Hillary Roberts and Chrome On My Zipper Score 236 to Win Amateur Trail

By: Brittany Bevis

The theme of tonight’s Amateur Trail finals was impressive performances and huge scores. Tonight, Hillary Roberts rode Chrome On My Zipper to score a 236 and win the World Championship title. Coming in Reserve was Scott Reinartz with Investin A Goodbar, scoring a 234.

Hillary and her longtime partner, a 14-year-old gelding named “Long John” won Youth Trail at the 2009 World Show, but this is their first time winning in the amateur division. Heading into tonight’s finals, she knew how good Long John had been performing all week, so she was feeling a bit of anticipation.

“Nervous might not be the right word. There was a lot of anticipation for me, because throughout the week he has been really good. Sometimes, that kind of makes me nervous, because I know how potentially good it might be. That makes me a little nervous, because I don’t want to mess it up when my horse is being good.”

“As with any Tim [Kimura] pattern, there are some things in there you have to look out for. The addition of the push gate was different, so there was room for error there. I was excited to do the extensions, because that’s always a place where he has been able to excel in other classes; but, it’s still different, so you never really know. He did everything I asked and more. He knows his job, and he likes his job.”

Assisting Hillary and Long John with preparations for tonight’s finals was Brynn Bassler. “As far as a practice strategy, it’s the same as with any veteran horse. Our strategy was to do the poles enough to be confident and keep him in a good mental state throughout the show. We wanted to keep him happy and his legs fresh.”

Coming up next, Hillary will show Momma Knows Best, aka “Myrtle, the Turtle,” in Amateur Western Pleasure.

Third place was Alyssa Neiberger with Credits For Heaven. Fourth was Angela Wade with A Soxy Dream. Fifth was Libby Rinder with Hot Rockin Potential.