By: Brittany Bevis
Several competitors left Wilmington, Ohio over Easter weekend with a souvenir t-shirt emblazoned with the message, “I survived the MADNESS!” With class sizes reaching upwards of 46 in Senior Trail, 46 in 14-18 Showmanship, and 40 in Amateur Showmanship, madness is certainly an appropriate description of the show that racked up an incredible 9,000 entries for all judges and all divisions during the four-day event.
Huge class sizes weren’t restricted to one particular discipline or age division; entries numbers were up across the board from the already widely attended event in 2014.
By far, the main event of the show was The Equine Chronicle 3-Year-Old and Over Novice Horse Western Pleasure slot class with 30 entries. Charged with the task of determining the winner were judges Chad Evans, Holly Hover, Kelly McDowall, and Valerie Kearns.
After two tough cuts and an impressive finals, the judges named Tyler Achtenhagen with Hot Rod This as the Champion. Tyler rode the 2010 gelding by RL Best of Sudden and out of Hotroddin Good Time to a big payday of $15,250 for owners Garcia Quarter Horses LLC of Ocala, Florida.
In addition to winning the overall title and splitting first place money with the Reserve Champion, Brian Cox and Really Sudden, Tyler was also named the highest placing limited rider, receiving an additional $1,000, and won a $3,000 bonus for riding in a Harris Leather and Silverworks saddle.
Rounding out the top three was Cleve Wells and Cranesunseenmachine for Jeff Sargent; fourth was Denton DeBuhr with Party Blazer for Joanie Zelnio; and fifth was Brandon Burr with I’m The Dude for Allen And Marilyn Wade.
Winning the maiden champion spot and taking home $5,000 was Jeff Cochran with One Lazy Chip. Reserve was Taft Dickerson
with I’m Just So Lazy winning $2,500. The Reserve limited champion was Brandon Burr with I’m The Dude winning $500.
Equine Chronicle 3-Year-Old and Over Novice Horse Western Pleasure Slot Results
1- Hot Rod This/Tyler Achtenhagen for Garcia Quarter Horses
1- Really Sudden/Brian Cox for Rhonda Malone
3- Cranesunseenmachine/Cleve Wells for Jeff Sargent
4- Party Blazer/Denton DeBuhr for Joanie Zelnio
5- I’m The Dude/Brandon Burr for Allen and Marilyn Wade
6- KM Win With The Best/Casey Willis for Masterson Farms LLC
7- Pass Code/Erin Lieurance for Jodi Siamis
8- Lookin Pretty Hot/Gil Galyean for Gil and Becky Galyean
9- Batmans Lopin Lady/Chad Piper for Katie Bossart
10- A Chrome Cookie/Troy Lehn for Alexandra Chavez
11- Im Lazy/Pat Heeley for Knapp Quarter Horses Farms
12- Good Miss Sudden/Bret Parrish for Vicki Pugh
Congratulations to everyone who participated in this impressive class! The Equine Chronicle is proud to be a continuing sponsor of some of the industry’s most prestigious and highest-paying futurities.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of Mark Harrell Horse Shows staff, we have complete results for our readers! Click on the links below.
Click here for S/C 1 results.
Click here for S/C results.
Click here for circuit champions and High Point winners.
Now that the MADNESS is over, it’s time for the kiddos to compete in the SOQHA Youth Show, which will be providing scholarships to the Champion and Reserve Champion winners in Novice Youth, 13 and Under, 14-18, and Small Fry divisions! The show will take place April 11-12 in Wilmington, Ohio and the judges will be Terry Cross, Robin Frid, Robin Griggs, and Jeff Greaves.
Click on the links to view daily around the ring photos courtesy of our very own Gordon Downey who was in Ohio to capture all the fun times!