Casselman-Reed and Pope Score at Top of APHA Amateur Ranch Horse Pleasure Sweepstakes

By: Brittany Bevis

Two ladies found themselves at the top of a near-unanimous leaderboard in the Amateur Ranch Horse Pleasure Sweepstakes this morning at the 2014 APHA World Championship Show. Nonie Casselman-Reed rode Zeena Lena to achieve four firsts and one second place to be named the World Champion. Coming in Reserve with three seconds, one third, and one first was Claire Pope with Ce Wilsons Gold Angel.

Nonie describes her five-year-old mare, “Zeena,” as the most fun horse she’s ever had the opportunity to ride. They’ve been a team for the past two years.

“Tom Neil trained her, and I picked her up in January of her four-year-old year,” Nonie says. “I’ve been doing Ranch Horse Pleasure all year, and we made the Select AQHA Ranch Horse Pleasure finals, because she is also double-registered.”

“I think what helps her in this class is that she is such a pretty mover. She is really smooth to ride. Ranches want a smooth horse to ride, because they’re going to be riding them all day. I think that’s her best quality.”

As this relatively new event is quickly gaining a legion of fans in both APHA and AQHA, Nonie believes its popularity has to do with the pared-down styling and a return to true western ranch horse movement.

“I think it’s so popular, because it’s kind of back to the basics,” she says. “It’s all about a horse moving naturally. Most anybody can do it, because there are real easy, basic maneuvers.”

“I was so proud of Zeena; She did so good today. I’ve been riding her for a couple of hours this morning, because I wanted her to be relaxed and tired. And I wanted to remember the pattern! My favorite part were the transitions, like going from a fast lope to a trot, and going over the logs was fun. Changing leads was scary, but it was fun because it worked out. I think I might enter the Open Ranch Horse Pleasure, because we had so much fun today!”

This is Nonie and Zeena’s second World Champion title of the horse show. Just a few days ago, they were named the World Champions in Amateur Limited Working Cow Horse. Now, the only difficult decision will be to decide which buckle to wear.

“Zeena loves to work cows too,” Nonie says. “That’s her favorite part. Today is my first and only granddaughter’s first birthday, so I’ll probably wear the buckle I won today. Her name is Claira, and she will ride when she gets older. When I babysit her, we ride!”

In addition to Ranch Horse Pleasure and Working Cow Horse events, Zeena has another job as a therapy horse at Nonie and her husband’s therapeutic equine center in Stephenville, Texas.

“My husband and I started Touchstone Ranch Recovery Center about five years ago,” she says. “It is a residential rehab center where people go to get sober, and we use Zeena for equine therapy. We have a herd of horses, but the clients love Zeena. They don’t ride her, but they will walk her around through an obstacle course, because it’s equine experiential therapy. They say she is their favorite because, although she may be spoiled, she gives them courage and is easy to work with.”

Amateur Ranch Horse Pleasure Sweepstakes-

1-Zeena Lena/Nonie Casselman-Reed

2-Ce Wilsons Gold Angel/Claire Pope

3-Like A Fancy Diamond/Jim Young

4-Vr Knockyour Socksoff/Melissa Haberkorn

5-Spookies Got Her Gun/Matt Adkins

6-Deltas Foxy Flyer/Claire Armstrong

7-Dez Add To The Assets/Tammy Botsford

8-Deltas Peppy San One/Karen Olsen

9-Calicos Top Gun Star/Katherine Joos

10-Double Take Charm/Jeff Conner