By: Brittany Bevis
Simons Show Horses went two for two this afternoon at the 2013 APHA World Show in the Masters Amateur Senior Western Pleasure. Marylyn Caliendo and her new horse, Inthesweetshop, were named the World Champions. The Reserve Champion and Intermediate winner was Susan Prince with Radicalized. Not only are both of these lovely ladies in training with Simons Show Horses, both of their mounts are out of Zippos Sensation mares.
“We call them ‘the boys,’ the twin boys,” Caliendo says.
This was Caliendo’s second time competing with “Bentley.” She purchased the gelding in October from Jenni Hansen and went to their first horse show together the week before the World Show.
“I couldn’t ride all year because I had breast cancer,” Caliendo says. “That’s why I got him so late [in the year]. We went to Waco last week, and I showed him for the first time. We won, so I was like, ‘Wow, Sara’s right.’ I can ride this horse.”
It was her newfound confidence that helped Caliendo pilot Bentley to the win today. After the preliminaries, she was so pleased with her horse’s ride that she had high hopes for the finals.
“My ride was excellent,” she says. “I thought my cut was really good, but he was dead on in the finals. It kind of freaked me out a little bit. I was waiting to fix something! After I made the cut, Sara said she couldn’t even tell me anything to fix because there wasn’t anything to fix.”
“Sara and RJ [King] always tell me to show him like I’ve been riding him. Then, of course in the class, I think every trainer is yelling to sit deep, lean back, sit up, and slow down. I told them that I was going to ride him like I owned that pen.”
Following this successful performance, Caliendo is looking forward to adding additional events in 2014 such as Masters Amateur Showmanship, Trail, and Hunter Under Saddle.
While heading back from the photo booth this afternoon, Andrea Simons had just one thing to say about Caliendo’s winning ride.
“She rode him like she stole him!”
Masters Amateur Senior Western Pleasure-
1-Inthesweetshop/Marylyn Caliendo
2-Radicalized/Susan Prince
3-Figure On Fancy/Marcie Griffin-Michaels
4-Sensational Gentlemen/Leona Martz
5-Come Get Ya Some/Ron Shelly
6-Don’t Try This At Home/Taunya Mombeger
7-He Sent My Invitation/Shelley Busch
8-Chansation/Dianne Rouse
9-Cockeyed Cowboy/Linda Jessup
10-Its Always On/Steve Gulling
1-Radicalized/Susan Prince
2-Figure On Fancy/Marcie Griffin-Michaels
3-Dont Try This At Home/Taunya Momberger
4-Cockeyed Cowboy/Linda Jessup
5-Miss Sedona Pine/Lisa Jones