Eric Mendrysa and Never Sudden win first Congress Championship in Showmanship
On Wednesday, October 18th at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, the Amateur Showmanship was a deep class with 122 teams. Eric Mendrysa experienced a win with Never Sudden that was surprisingly emotional for him, as that’s not his norm, he explains, but he’s wanted this since he was 12 years old.
“I’ve been trying for this for a long time, I’ve been reserve here and reserve at the World Show, and I’ve never quite made it to the winners’ circle in the showmanship, so this is a huge feat for me,” he says. Eric explains Boferd felt a little rough warming up and they had a little bobble in their prelims, but he went out and showed amazing. “So you never know what’s going to happen out there, and I couldn’t have asked him to be any better in the finals.”
He explains what he believes made the difference this year was actually less practice. “Less is more with this horse, and I think in the past years I’ve overdone it, and when over-practicing, he’s one step ahead of me. But today he was with me every single step and he did everything I asked . He was slow and soft and pretty, and I loved every piece of it today. He felt amazing.”
Boferd, Eric adds, is the biggest personality he’s ever had in a horse, with habits like swinging the chain around for two hours after he’s done showing and annoying everyone around him. “It drives everyone nuts, but he has to do it, otherwise, he’s not going to show good,” he says, and while Eric was explaining, Boferd tried to grab the interviewer’s phone!
Notably, Eric also won the class in a simple halter with limited silver that was more masculine looking – one he borrowed from barn mate Chesney Watkins. He shows in a very simple show saddle for horsemanship and he decided to follow suit for showmanship, too. “I think I’ve got to go buy one or buy this one off Chesney now as I think it has some luck on it!”
Results for Amateur Showmanship:
1
#8002
Never Sudden/Mendrysa; Eric
Mendrysa; Eric (E)
Boerne, TX
$200.00
2
#5242
Cool Made Machine/Walker; Shannon M
Vroegh; Mallory Michelle (E)
Grimes, IA
$180.00
3
#9080
Dont Think Twice/Pye; Meaghan L
Pye; Meaghan L (E)
North Augusta, SC
$160.00
3
#9080
Dont Think Twice/Pye; Meaghan L
Pye; Meaghan L (E)
North Augusta, SC
$160.00
4
#6081
Im ExtremelySchmancy/Jones; Katie Jo
Jones; Katie Jo (E)
Charlotte, NC
$140.00
5
#9362
Best To Be Zippin/Dougherty; Ty Paris
Dougherty; Ty Paris (E)
Adrian, MI
$120.00
6
#9921
Crank Up The Band/Maxwell; Ellexxah Ireland
Maxwell; Ellexxah Ireland (E)
Mexico, NY
$100.00
