Shelley Shepherd Wins First Congress Title in Amateur Pleasure Driving With Must Be A Detail

By: Brittany Bevis

Congress newbie, Shelley Nuhn Shepherd, is off to a great start winning her first Congress Champion title this morning with Must Be A Detail. Shepherd purchased “Stewie” in June of 2013 from his longtime owner Kerry Papendick.

“I knew his reputation, and I was looking for a new horse,” Shepherd says. “Kerry Papendick called Jill Newcomb and asked if she had anybody who would like him. I said I would like him!”

“I picked him up at the Red Bud and showed him one day before the tornado hit and we had to be evacuated. I didn’t show him again until the fall. I just started driving him in April, and we were Reserve at the Select World.”

This win is somewhat bittersweet for Shepherd because she was hoping to share it with one of her friends, a fellow driving enthusiast, the late Kathy Clements Hunt. Hunt was killed in a tragic car accident last year on her way home from the 2013 AQHA World Championship Show.  “She was my best friend,” Shepherd says. “When I got Stewie, I thought we could drive together and that would be so much fun. We never got the chance.”

Although emotions are mixed following her win today, Shepherd was pleased with her horse’s performance and is looking forward to competing in Western Riding, Horsemanship, Equitation, and Hunter Under Saddle, under the guidance of trainer Jill Newcomb. Assisting the pair with Pleasure Driving today was Kevin Dukes.

“I never really had a horse of his caliber,” she says. “He’s really my first big horse. We’ve taught him how to do more Horsemanship, and we’ve done well at the last couple of shows. It’s hard for him to shorten his stride to do a little Horsemanship pattern, when the arenas are so tiny and the patterns are set so small, but he is learning.” Even at 12 years old, Stewie is one old horse that can learn a few new tricks.

Amateur Pleasure Driving–

1- Must Be A Detail/Shelley Huhn Shepherd

2-Tonights Honor/April Speyer

3- Stay Shining/Dennis Mulford

4-Blue Sky Serenade/Terrie Brewer Booth

5- Striding N Lucky Blue/Rodger Call