Cannizzaro Wins Congress Two-Year-Old Open Wp Stakes; Carlson Wins Amateur Horsemanship, Kazakevicius Wins Three-Year-Old Non Pro HUS, Green Wins 15-18 WP

By: Brittany Bevis

Angie Cannizzaro was in the saddle of Loping In The Knight this afternoon to win the NSBA Two-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure Stakes for owners Stanley and Susan Scott. “Maggie” is by Lazy Loper and out of RL Sudden’s Maggie. Angie has campaigned Maggie throughout the year, but she feels her performance today takes the cake.

“She’s really easy, really smooth, really broke, and she loves her job,” Angie says. “I was wanting to be able to present her in a way that showed the judges that, and I think it worked out.”

“She’s done well earlier this year, but she’s physically matured so much in the last couple of months. It’s really enabled her to perform well.”

Maggie will not be making the trip to Oklahoma City for the AQHA World Show, but instead will be taking a few months off for the holidays. Next year, Angie hopes Nancy Ditty will show the mare in 3-Year-Old Non Pro events.

Second place in the class was Rusty Green with Scoot Over for Linda Neece. Third place was Gil Galyean with Special N I Know It. Fourth place was Kenny Lakins with Available By Invitation. Fifth place was Brad Ost with Lookin Good In Red. Sixth place was Aaron Moses with No Doubt I’m Pretty. Seventh place was Dave Archer with UF Rockin The House. Eighth place was Pasley Puthoff with Bestdippednchocolate. Ninth place was Brian Baker with Invite Only The Best. Tenth place was Pat Heeley with Its Huntin Time.

In Amateur Horsemanship, Daniel Carlson was feeling some nerves, because he was the first to go in the preliminaries of 107 entries. However, he made the decision to make the best of the cards he’d been dealt.

“I was pretty nervous about it at first, but then I came to the idea that there wasn’t much I could do about it,” he says. “I decided I was going to focus on laying down a good pattern, and I feel I did a good job of doing that.”

Daniel has owned Emily since she was a yearling; she’s now 14 years old. Together they’ve had a very successful show career winning World Champion titles at the AQHA World Show in Junior Trail, Amateur Trail, and Showmanship and Horsemanship, Showmanship, and Trail at the Quarter Horse Congress. He’s competed under the guidance of Gene Spagnola for the past five years.

“He’s helped me fine tune and finish all the events we show in,” Daniel says. “I do a lot of it myself. Emily stays at home, and then I haul to shows with Geno. He’s definitely helped me a lot.”

“One of my favorite parts today was putting down fresh tracks in the freshly groomed dirt during the first go round. Also, I liked my extended lopes and my breakdown to the extended trot. I think all the pieces were very good.”

Later on this week, Daniel and Emily will compete in Amateur Showmanship, Trail, and Western Riding.

The Reserve Congress Champion in the class was Michelle Forness with Stretch Machine. Third place was Angela Wade with The Perfect Kryme. Fourth place was Graceon Ehrman with Dontskipmygoodimage. Fifth place was Gabrielle Capron with KM Zip Me Suddenly. Sixth place was Elizabeth Combs with Lets Be Radical. Seventh place was Peyton Bivins with Kamanyawanndance. Eighth place was Gabrielle Lofton with Hay Good Looking. Ninth place was Christina Szabados with Invest Ina Machine. Tenth place was Angela Fox with The Company You Keep.

Meanwhile, over in the Celeste Arena, there were two unanimous Congress Champions to celebrate. First, Deanna Green rode Bestseatnthehouse to win Youth 15-18 Western Pleasure. The Reserve Champion was Matthew Labrie with The Party Starts Now. Third place was Katie Bussing with Cool Lookin Moonie. Fourth place was Mattison Love with Km Call Me Honey. Fifth place was Ruby Lang with A Sudden Echo.

In the 3-Year-Old Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, Rebekah Kazakevicius and Not Just Anyhoo were named the unanimous Congress Champions. The Reserve Champion was Taylor Searles with Al Be Your Sweet Art. Third place was Katie Jo Jones with Raise Ur Bid. Fourth place was Dawn Sechler with Justin Beamer. Fifth place was Adria Smith with My Invitations R Hot.