was really exciting,” he says. “We won Green Trail last year and were Reserve in Junior Trail, but this is our first time winning Western Riding at the Congress.”

“We’ve been working on Western Riding, really hard, especially this year. She’s just getting comfortable with that forward pace, because she likes to go slow. Now, I feel like she’s finally getting comfortable up there and finding a rhythm.”

Having to go first in the working order today worried Weis a bit, but it worked out well for his friend and fellow horse trainer, Ryan Painter, so he was hoping the good luck would hold. Painter was first in the gate aboard Kamanyawannadance on Sunday in the Open Hunter Classic, and he was named the Congress Champion as well. “Ryan said, ‘It worked for me! You’ll be fine!’ I was a little worried about being first, but she warmed up really good last night. I feel like I know her like the back of my hand, so I was pretty comfortable going in.”

“I went out there first, and they scored me [high]. Sometimes, people worry about that, but today it worked out! Then, a lot of times, you’ll go early and have a big score, but it doesn’t always hold through the class. I feel like she plussed most of the changes. Her stop and back up was really good, and her pole was great.”

Brandi doesn’t have time for a win photo just yet; she needs her beauty rest before she will compete in the first go of the Maturity Open Western Pleasure this evening. “That was a lot of work for her, so she’s tired,” he says. “She has to get her sleep or she gets cranky!”

Later on in the show, Brandi will compete in Junior Western Pleasure and Junior Trail with Weis and in Amateur Western Pleasure and Amateur Trail with owner Twylla Brown.