Congress Bloopers & Blunders
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428 – October 2019
By Ruthie Stewart
A Congress win is arguably the highest honor a horse or rider can achieve. It presents a level of competition that comes with tremendous pressure, and there is no room for error. The unpredictability is part of the allure and what keeps it interesting. While we will never forget a big win, we may want to forget those blunders, bloopers, and bumps along the road, especially when they happen at the prestigious All-American Quarter Horse Congress.
Sometimes, the ending is when the drama begins at a horse show. For many exhibitors, the lineup is the most action-packed time in a class. Many seasoned show horses are familiar with getting that big trophy, and feel the excitement when they’re waiting after a class for the results. Other, normally sane, horses just come unglued when they know their work is done. Whatever the reason, some of the most mannerly animals turn into lunatics while waiting for results.
Ginger Baxter and her daughter, Peyton, are from Rockford, Michigan and are horse show veterans. They know the feeling of disappointment when a ride doesn’t go according to the plan or when doing your best isn’t good enough. Fortunately, they can’t recall any terrible mistakes made at the Congress, just a few surprises. Peyton got to experience an unexpected ending in more ways than one back in 2016 when she won Novice Youth Hunter Saddle. Peyton started hugging her horse while she was waiting for her name to be called as the Congress Champion, and her horse started bucking across the arena. “He wasn’t liking the hugs from above. That’s a funny memory,” Ginger says. Perhaps Peyton’s horse was simply excited about the big win. There’s no way of knowing, but his enthusiastic reaction made sure Ginger and Peyton will never forget that funny Congress finale.
Where would we be without golf carts at the Congress? They’re a necessity at most shows. They’re also a lot of fun, and we’ve all been guilty of breaking the rules while operating them. It’s amazing how many people can fit on a golf cart, and filling one up like a clown car is a fairly common practice.
Pilot Point, Texas is home of AQHA World Champion in Senior Western Pleasure, Radical Rodder. In 1999, his owner, Diane Chilton-Harper, decided to use a car theme for her stallion promotional products. She ordered some car-shaped flashlights to give out at the show. One evening after dark, Diane and her group were riding in a golf cart heading back to their cars. There were six adults and ten children hanging everywhere on the golf cart. “Everyone was shining the flashlights,” Diane says. “The State Fair Police followed us thinking we weren’t being very safe, and they flashed their warning lights. Every child on the golf cart leaped off with a flashlight in hand and headed in all directions. As adults, we were counseled on how dangerous it was to have 16 people on a golf cart, and the driver was asked for his license. The kids ran to the living quarters and hunkered down. The adults in the golf cart were all over 40, so we knew better!” Diane laughs.
Greg Davis had his worst Congress experience when he got the horse show bug, literally, in the late ‘70s. It was a Congress he will never forget. “My mom and I were there together, and we got up early to practice for my Showmanship class,” Greg says. They got on the elevator at the hotel and, just as the door opened to the lobby, Greg threw up right outside the door. He recalls, “My mom punched the button to our floor. No Congress class that day.” Greg went to bed while his mom offered to clean up the lobby. He’d caught a stomach flu during the biggest show of the year.
Trainer John Boxell of Auburn, Illinois had his most memorable Congress misstep in the mid-80s. It was in the Cooper Arena and, back then, exhibitors had to work a gate in the Western Riding pattern. There was only one pattern back then, so the horses figured it out pretty quickly. “That year, the cones were really tall, too. I don’t know why…” John recalls. The horse John was riding was a little tricky to show, but he was talented. The ride was going smoothly up until John was approaching the last cone. All of a sudden, the horse cut the corner. John’s boot grabbed the last cone and it started to teeter. John could hear the crowd gasping dramatically, “Oh!” until it fell, and he was disqualified. “The Cooper Arena is so tight. I don’t know why they did Western Riding in there. Art Turasky from Toledo, Ohio own-ed that horse and Art just laughed. What can you do? It was his daughter’s horse and such a tough one to get ready; but, if that hadn’t happened, we were probably going to get a big prize,” he says.
