Hava Cocktail On Me and Steve Meadows Win Congress Senior Ranch Trail
Meadows won the 2023 AQHA Inaugural World Championship in Working Western Rail with Hava
Cocktail On Me for owner Deborah Deschamps-Baker.
Hava Cocktail On Me and Steve Meadows for Deborah Deschamps-Baker Win Senior Ranch Trail at the 2024 All American Quarter Horse Congress.
By Sarah Welk Baynum
Hava Cocktail On Me, aka “Jimmy,” has won more than one Congress title this week. Photo credit: NSBA.
Steve Meadows won the 2024 Congress Senior Ranch Trail on 10-year-old Hava Cocktail On Me, known around the barn as “Jimmy,” despite a very large class with a tricky pattern.
“We purchased Jimmy right after the World show in 2020, so we’ve had him for a little while now,” says Meadows. “He has been a very successful horse—probably the most successful horse I’ve ever had. I call him the horse of a lifetime. He won the inaugural AQHA World Championship in Ranch, and last year, he won the inaugural working western rail. Then, he won the Senior Working Western Rail here at Congress. He’s won in Level 1 Select at the World show with his owner, and he’s been second here at Congress a bunch of times. He’s really been a good boy here this year already!”
But what makes Jimmy such a fantastic Ranch horse is not only his demeaner, but the real-life ranch work he does at home.
Steve explains that Jimmy is exactly the kind of horse you would want on a ranch.
“He’s careful with where he puts his feet, but he’s relaxed, and that’s what you want any horse to be. He’s a touch quirky, which means he looks at stuff, but it gives him extra expression. We use him for ranch work at home, and he’ll do stuff like drag colts around or I’ll check fences on him. He’s just a good guy overall,” says Meadows.
The pattern in this class was difficult, and Meadows says it really helped judges sort through all the incredibly talented horses. The course consisted of things like a bridge crossing, numerous walk, trot, and canter logs on tight turns, a gate, and backing throughs in a series of plants.
“I thought my side pass to the back-throughs was excellent. But what I didn’t like was when I almost hit the first extended trot-over log, and I had to adjust the right lead lope over just a touch. Of course, it felt way worse than it looked. Luckily, my drag was really good, as was the left lead lope-overs in the side pass. That gate to the first walkover was a tight spot, but the patterns here are because of this small arena and are known to be tight.”
Deb and Jimmy added the title of Champion Amateur Select Ranch Trail to their reperatoire at the 2024 Orange Blossom Classic. Photo: Shane Rux Photography.
He explains that he thought Casey did a phenomenal job coming up with this pattern. “It rode well, but it still had a lot of degree of difficulty to it that made it sort out the best horses in the world. Jimmy is just so pliable, and he does what I you ask with no resistance whatsoever. He’s a horse you’d want for a partner all day long on a ranch!” adds Meadows.
