In Loving Memory: Multiple World Champion, Zippin Inthe USA

By: Brittany Bevis

We are deeply saddened to relay the news that the horse industry has lost another one of the greats. Over the weekend, AQHA/APHA multiple World Champion all-around gelding, Zippin Inthe USA, was rushed into surgery due to intestinal difficulties. After a lengthy procedure, surgeons removed a sizable benign lipoma tumor that was identified as the source of the problem.

Although the initial prognosis for recovery was positive, “Sam” remained in a great deal of pain and therefore was humanely euthanized on June 16th, 2014. Owner and longtime companion, Michelle Bauer, took a few moments to speak to us about the incredible horse she had to let go and the impact he’s had on her life.

“We bought Sam at the World Show in 2002 from Tami Farnsworth,” Bauer says. “They were showing under the guidance of Mike and Gretchen Hachtel. Except for the first few years we had him, we didn’t show him extensively. He usually only went to three or four shows a year. We decided to retire him after the World Show in 2012.”

During their time together, Bauer and Sam competed in showmanship, hunter under saddle, equitation, western pleasure, horsemanship, and western riding under the guidance of Garth and Sonnesa Gooding. Some of their biggest accomplishments include an APHA World Championship in Amateur Senior Hunter Under Saddle in 2003, an APHA World Championship in Classic Amateur Senior Hunter Under Saddle in 2006, a Top Five placing in Novice Hunt Seat Equitation at the 2011 Quarter Horse Congress, a Top Ten placing in Novice Horsemanship at the 2011 Quarter Horse Congress, and a Reserve World Championship in Classic Amateur Horsemanship at the 2012 APHA World Show.

But for Bauer, her partnership with Sam was about so much more than just shiny buckles, coveted trophies, and blue ribbons. She credits Sam’s faithful and patient nature as one of the main reasons she is still active in the horse industry today.

“Sam is a big part of why I’m still showing,” she says. “I started having a lot of health problems around 2004-2005, and I wasn’t riding very much. We’d won the World in 2003, and I wasn’t sure that was ever going to be possible for me again. If I didn’t have a horse like Sam, I don’t think I probably would have continued with it.”

“I didn’t feel good, I wasn’t riding my best, and he really made me look better than I was. He didn’t take advantage of my weakness, and there aren’t many horses that would come through like that. We won the World again in 2006. I don’t think I could ever repay him for all he did for me. That’s part of the reason I always kept him. I felt like he deserved a great life for making mine so much better.”

Bauer describes Sam as having had a “wonderfully unique and quirky personality.” Because of his dependability and longevity in the show pen, many people assumed that he was fairly laid back. However, like most great horses, Sam wasn’t without his little quirks.

“People always assumed he was really laid back, but he actually could get scared pretty easily,” she says. “He mellowed out some as he got older, but you always had to be careful when taking your coat off, while on him, or having somebody from the ground hand you something, because he had a tendency to just start spinning.”

“He was one of those horses who had a lot of heart and would always try. In all the years we had him, he was never ornery or crabby. He had a naturally happy disposition. He was an easy horse to become attached to.”

After posting the sad news of Sam’s passing on social media early this week, Bauer was overwhelmed with the support and kindness extended by family, friends, and complete strangers.

“Some [messages] were from people who knew Sam and others were from people who had experienced a similar loss,” she says. “Over the years, we’ve kept a book with all of his pictures and accomplishments. It’s grown pretty big, because we’ve had him so long. I’ve decided to print off all of the messages people have sent. It will be a fitting ending to his book.”