Ella Petak Finds New Partner in Won Vital Code RV

By: Brittany Bevis

For Eric Mendrysa, the recent sale of his beloved, 6-year-old, bay roan gelding, Won Vital Code RV, is bittersweet. While he’s sad to see “Levi” go, the circumstances of the sale couldn’t have worked out any better for all parties involved. After all, he’s not going very far… or anywhere at all for that matter!

Levi will be joining up with his new youth partner, Ella Petak, who just happens to train with Reid Thomas in Texas.

“I bought Levi at the end of his three-year-old year during the Florida winter circuit,” Eric says. “I saw Clay Arrington riding him around, and we ended up purchasing him from Ronnie and Vickie Kent a few weeks later.”

“He’s just over 17 hands and he’s beautiful, so that makes a huge statement, because he really stands out. And, I’ve always wanted a roan. He’s by VS Code Red and out of Ill Be Dun Won it. I’ve always wanted to have one of the Kents’ crosses. Their mare has produced a lot of winners and point earners, and she’s still having babies today.”

Initially, Levi’s career focused on the foundational disciplines of Western Riding and Trail in order to develop his potential future as an all-around prospect. “I left it up to John Briggs, and he helped me make a game plan for Levi’s future. At the AQHA World Show, John won the Level 2 Junior Trail and was the second highest score in the prelims of Level 3. I started off showing him as a 5-year-old at the Sun Circuit by adding Horsemanship, Showmanship, and Western Riding. It’s pretty incredible to see a horse as big as he is, be able to stop, turn, and maneuver through patterns. Five months after we’d started doing Showmanship, I went to the AQHA World Show and was the Reserve World Champion in L3 Amateur Showmanship. It was amazing to do that with all the phenomenal horses and exhibitors in that group. My goal that year was to make the finals, so to get a trophy was just icing on the cake.”

Ella will have her opportunity on the World Show stage with Levi this summer when she competes in Halter, Hunter Under Saddle, Equitation, Western Riding, Showmanship, and Trail.

Now that Levi is just reaching his full potential as an all-around mount, during his first year as a senior horse, Eric is very excited to see how he continues to progress with Ella.

“When Ella rode Levi for the first time, I saw that she got along with him phenomenally. I really liked seeing that they had an immediate bond. She has a way with horses. He will have a forever home with the Petak family. It makes things easier knowing he’s staying in the barn and I will get to be part of their future success together.”

“I’ve always thought of Levi as my forever horse; but, in the back of my mind, I knew it probably wasn’t realistic. I have bought and sold seven horses in the last five years to be able o wine now as nice as him, and he was well worth the wait. Since he’s been such a special horse to me, I’m not looking to replace him, but rather focus on my younger stock and possible dabble in Reining events. I have quite a few young horses coming up, that I’ve bred, and I look forward to starting them and showing them in Western Pleasure and all-around in the future.”

“But, I will always credit Levi with being the horse that I was able to start from the beginning, set a goal, and accomplish it. His amount of try always gave me the most confidence in the pen.”

Congratulations to Eric and Ella on this exciting new team!