Helping Youth in Need- The Legacy of a Horse Named Blueberry

By: Brittany Bevis

Despite the fact that horses are large, magnificent, and imposing creatures, they are unusually delicate. As such, many of our beloved equine partners don’t stay with us nearly as long as we would like. A range of 20-30 years is among the best anyone can hope for, and even with the best care and most fervent adoration, some leave our lives even earlier than that.

A couple of years ago, the Indiana Quarter Horse Association Queen, Taylor Foster, was making her bid to become the next All American Quarter Horse Congress Queen. Sadly, Taylor lost her horse unexpectedly. In a bind, a local Indiana family- Scott, Laurie, and Elizabeth Christie- offered their horse, Blazed And Amazed, aka “Blueberry,” for Taylor to use in the competition.

Blueberry pulled through in a clutch, helping Taylor win the horsemanship competition. She also won the written exam and was second in the interview portion to win the title of 2018 Congress Queen.

“My daughter, Elizabeth, had been the IQHA Queen in 2013, and she was helping coach Taylor as that year’s IQHA candidate,” Scott says. “We all realized that Taylor needed a stellar Horsemanship horse for the competition, so we volunteered to let her show Blueberry. Since it wasn’t an AQHA approved class, just a Queen qualifier class, we didn’t have to transfer ownership, just let her borrow Blueberry for that particular event. We wanted our Indiana Queen to be well represented, so Blueberry got the call.”

Earlier this spring, another Indiana youth tragically lost her horse. This was to be Kyla Jeffries last AQHA Youth World Show, and she had been leading the nation in 14-18 Showmanship with her horse, Stylin Sophisticated. Sadly, on April 1st, the horse had to be put down after suffering a stroke. Trainer, Melissa Jones, had been giving Kyla Showmanship lessons at the time and approached the Christie family to see if they could do something to help.

“With Kyla going off to Georgia this year for college, they felt it was her last, best chance to show at the Youth World, but she obviously needed a horse,” Scott says. “We had retired Blueberry for this season, because Elizabeth was showing her new horse, Buster, so Blueberry was a good option for Kyla.”

“Melissa then introduced us to Bonnie, Kyla’s mom, and we laid out the issues with Blueberry. He was turned out, so he was not, shall we say, in show shape, at the time. This was about six weeks before the Youth World, so we told the Jeffries’ that there was a bit of a challenge getting him ready. But they were game, and we let them take Blueberry on.  Obviously, they were able to get him polished up and tuned up for the show!”

The first time Kyla showed Blueberry at a horse show was in the Jim Norick Arena at the AQHA World Show. The second time she showed him, they were named the champions in a tough 14-18 level 1 Horsemanship class. After the class, we had the pleasure of doing a video interview with both Kyla and Blueberry.

“I’m really grateful to Chris and Melissa Jones and Scott, Elizabeth, and Laurie Christie for allowing me to use Blueberry,” Kyla says. “I keep him at my house, and I’ve done everything myself. I went to Melissa for a couple of lessons. I spend every day in the barn, and I just told myself that we could do this. He was such a good boy.”

Click here to watch Kyla and Blueberry’s interview from the 2021 AQHA Youth World. 

The Christie family has been involved in the horse industry for some 40 years. They started out, like most do, in local saddle clubs. They spent 25 years showing in ApHC and the last ten in AQHA. They did some breeding during their Appaloosa days, most notably breeding Bright Flashy Zipper, who won multiple ApHC World and National Championships. They continue to show primarily in the Midwest, but have also competed at the AQHA World Championship Show, NSBA World Championship Show, and Quarter Horse Congress.

“My wife, Laurie, currently has an all-around gelding, NoMoreTalkin, that she shows in Select classes, and now a ranch horse, UWRF Easy Otie Skeet,” Scott says. “My daughter, Elizabeth, has a Western Pleasure horse, Extremely Vested, ‘Buster,’ that she has shown this year. She had campaigned Blueberry in all-around classes since we purchased him, and this year she decided to give him a break and let him be a horse while she shows Buster.”

Blueberry is better known in the show pen as Blazed And Amazed. The 15-year-old bay roan gelding, who loves to eat Fig Newtons, is by Blazing Hot and out of Such Good Potential. The Christie family purchased Blueberry from Roma Thompson when they transitioned into AQHA in 2012. “We had gone to visit with Chris and Melissa Jones, as they were the closest AQHA trainers to our home. While looking around the barn, Blueberry stuck his head out of the stall, and my daughter said ‘This is the one!'”

“Blueberry has had a string of the best trainers work with him over the years – from Katy Jo Zuidema and Chris and Melissa Jones to Beckey Schooler and Kyle Dougherty. Plus, my daughter has worked hard to polish his skills in Horsemanship and Showmanship. So, he has a great foundation and knows his job in the show pen. For Kyla, it was more the need to make that subtle bond for Showmanship and Horsemanship where they act as a team, not just a rider on a horse. Her skills in this area complemented Blueberry’s training, and things certainly clicked at the World Show. Plus, it seems Blueberry knows when he’s on the big stage at a major show and gives his best to his rider.”

The Christie family’s generosity in sharing Blueberry with not one, but two, competitors in need over the years shows their heart for the horse community. Blueberry is a very special horse for the family, because just four months after he was purchased, Elizabeth was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. She had to undergo surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. Scott says the one thing that helped her recovery was a desire to show Blueberry. That fall, at the Quarter Horse Congress, Elizabeth and Blueberry were third overall and reserve in the NSBA side of Novice Horsemanship. Since then, they’ve accumulated top 10 placings at the Congress and AQHA World Show.

“We all need to realize that while we’re competitors at shows, we’re still all part of the equine industry and need to encourage people to first enter, and then stay active in, equestrian events,” Scott says. “Whether it’s reminding someone to put their numbers on, to helping work out how to run through a pattern class, or ultimately allowing a youth, who deserves a chance, to compete at the highest level, we all can play a part.”

“We were fortunate that Blueberry wasn’t actively showing for us at the time and that Kyla could take him and excel. We were as excited for her, as we watched the video feed from OKC, as we would have been if it was Elizabeth in the pen. This is the satisfaction people can realize from helping out and extending opportunities for deserving exhibitors.”

If you have a special story to share with The Equine Chronicle, email B.Bevis@EquineChronicle.com.