McDuffie and Jussen Win Amateur Junior Western Pleasure APHA World Championships

By: Brittany Bevis

Two big winners have been crowned this afternoon at the 2014 APHA World Championship Show in the Classic and Masters Amateur Junior Western Pleasure classes. First up, Carlee McDuffie showed Get The Sensation to win the Classic Amateur Junior Western Pleasure. The Reserve World Champion in the class was Megan East Hogan with A Lipstick Impulse.

Earlier in the show, McDuffie piloted her 4-year-old gelding named “Nick” to a World Champion finish in the Farnam 3 and 4-Year-Old Western Pleasure Stakes.

Before she entered the pen this afternoon, McDuffie’s trainers, Wade Parks and Carly Veldman-Parks, gave her some helpful last minute advice. “Wade tells me to sit up, put your chin up, and show,” she says. “I was so happy. He was amazing and so good for me.”

“It was kind of crowded and my spots were iffy the first way, but he’s so good on and off the rail that I just put him out there and let him do his job. He is very honest.”

Following Nick’s two big wins here at the World Show, there are several interested parties looking at perhaps adding him to their show lineup for next year. However, McDuffie says this horse is entirely too special to part with just yet.

“Right now, I don’t have any plans of selling him,” she says. “He is very special to me after I lost my horse Bandit. [Shining Impulse] had to be put down last August. My Dad called Wade because we’d been looking and looking for another horse, and I was tired of looking. Then, Dad called Wade and said he thought he may have one. We went down and rode him and he was just perfect.”

In addition to competing in Western Pleasure, McDuffie also showed Nick in Classic Amateur Trail to an 11th place finish. Looking forward to next year, they are hoping to add another new event to their repertoire.

“I think he was the only junior and green horse in the Trail,” she says. “Now, he is learning Western Riding, and then I will learn Western Riding; I’ve never shown in it before. Carly says he is going to be awesome at it, so I’m really excited.”

Coming up next, Nick will compete in Green Trail and Junior Trail with Carly Veldman-Parks and Junior Western Pleasure with Ashley Lakins. Before we concluded our interview, McDuffie wanted to be sure to thank a few special people in her life for all of their hard work and support.

“Thank you to God for giving me such a talented horse, great trainers, and great family and friends that support me and encourage me,” she says.

For Candace Jussen of Pilot Point, Texas, this was her first time winning an APHA World Champion title and her first time competing at the APHA World Show in Western Pleasure. More often than not, you will find Jussen in the AQHA Halter pen, but recently she’s been broadening her horizons to include other disciplines. Guiding Jussen through her paces today were horse trainers, Shane and Jamie Dowdy.

“If I do what Shane says, I can do anything,” Jussen says. “I loped this horse for the first time yesterday!”

Although she hasn’t had the opportunity to ride Chasin Dreams, aka “Skittles,” that much this year, Jussen wasn’t worried at all about competing in their first Western Pleasure class as a team.

“The biggest thing is to not question it,” she says. “Just do what Shane says.” Jussen learned, during this particular class, that piece of advice definitely comes into play concerning one of her trainer’s preparation techniques.

“Shane makes me walk fast all the time,” she says. “When I went to the last judge, I said, ‘Thank you very much.’  She said ‘Thank you for [having an extended walk]!’ Skittles felt fantastic today. I need to work a little bit on going to the right; I just got the left lead down this time!”

Now that their journey has concluded here at the APHA World Show, Jussen will travel up to Oklahoma City to watch Jamie Dowdy show her Quarter Horse named Cutelicious in Junior Western Riding and Junior Western Pleasure.

Masters Amateur Junior Western Pleasure

1-Chasin Dreams/Candace Jussen

2-Sensational Design/Melvin Mousley

3-In Victory Lane/Heidi Kokemiller

4-Special Red Shoes/Sandra Gattis Wiggins

5-Miss Love Machine/Carol Timke

6-Ask Her To Dance/Cindy Gattis

7-My Sensational Star/Linda Hill

8-Sensationaly Invested/Connie Robertson

9-Sensational Cookie/Pamela Heisinger

10-Certainly Flirtin/Debi East

Classic Amateur Junior Western Pleasure-

1- Get The Sensation/Carlee McDuffie

2-A Lipstick Impulse/Megan East Hogan

3-Gametime Sensation/Ali Eidson

4-Cool Hotrod/Haley Cooper

5-Hotrods Cool Kid/Michelle Rod

6-Carolina Brew/Joseph Brewer

7-Rockin My Impulse/Katelyn Macalush

8-Fleetastic/Andrea Kengis-Foss

9-Chromed Out Sensation/Pamela Switzer

10-Only Good Times/Shilo Eggers