Jeff Morgenstern and Gota Lota Rain Win First Congress Championship in L1 Select Amateur Trail

By: Brittany Bevis

Jeff Morgenstern and his 13-year-old gelding, Gota Lota Rain, achieved a milestone this afternoon winning their first Congress Championship title in L1 Select Amateur Trail. Jeff and “Rain Man” have been partners for the past two years, and they have a dual team of trainers that help them to prepare.

“Patty Vatterott takes care of us when we’re in Florida, and Brent Maxwell helps us when we’re in Ohio. I’m lucky enough to have two great trainers. In this case, Patty is the one who got us ready for the Congress, so she deserves a lot of credit for the win up here. It’s a great horse and a great program.”

Making Jeff’s score of a 228.5 even more impressive is the fact that he was the first to go in the working order, and his score held up through 55 other runs. “It’s overwhelming. We were the first go, and I had to sit around and see if the score held up. I was sitting over there on the bench resting, but my wife and daughter were watching the scores come up!”

Jeff and Rain Man will be testing their savant skills once again tomorrow when they compete in Select Trail. They will use the same plan of attack that helped clinch today’s win. “Patty said to use all the ground, keep your hand down, get your horse to the spot, and he will do the rest.”

“Today, I thought he was fancy over the lopes. I watched the video, and I thought his back through was good, as well as the gate. He was good everywhere. When you get above a 225, they’re pretty much plussing most places. He’s got a great history. He’s won here before for other owners and been a Reserve World Champion.”

What’s next for Jeff and Rain Man? After the Congress, they will take some much deserved time off until the Florida Gold and Gulf Coast. As for adding more events like Western Riding or Horsemanship, Jeff is perfectly happy to stick with what works.

“I’ve really found that Trail is a lot of fun, because it’s problem solving. If you solve the problem, you get the score. Then, you can come out and look at the cards and see how you did.”

 

“I really measure my success by the quality of the patterns. If I can just keep getting better and have good rides, the rest of it has to do with who you’re showing against, and you can’t do anything about that.”

The Reserve Champion was Yvonne Robeson with Be Won RV Machine. Third was Heidi Oosting with Extend The Previews. Fourth was Jennifer Michaels with Won Good RV Machine. Fifth was Julie Bernick with Gimmea Charlie Horse.