Alexis Pesicek and I’ll Be Famous In Time Are Congress Small Fry Horsemanship Champions

By: Brittany Bevis

10-year-old Alexis Pesicek certainly didn’t have to wait very long for her horse to become famous. “Holly,” or I’ll Be Famous In Time, earned quite a bit of notoriety this evening when she and her rider were named Congress Champions in a very tough Small Fry Horsemanship class consisting of multiple splits. Coming in Reserve in the class was Ava Lynn Coughlin with Divas Invitation. Third place was Alexia Tordoff with Huntin For Daises. Fourth place was Matt Burlet with Invitation To Dream, and Grace Miller rode RL I’m Not Passing to a fifth place finish.

We caught up with a very excited Pesicek as she made her way to the photo booth for a commemorative win picture with friends and family.

“Holly originally came from Oklahoma,” Pesicek says. “We usually band her forelock in three bands for good luck. We did that today.”

Pesicek explains that the only horse trainer she has is her mother, April Pesicek. However, Mom is quick to correct that she really isn’t a “horse trainer” per say.

“We do it all on our own,” she says. “Greg Bender helped us find this horse. He found it from Gil Galyean, whose little boy had it. He helped us find Holly four or five years ago. She is nine.”

That makes Holly just one year younger than Pesicek, who turned ten in January. Because of her age, this will be the young equestrienne’s last time competing in Small Fry events here at the Congress. Now, she hopes to conquer the 13 and under division.

Despite her “non-trainer status,” Pesicek’s mother had some helpful advice to give her daughter before entering the pen tonight to compete.

“She said, ‘Put your heels down, keep your chin up, and stuff like that,” Pesicek says.

Last year, Pesicek placed 12th in the Small Fry Horsemanship during her first trip to the Congress. To improve her performance this year, she followed the advice of her pastor to pray hard and strive to do the very best she could.

“Our pastor always tells us to dream big, so we’ve been praying pretty big for top five or winning,” she says. “It was pretty fun. It seemed pretty bouncy, but most of the time, she was good. Now, she’ll probably get like two weeks off, and she’ll probably get quite a bit of treats too. Her favorite treat is an apple.”

While Holly enjoys her apple, Pesicek has to decide what she’s going to do to celebrate tonight’s big win. Part of her post-celebratory duties will include writing a thank you note to the Habighorst family for providing the beautiful Blue Ribbon trophy saddle and headstall that was given away this evening.

Congratulations to all of the Small Fry competitors on a job well done!