Deanna Searles and Al Be Your Sweet Art Win Level 1 Hunter Under Saddle Stakes For New Owner Bridgett Downs

By: Brittany Bevis

To cap off this evening at the AQHA World Championship Show Deanna Searles piloted the three-year-old mare, Al Be Your Sweet Art, to win the Level 1 Hunter Under Saddle Stakes for new owner Bridgett Downs.

Al Be Your Sweet Art is by Allocate Your Assets and out of a mare named Your Arts Desire, by Art I Sweet. “Harper’s” full sibling, Al Be Desirable, was named the champion in the Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle a few years ago with Nancy Sue Ryan in the irons. Just a few weeks ago, Harper won the Green Hunter Under Saddle at the Quarter Horse Congress, with Deanna in the irons, and was Reserve in the Limited Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle as well as the Open Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle with Taylor Searles.

Bridgett Downs of California is beyond thrilled that her brand new horse was just named the champion in a tough class of horses and riders. Upon advice from her trainer, Melissa Zanetti, Bridgett made the trip to Oklahoma City to look at a very special mare that had come up for sale. “We’ve been looking for a horse for a long time,” Bridgett says. “Melissa rode her and told me I needed to get up here. She is pretty perfect, and she is just what I’d been looking for, a nice english horse that’s a good mover and could do all-around classes  later.”

Bridgett won’t be competing with Harper here at the World Show, but she hopes their debut show as a team will be the 2016 Arizona Sun Circuit, which will work out perfectly because it’s right in the Searles’ backyard. Deanna was very pleased with Harper’s performance tonight citing her effortless elegance, even in sticky situations. “I was very proud of her, because she was very brave, even though it got a little electric in there,” Deanna says. “She maintained and held it together. When she trots, it’s just elegant. She points her toe and has a big stride.”

Looking to the future, Bridgett hopes to add classes like Equitation, Hunter Hack, and Over Fences to Harper’s repertoire.

Fun Fact: 4 of the 17 horses in this class were sired by Allocate Your Assets. 

The results were as follows:

1- Al Be Your Sweet Art/Deanna Searles

2- Legs Luther/Allison Clark

3- The Publication/Beth Case

4- WF Big Asset/Brenden Mehochko

5- Justin Beamer/Dawn Sechler

6- A Flashy Invitation/Leslie Lange

7- Withoutyoualbeblue/Nancy Sue Ryan

8- Do It Like That/Scott Jones

9- Al Fool Ya/Kristy Starnes

10- Iz Just Lazy/Cassandra Marlatt

11- Al Be White With You/Farly Sliss

12- Silent Knight/Kevin Dukes

13- Al Have This Dance/Amber Pickard

14- Hoo Signed Me/Laurie Zurstadt

15- Certified In Red/Jennie Schut

16- Invite Who/Barbie Evans

17- Inescapable/Julian Harris