Kathy Tobin and Suddenly A Good Bar Win Congress Select Trail With 234
By: Brittany Bevis
Mrs. Kathy Tobin and her 13-year-old gelding “Roany” were third to go in the working order this morning in Select Trail at the 2017 All American Quarter Horse Congress. They scored a whopping 234 to stay at the top of the leaderboard outlasting 70 other entries to be named the Congress Champion.
Although the Congress app continuously updates the current leaders, Kathy opted out of looking, preferring to maintain the suspense until the very end. “I didn’t keep up with looking at the scores,” she says. “I didn’t know until the very last horse was over, done, and scored. I actually went to ladies room, and I got a text from a friend in Arizona. She said congratulations. I was thinking, ‘Is it over?’ I was afraid to look!”
Kathy and Roany have been a team for two years now and have a Select World Championship title in Trail to their credit. However, this is their first Congress Championship earned as a team.
Kathy was very pleased with Roany’s performance today, citing the trot serpentine as an obstacle they used to gain bonus points from the judges. “I did really like the first serpentine,” she says. “It’s always busy at the end of the arena that we share with the amateurs; so, on the orange and white poles, I had to talk to him a little bit to get his attention back on me. But, from then on, he was very good.”
When Kathy and Roany exited the pen today, they had a large cheering section, that consisted of family and friends, ready to congratulate them on a job well done. “I want to thank everybody who came here to support me. I have one son who isn’t here. He’s in New York; but, he’s already called. Our younger son, Harrison, my husband, sister, and two of our three nephews are here. I also have a lot of friends and family watching from home. I know they are cheering me on from afar.”
Coming up later today, Kathy will show her other horses, RA Undisputed and VS Game Changer, in Select Western Riding. Then, it’s on to the World Show where Suddenly A Good Bar and VS Game Changer will be shown in Trail and Western Riding, under the guidance longtime horse trainers and friends, Jim and Deanna Searles. Kathy is also very excited about the prospect of her new horse, Hereicomagain, a 4-year-old mare that will be shown in Western Pleasure.
The Reserve Champion in the class was Isabel Scobie with Range To A Te. Third was Bobbi Shaw with Sayelotomylethalfrin. Fourth was Wendy Broderson with One Hot Royality. Fifth was Diana Davidson with My Vital Valentine.
