Lauren Love piloted her new horse, Momma Knows Best, to win a Congress Championship title this morning in the Three-Year-Old Non Pro Western Pleasure Limited finals. Love and “Myrtle the Turtle,” as she is fondly called due to her slow-moving nature, have been a team for only one month now. Their first time in the show pen was at the NSBA Riders Cup that recently took place in Wilmington, Ohio. The Quarter Horse Congress is their second horse show together.
“I’ve always liked her,” Love says. “[Capital Quarter Horses] had her at the barn, and they let me ride her around. I really got along with her. She’s fun. My first show horse was named Myrtle, so I kind of felt a little bond there. She’s a pretty fun, little horse.”
Typically, Love competes in Amateur all-around events with her other horse, Wearin Only Moonlite, so this foray into the world of Western Pleasure futurities is a bit of a departure.
“I showed my all-around horse, Wearin Only Moonlite, in the Three-Year-Old Non Pro Western Pleasure last year,” she says. “It’s fun. I’m figuring it out a bit. It’s different, but it’s a good challenge.”
Later on at the Congress, Love will ride Wearin Only Moonlite in Amateur Horsemanship, hoping to claim another big title; this team was the NSBA World Champions in the event just a month ago. Also, Love and Myrtle will return to the pen for the open division finals of the Three-Year-Old Non Pro Western Pleasure.
“She was really good today,” Love says. “I could push her and just sit there and show. During the first few times I showed her, we had a few bobbles here and there. Then, today, everything kind of came together.”
The Reserve Champion in the class was William Cox with Sleep Machine. Third place was Megan Hawkins with Extremely Dark Chips. Fourth place was Laura Bracken with Sweetnsophisticated. Fifth place was Lacy Watson with RR Magical Moonlite.
Sixth place was Lindsey McMullen with The Monie Man. Seventh place was Abbey Rawlings with A Lazy Holiday. Eighth place was Courtney Chown with Chum Machine. Ninth place was Katie Bossart with Batmans Loping Lady. Tenth place was Amanda Mehaffey with Certainly Born Hot.