Big Money, Big Dreams

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348 – July/Aug, 2016

by Megan Arszman

The show season is just starting to heat up, and big money has already been awarded to some of the top maiden three- and four-year-old horses on the breed circuits. With continual support, especially from entities like The Equine Chronicle and Hylton Quarter Horses, many trainers are giving their horses more time to mature, both physically and mentally, in order to prepare for the show pen, and it’s paying off big-time.

Longtime horse breeder and owner Ken Masterson celebrates the increased popularity of the novice horse and older junior horse slot classes. “These classes are a wonderful development in our industry to remove the pressures of getting horses into the show pen earlier than they should be,” he says. “It gives the horses that weren’t shown as two- or three-year-olds a worthwhile event to prepare for and compete in.”

“It’s really nice to have options out there for three-, four-, and five-year-olds that haven’t been shown and have been given more time to mature,” says Stephanie Reedus, owner of a recent big winner, Extremely Hot Diva. “Cecilia Hylton and The Equine Chronicle have supported the Quarter Horse industry amazingly over the years. Without their support, we wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” she says.

Three horse and rider teams have already been able to take advantage of the huge purses offered by these types of events in 2016.

2016 SOQHA Madness
Coughlin Maiden Western Pleasure Champion
This Girlz On Fire · Ridden by Bret Parrish
$15,000 Winner

It’s always a little extra special when you’re able to see a horse go from wobbly, newborn legs to strong, sweeping strides in the show pen. This Girlz On Fire, a 3-year-old AQHA mare by RL Best Of Sudden, was bred and raised by the Parrish family. When Laura McAllister and Kate Bamford began searching for a yearling to invest in, Parrish knew this mare was perfect for them.

“I bought her sight unseen,” McAllister says. “Bret told me she was special as a yearling, so we went strictly off of what Bret and Candy said about the mare. We trust their breeding program and their knowledge.” McAllister, who’s a trainer in Alberta, Canada, knew the the mare
would thrive within Parrish’s program, so there was no question she was going to stay in Pavo, GA. “She’s way too cool,” McAllister says. “It never crossed my mind to bring her back to Canada with me, because Bret has so
much talent.”

Parrish, McAllister, and Bamford all agreed that they didn’t want to push “Kailey” to be ready for the two-year-old futurities. “We don’t like to push horses hard in our program,” Parrish says. “We let them train at their pace and at a rate that we think is best for that particular horse. She was just a little less mature than I like, mentally and physically, so I let her grow up a little bit.” When the mare began to show signs of being mentally prepared, Parrish knew it was time to hit the show pen. “Once we got her to that point, we felt really good about her,” he says.

“We felt she was too special to push as a two-year-old,” McAlister says. “It was very important to us that we didn’t show her as a two-year-old. Waiting until she turned three also meant she would be eligible for the three-year-old slot classes, which there are a lot of. If we showed her as a two-year-old, she wouldn’t be qualified.”

Click here to read the complete article
348 – July/Aug, 2016