Rock My Motion – The Cross-Over Kid

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156 – March/April, 2017

By Alison Foster

Rock My Motion, the 15-hand bay gelding by Appaloosa stallion, Hot Chocolate Chip, and out of She’s Radical, by AQHA stallion Radical Rodder, is rocking the horse show circuit. “Tex” is a Western Pleasure hotshot. He won his first major accolade in Two-Year-Old Limited Western Pleasure at the Appaloosa World Show and since then has proven a veritable tour de force on the rail. In total, he has accumulated an impressive 20 World and National titles and three All American Quarter Horse Congress titles in Western Pleasure. In 2015, Tex earned his place in the history books by becoming the first color horse to win a title at the Quarter Horse Congress. His astonishing show record is made even more impressive by the fact that Tex is only seven years old, with most of his career still ahead of him. As trainer Sara Simons says, “I’ve always known this horse was incredibly talented, but I’m learning that he’s capable of the unthinkable. As a trainer, that’s both humbling and exciting.”

Tex lives in Pilot Point, Texas and is trained by Sara Simons and RJ King of Simons Show Horses. He’s owned by the mother-daughter duo of Janis and Jordan Semmelmayer. The California-based Semmelmayers purchased Tex as a two-year old. At the time, he was owned by Tammy and Gary Raak and was competing under the supervision of Jodi Ploog. Looking back, Janis describes the moment they purchased Tex as an unexpected blessing. “We were at the World Show when Gary Roberts approached us saying he had found a spectacular two-yearold Western Pleasure prospect. We had been looking for a Western horse for Jordan, who was hoping for a new challenge after years of excelling in the English classes with our ApHC Hall of Fame inductee, Diamond Collection, and we just stumbled across Tex. It was such a blessing. We inquired if he was for sale. We just happened to be first in what would become a very long line of people looking to purchase him. I’m just so grateful we listened and acted right away or we wouldn’t have this incredible horse as a member of our family,” she says.

Click here to read the complete article
156 – March/April, 2017