Kelly Rauschenbach Wins First and Third in Congress L1 Amateur Trail

By: Brittany Bevis

Not only did Kelly Rauschenbach win Level 1 Amateur Trail this morning with Check This Machine, she also placed third with Really Sudden. Kelly was very early in the draw on her first horse, Check This Machine, and her score of 237 held throughout the entire class. Up until the very last horse and rider team, Carly Estreich-Luek with Hez Kool, Kelly was sitting in the Reserve spot with Really Sudden. Carly’s big score of 235 knocked Kelly out of the Reserve spot, but she couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

“It was the very last horse!” she says. “We were sitting first and second and then Carly went and had a killer go. I’m so happy. I would’ve been fine if I was second, third, or fifteenth.”

Check This Machine, aka “Dusty,” is actually Kelly’s mother’s horse, but Kelly has had the opportunity to show him a handful of times. Kelly’s horse is Really Sudden, aka “Stevie,” and this is his first year competing in non-pro Trail classes. “I was very proud of Stevie, because sometimes we don’t keep it together as well as we would like to. This pattern rode very well for both horses. The trickiest past was the break down after the lope from the gate. There was a breakdown to an immediate trot and, if you weren’t trotting pretty much right after the last log, you were out.”

With both horses, Kelly competes under the guidance of Brian and Sarah Bernatowicz and assistant Lea Palm. “I’ve been with them for five or six years and Trail is a main thing we focus on, but I also do Horsemanship, Western Pleasure, Trail, Equitation, and Showmanship.”

For today’s pattern, Kelly’s trainers gave one simple piece of advice. “Keep my eyes up, don’t look at the ground, and push. These two horses are so different. Dusty is very much push and guide, and Stevie is a little tougher something, but they’re both very good horse in Trail.”

Dusty loves Rice Krispy treats and will eat anything edible in sight, whereas Stevie is Mister Personality. “Dusty will eat anything. He’s the easiest horse to get along with, and I’m glad that he’s my mom’s horse. Steve has such a great personality and he’s a ham. I love both of them.”

This was Kelly’s first Congress win, and, in a word, she feels “amazing.”

“Hopefully, there will be many, many more!”