Coleen Bull and Timeless Assets Win Masters Am. Sr. HUS at 2013 APHA World Show
By: Brittany Bevis
Every time, Timeless Assets, aka “Tucson,” has entered the hunter under saddle pen at the APHA World Championship Show he has exited with either a World or Reserve World Championship finish. Today was certainly no different when his owner Coleen Bull climbed aboard.
Tucson has two Reserve World Championships and three World Championships in Hunter Under Saddle to his credit. How can this eight-year-old gelding keep winning year after year? Bull is convinced it all comes down to good care, a balanced approach to training, and maintaining a happy attitude.
“He gets good care, and he still likes his job,” Bull says. “I think a lot of it is the training. Garth and Sonnesa just know the right balance of pushing him but not pushing him too much so he still enjoys what he does. Some of it is just his personality. This was the first class that he kind of figured out what I wanted. He gives so much all the time. He can just kind of click into this hunter under saddle mode. He perks his ears up and says, ‘Hold on Mom. We’re going!’ And he takes me for a ride.”
For the past two years, Bull has been named the All-Around Masters Amateur competitor at the World Show. That’s a title she wouldn’t mind taking home this year as well. She’s definitely off to a good start and still has Masters Amateur Equitation, Showmanship, Horsemanship, Western Pleasure, and Trail to go. Is there anything this pair doesn’t do? Well, there is Hunter Hack and Western Riding, but Bull is hoping to add those events to the lineup next year.
“Earlier in the year, we sent him for hunter hack training,” she says. “He did really good with it, and I did ok with it. Once we got home, we just didn’t practice it for a long time. It wasn’t fair to come here and throw him into it.”
“Also, Garth’s having a hard time teaching this old dog a few new tricks! I haven’t shown in western riding yet. Garth has shown it a couple of times. I think I will focus on that next year. Hopefully, it will be soon because that’s a class I’ve always loved and always wanted to do. To finally have a horse that will do it will be great. I’m excited.”
Because Bull’s trainers attended more Quarter Horse shows than usual this year, she found herself with a little free time to experiment with Tucson on her own. She enjoyed the time she could spend traveling to shows with her girlfriends and compete “just for fun.”
“We showed a little bit less this year, because Garth and Sonnesa are showing more Quarter Horses,” she says. “I did go to a few shows with my girlfriends, so it was kind of like getting back to just doing it and having fun. I enjoy Garth and Sonnesa immensely, and it’s so nice to have their expertise to fall back on. But, to be out on my own felt really good too in a little different way. It was good to know that I could go out and be competitive by myself, because he’s got the foundation and I’ve got the foundation.”
Although she had fun, Bull’s time on her own wasn’t all sunshine and alfalfa. She quickly discovered that Tucson is definitely more of a show horse than he is a pet.
“I took him home for two weeks,” she says. “It was great having him home, but it was kind of nerve-wracking. What I discovered having him home is that he is exactly where he needs to be in the show pen with Garth and Sonnesa. I think there was this big sigh of relief when he returned home to Garth and Sonnesa!”
Masters Amateur Senior Hunter Under Saddle-
1-Timeless Assets/Colleen Bull
2-Fleets Serenity/Kelli Foster
3-Vr Knockyour Socksoff/Melissa Haberkorn
4-All About The Swing/Anne Rosen
5-Fancy Favors/Paris Hughes
6-Who Sez/Barbara Messinger
7-A Likely Sensation/Jodie Nolen
8-Chansation/Dianne Rouse
9-I’ll Be Sensational/Daranne Folino
10-Hez Got It Go N On/Diane Luckey
Intermediate–
1-Fancy Favors/Paris Hughes
2-Chansation/Dianne Rouse
3-Hez Got It Going On/Diane Luckey
4-Hr Zip Me/Abbey Sheftel Turner
5-Dointhelonesomething/Sherry Mahaffey
