The Sister Act Does it Again, Johns and Tobin Go One, Two, and Three in Select Western Riding

By: Brittany Bevis

The dynamic sister act duo of Susan Johns and Kathy Tobin did it again this afternoon at the 2014 All American Quarter Horse Congress taking the top three spots in Select Western Riding. Winning a Congress Championship was Susan Johns with Heza Radical Zip, the same horse she won Select Horsemanship with just the other day. The Reserve Champion was Kathy Tobin with RA Undisputed, and third place was Tobin with More Radical. Tobin jokes that this is the first occasion she’s actually won a tiebreaker.

“I’ll take it!” she says. “I’m not going to complain. Rodney [More Radical] actually fell down last year and still ended up fifth. He had dirt on his knees and everything. So, this year, my goal was to stay upright!”

Trainer Jim Searles was very proud that Tobin was able to go out on Rodney, first up in the working order, and lay down a score that would sustain throughout the entire class. “She had to set the pace on Rodney,” he says. “She was first to go, and she went out there and laid it out on the line. She set the pace.”

Everything is all sunshine and roses this afternoon; however, yesterday was an entirely different story. Just a few days ago, Jim and Deanna Searles’ daughter Taylor was named the Congress Champion in 12-14 Hunter Under Saddle with her horse She Says Aloha. Just a day later, she flew home to head back to school and had to be rushed into surgery for appendicitis. Thankfully, Taylor is doing much better, but it’s not looking like Deanna will be able to return in enough time to compete in the Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle tomorrow evening. That’s also left Jim with the remainder of their clients’ classes to close out here at the Congress. He jokes, “I’ve been the horse trainer for 12 hours, and it’s going well so far!”

Although Deanna wasn’t able to witness her two Select ladies place first, second, and third in Western Riding, she received a play-by-play from Jim and congratulated both sisters over the phone.

“I started crying when she answered the phone,” Johns says. “Jim and Deanna both help me, but this is actually Deanna’s horse. She had to go fly home for their daughter’s surgery, so I thought I might not even show. If I warmed him up and he didn’t feel right, I might not have showed. It was left up to me to warm him up. I just needed to reprogram what Deanna had put into my brain. I did everything she told me to, and he was really good and honest for me.”

“He is one of her favorites. Jim and Deanna bought him as as two-year-old and put Trail, lead changes, spins and everything for Horsemanship on him, so he’s kind of like a home-grown.”

Earlier at the Congress, Deanna rode Heza Radical Zip to a Reserve Champion finish in Senior Western Riding.

Amateur Select Western Riding–

1- Heza Radical Zip/Susan Johns- 238

2-RA Undisputed/Kathy Tobin- 233

3-More Radical/Kathy Tobin- 233

4-Cutelicious/Candace Jussen- 224

5-Bellieve Hes Blazing/Christine Hocutt-Senteney- 223.5