Angela Wade and My Mama Said So – A Legacy of Trail
Angela with My Mama Said So, aka “Sally.”
By Delores Kuhlwein
When Angela Wade showed at her first horse show as a child, in a borrowed hat, saddle, and clothes on a horse named Dandy Blue Diamond, she says her mom wanted to make sure Angela truly liked this sport before they bought all the things and set up shop.
Her first obstacle in her class was the gate, and lo and behold, she dropped the rope. Instead of giving up or moving on, at that moment, Angela decided to work the entire gate with an imaginary rope. “I was very much all in,” she says, and her mom knew it then, too. “Trail was the only class that came easily to me to start with, and I struggled in others for years and years, but the trail always made sense.”
Fast forward to 2024, and she’s very much all in with a history of incredible success, and Saturday’s trail classes at the Orange Blossom Classic at WEC-Ocala, became part of her winning repertoire.
Angela Wade grabbed both top places in the NSBA Amateur Trail – a Champion title with My Mama Said So – earning $1250, and the Reserve with A Soxy Dream – $1000.
This achievement earned her two spots in that evening’s Non Pro Challenge, in which Top 10 Horse and Rider combinations from Youth and Amateur and Select classes were invited back to a clean-slate challenge. They hadn’t seen the pattern before 6 PM that night and were allowed to walk the course first.
Angela and A Soxy Dream
When the amazing competition of 31 riders was over, Grant Mastin won the championship and Angela and My Mama Said So were crowned Reserve Champions, with A Soxy Dream earning a fifth-place title.
Talking about My Mama Said So, aka “Sally,” is a tearful experience for Angela, as they have a unique and undeniable connection. Her dam, the late One Hot Drama Mama, was Angela’s all time favorite trail horse, and the one who earned Angela her first world title, which happened to be in Trail.
When “Peaches” was crossed with RL Best Of Sudden, the embryo flush resulted in two foals – a mare and a gelding, Angela explains. “When I was trying to decide who I was going to keep, and who to sell, and I thought it was going to be the gelding (SleepinInTheStands, aka “Sam”) who I would like more. From the minute I stepped on Sally, I knew this was the closest thing I’ve had to her mother or will ever have. She has the same heart as her mom.”
Angela on Sally, pictured in Ocala in 2022 with friend Gillian Chant.
One of her favorite memories surrounds showing both mares at the same AQHA World Show, she says, and Robert Gonzales, the renowned groom at Sea Ridge Farms, has Peaches’ photo as his phone background. “His wife is here sitting in the stands,” explains Angela, who says the couple has three kids together, but his wife says that she knows she could be angry about the phone background, but she knows how much he loved that horse.
So though Peaches had a lot of babies, says Angela, and all the horses she raised are special, all these factors make her accomplishments with Sally that much more so. “This is our first show back in 2024, so we are just getting back into the swing of things and dusting ourselves off a bit, and I was so proud of her today. She has the biggest heart, and I’ve been very lucky to have a few really good horses,” she says, which includes A Soxy Dream, who she adds is athletic, talented, and a powerhouse.
Stakes classes like the one Angela showed in with both horses Saturday are very appreciated, she says. “It makes it more interesting, and now that cowboy culture has taken off, my friends are curious about what I’m doing. It has been cool to see Trail progress in the amount of time I’ve been doing this event.”
See our 2021 EC tribute to One Hot Drama Mama:
In Memory of One Hot Drama Mama: Remembering a Trail Legend | Equine Chronicle
