Brad Ost and 2-Year-Old, VS Roll Call, Win APHA Green Western Pleasure

By: Brittany Bevis

Every once in a while, there is a special horse that defies definition. It’s safe to say, without argument, that the 14-year-old AQHA legend, Vital Signs Are Good, aka “Lucy,” is one of those horses. Not only is she a record-setting show horse in her own right, she has gone on to produce multiple World and Congress Champions such as VS Flatline, VS Code Red, and VS Code Blue, just to name a few.

However, up until now, her prowess has remained in AQHA circles, that is until a 2-year-old filly named VS Roll Call stepped into the arena at the APHA World Championship Show this evening and was crowned the World Champion in Green Western Pleasure with Brad Ost in the saddle. Just last night, owner Theresa Moran rode “Salsa” to a third place finish in Non-Pro 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure.

Salsa is out the incomparable Vital Signs Are Good and by APHA stallion Zippos Sensation, and she has had great success this year winning at the Tom Powers Futurity and NSBA World Championship Show. Ost has had the opportunity to ride both mother and daughter and says they are eerily similar.

“She reminds me a lot of Lucy, just with her head and neck and her front leg,” Ost says. “Also, she’s very easy to show. Lucy’s had some other really nice babies, but this one probably reminds me the most of her. It’s amazing how dominant she is with her babies.”

“She’s not very big. She’s more stout than anything, but she is petite. She’s probably just 15.1 hands tall.”

Salsa was bred, born, and raised at Highpoint Performance Horses in Pilot Point, Texas, so Ost has had the opportunity to interact with this sweet filly from the very beginning. Although it would be an almost impossible task for any young horse to live up to a parental legacy like that of Vital Signs Are Good, Ost has hopes this young filly may also show an aptitude for Western Riding.

“Those are big shoes to fill, and no horse is probably ever going to live up to that,” he says. “Who knows if she is going to change leads like her mom, but that would be amazing if she did!”

Looking forward to 2015, there is the opportunity to pull a few embryos from Salsa and work on expanding VSAG’s bloodlines into the APHA industry. Ost, like any good horseman, believes a good horse is a good horse, whether they’re solid or spotted.

“I really enjoy showing Paints,” he says. “There is a market for good horses, no matter what breed.”

Green Western Pleasure-

1-VS Roll Call/Brad Ost

2-Sensational Design/Wade Parks

3-Rockin Vital Signs/Randy Wilson

4-Noterized/Jeffrey Gibbs

5-Cool Hotrod/Tim Gillespie

6-One Fleeting Night/Mark Baus

7-Certainly Flirtin/Mike Hachtel

8-Ask Her To Dance/Scott Suggs

9-Hold On To Your Dream/Wade Spell

10-Heavenly Machine/Laura Spell