Lauren Raad and Lauryn Thune Are Congress Novice Youth Showmanship Winners, Kimberly O’Boyle Wins Novice Amateur

By: Brittany Bevis

As it turns out, if your name is Lauren, today was a good day to compete in showmanship at the Congress. A full six hours of showmanship later and the Novice Youth Showmanship Congress Champions have finally been crowned. The Novice Youth 13 and Under Congress Champion team is Lauren Raad with Fantastic Invitation. Coming in Reserve was Savannah Hauer with Natural Order. Rounding out the top three was Taylor Ale with Gonna Rock Your World.

The winner of the Novice Youth Showmanship 14-18 is Lauryn Thune with Dollars For Dymonds. Madison Anger and No Fun Being Good are the Reserve Champions. Completing the top three are Panagiota Togridis with Complete Chocolate.

Lauryn Thune and Dollars For Dymonds, aka “Shady,” have been a team for a year and a half. Last year marked their first trip to the Congress as a pair.

Thune captured a Reserve World Championship title in Youth Western Riding at the AQHYA World Show in 2012, but this win today marks her first Congress Championship. Thune says she and Shady have a love-hate relationship with showmanship.

“It’s on and off, I guess,” Thune says. “He likes it, and he tries really hard in it. He gives me his best all the time. He respect me a lot, and he pays attention to me all the time. He just takes care of me the whole time, and he’s a great horse.”

Earlier in the show, the pair placed sixth in Novice Youth 14-18 Western Riding. Later on this afternoon, they will compete in Novice Youth 14-18 Horsemanship.

“We do the all-around, so we pretty much do every pattern class,” she says. “We still have a lot of classes to go!”

Thune currently competes under the guidance of Margo Tucker and Brett Clark. She says they gave her some helpful advice before she entered the pen for the finals.

“They said to always show my best and make sure I give 110%,” she says. “[I needed to] make sure he pays attention to me the whole time and make sure I do all the maneuvers correctly and in the right spots.”

 

Novice Youth Showmanship 13 and Under–

1-Fantastic Invitation/Lauren Raad

2-Natural Order/Savannah Hauer

3-Gonna Rock Your World/Taylor Ale

4-Man I’m Sassy/Lucay Mae Eier

5-Chip N Vester/Cora Wyers

6-Invitation To Dream/Madison Burlett

7-Talkin Some Zip/Megan Waldron

8-Zippos Goodfellow/Payton Neiberger

9-The Terms Are Sonny/Sloanne Lee Vogt

10-Investment Dynamic/Mallory Baker

 

Novice Youth 14-18 Showmanship-

1-Dollars For Dymonds/Lauryn Thune

2-No Fun Being Good/Madison Anger

3-Complete Chocolate/Panagiota Togridis

4-Smokin Charlie Too/Sarah Orsak

5-Good For The Ladys/Bailey Cook

6-Some Sweet Machine/Sarah Carr

7-Rap Me Up Flashy/Robyn Hanson

8-Hes Flashy Hes Hot/Kacie Hoffman

9-Dimensional Mr/Hayley Watt

10-Absolute Best Asset/Taylor Brown

 

Novice Amateur Showmanship–

1-You Shock Me/Kimberly O’Boyle

2-Only By Moonlight/Eric Mendrysa

3-Simply A Cruiser/Kacee Steffe

4-Don’t Rev My Motor/Kristi Brown

5-A Sudden Billionaire/Rebecca McCardle

6-Invite Meto Unzip/Shawna Parsons

7-Sophististar Only/Kody Zaagman

8-Mustbemyimagination/Katie Lacovara

9-In A Good Way/Julie Woodard

10-Im A Natural Detail/Jakob Garner