2002 was Joe Whitt’s first Congress. Joe was showing a Palomino mare named Seven S Flashy in Novice Amateur Showmanship and Horsemanship. It was his first time at a large show and, at the time, he had just moved to Wisconsin and started riding with Larry and Rhonda Spratto. Joe spent a lot of time preparing and getting himself acclimated to the arena he would be showing in at the Congress. “The overall Congress experience is overwhelming, but it’s still one of my favorite shows to attend,” he says. Practice had gone well, and his first class was Showmanship. He was very excited and ready to go, but he looked at the wrong person to signal his start. “I got to the cone and was set up and ready to go. As the horse before me finished, I was looking to the steward we were showing to for the signal to go. After what felt like several minutes, I looked up and saw somebody else manically waving a red flag. The steward we were showing to must have felt sorry for me by then and waved me on,” he says. It wasn’t a stellar performance, but it’s one he remembers because of the signaling error. “Now, when I go to big shows like the Congress, I always ask if there are any specific things to look for,” he says. Joe never forgot that first Congress and the pattern that taught him a valuable show lesson that can only be learned through experience. Thanks to that flub, “I watch, ask, and make sure I don’t miss the little things,” he says.
Comedian Natasha Leggero once said, “Love is telling someone their hair extensions are showing.” Thanks to many celebrities, extensions are very popular and fake hair is everywhere. They’re a great fashion accessory, and a lot of fun, but when they’re combined with horses, they can cause some drama. Gillian Chant had her biggest horse show panic moment in 2010 when she tried to show with hair extensions, and her hat wouldn’t fit on her head. Like a lot of high school girls, she had gotten extensions for homecoming night and left for the Congress soon after. She didn’t think to try on her hat until she was walking up to the arena to show in 15-18 Trail. Her extensions were the sew-in type that are tightly bound to the scalp, not the clip-ins that are easy to take out. Gillian’s trainer, Michael Colvin, had to cut them out of her hair with dull banding scissors he had handy. Gillian showed with her hair in a rough looking ponytail and, despite all the panic and drama right before her class, she ended up placing in the top three. “I will always remember Michael shaking his head and grabbing the scissors to cut the hair out as someone took my horse up to the arena. I’ve never done anything drastic to my hair since that day!” Gillian laughs.
Vineland, Colorado is home for Natalia DeVencenty, and she specializes in Horsemanship, Trail, and Western Riding. Her favorite oops moment from the Congress was in 2017 when she won Horsemanship but missed the awards presentation. She was showing Chex is the Choice in 15-18 Youth Horsemanship in the Coliseum and Moonlite Madnez in the 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure in the Celeste on the same day. As the day progressed, it became apparent that the two classes were on a collision course for each other. She really wanted to show in both, so her trainer, Kelly McDowall, said they’d try to make it work. After Natalia finished the rail work for the Horsemanship class, she jumped off Chex and ran out of the gate to get to the Celeste. “That got a fair amount of odd looks from my friends in the lineup, but I had Claire McDowall stand in for me and keep Chex in the arena. I ran to the Celeste, hopped on my other horse, Moonie, and trotted in. As we were in the lineup waiting for Western Pleasure callbacks, Kelly peeked over the railing and told me that I had won Horsemanship. It was a shocking moment because there I was, standing in the Western Pleasure pen while I was winning the Horsemanship in the other arena!” As soon as that class ended, Natalia galloped Moonie out of the Celeste and ran back to the Coliseum to try and make the awards. “I definitely got some cardio in that day!” she laughs. Unfortunately, it was already over, but she met everyone at the back gate and gave Chex a big hug.
Natalia and one of her best friends, Klay McDowall, had always wanted to be first and second in Horsemanship and their wish came true that day. Natalia made Klay get back on his horse, and the pair did their own little victory lap in the warm-up arena. She recalls, “At the time, everyone thought I was mad at my horse, and that’s why we went flying out of the arena, but I was actually just trying to be in two places at once. Although I did miss the awards presentation, I now have a rather unique story for what happened when I won the Congress. I wouldn’t change it at all!”
The All-American Quarter Horse Congress, the largest single breed horse show in the world, is where the best come to play. There is nothing like it in the horse industry. For exhibitors, the Congress is the epitome of competition and a chance to realize their biggest dreams. Without the lows, there wouldn’t be the highs, and the funny flubs and blunders are essential to becoming an experienced competitor. Without a doubt, they certainly make the Congress more colorful and unforgettable!
