Bruce Vickery and Extremely Good Stuff Win AQHA World Junior Trail

By: Brittany Bevis

Sometimes, things don’t go exactly as planned, especially when horses are concerned. After a challenging preliminaries, Bruce Vickery and Extremely Good Stuff were thankful to have the Shootout for another chance to make it back to the finals.

“I was the last person to make the Shootout,” Bruce says. “I’m not going to lie; I was terrible the other day. I wasn’t in it and Rooster wasn’t in it. I was having a really bad day, and it just wasn’t working. I was getting very frustrated. The Shootout was good, because it got him back in there and gave him a lot of confidence, because he didn’t feel secure the other day and he needed that. I had some of my friends give me a pep talk and some suggestions, and I went out and put all that in play. I got my confidence and his confidence back, and I felt great about it today.”

Bruce and the 5-year-old, red roan gelding named “Rooster” have been a team for a little over two years now. He came to Bruce via the Crivelli family, who wanted to expand the horse’s skill set from Western Pleasure to Western All Around events. Rooster won a Trail title at the NSBA World Show this year, and two last year, but this is his first AQHA World Championship title.

 

“I started him in Trail, and it’s been fun, because we know each other so well. When we’re in sync, it’s great. I knew he was going to be good at Trail instantly. I got him home from the Congress that year, and I took him over some poles. I told Anthony that this horse was going to be amazing at this, and I was right, for once!”

Bruce was last to go in the working order in a very challenging and intricate Tim Kimura course that played well to Rooster’s strengths. “I loved the fact that this pattern was really technical and difficult. It suited this horse well, because he’s so smart and really crafty with his feet. I was really glad to see the height of the poles and the tight turns. He’s really agile, so he can lengthen his stride and shorten his stride, and he can fit in small spots. It really worked nicely. He’s really especially good at the slow stuff, like the side passes, turn arounds, and backs. It kind of helped show him off today.”

Later on in the show, Lauren Crivelli will show Rooster in Amateur Trail, Showmanship, and Horsemanship.

The Reserve Champion was Brad Ost with Ramblin Mann. Third was Jason Gilliam with HP Primetime. Fourth was Clint Ainsworth with Shes Willy Awesome. Fifth was Stephanie Armellini with Rumors In The Dark.