Paula Czapko Purchases Flying To The Moon
Aaron Moses rode Flying To The Moon to a win in the 2024 Orange Blossom Classic $2000 NSBA Maturity Open Western Pleasure at WEC-Ocala. Editorial image provided by Cody Parmenter Photography.
By Delores Kuhlwein
Congratulations are in order for Paula Czapko, who just purchased Flying To The Moon, aka “Leroy,” from Angela Fox.
The purchase of the 2019 AQHA gelding by Extremely Hot Chips and out of A Diva By Moonlight, bred by Jeri Kay Lockwood, was a big surprise for new owner Paula Czapko.
“I go to Aaron’s every Saturday,” explains Paula, who says she’d seen her two-year-old Aaron has in training, and then she followed her usual habit of going to lunch at a Mexican restaurant with her dear friends.
Aaron Moses recalls seeing Leroy as a three-year-old with Brian Ale, and thinking he was one of the best horses he had seen in a long time.
“This time, my husband was with me,” she says, “and I got a text from Aaron, and he asked me to come back, and he also asked me if I had boots and spurs.” She only had on tennis shoes, she says, but a few months ago, they had fitted spurs on her tennis shoes so she could ride her two-year-old, so she was game to try it again.
But first, when she arrived, Aaron walked down to the stall and pointed to Leroy, a horse Paula describes as drop-dead gorgeous – one she had noticed before when she visited This Cowboys Mine.
So Paula rode Leroy with her tennis shoes and spurs. “He just packed me and my little, short legs around. I rode him and got along with him great. We were walking from the arena back to the barn, and even though I have five horses and a wonderful two-year-old, my husband, John, said, ‘I want you to buy this horse.’”
Paula is still pinching herself over the opportunity to own Leroy, a horse Dan Yeager really wanted to go to a person who was passionate about western pleasure – a description which describes her to a “t.”
She explains, “Aaron had already erased the current owner’s name and put mine on the card on the stall. I’ve been with Aaron for 3-4 years, and now and then a horse trainer comes along who is honest, talented, and fun to be around. I think of him as one of my best friends.”
Leroy’s fans can look forward to Aaron showing him in the Junior Western Pleasure at the Congress and the World Show, with Paula picking up the reins in 2025.
Aaron recalls seeing Leroy as a three-year-old with Brian Ale, and thinking he was one of the best horses he had seen in a long time. “I have always been “Leroy’s fan, and when I got the chance to get him in my program it was all I had hoped for. He is so talented and beautiful. I feel like we understand each other’s personalities, so we get along very well.”
He’s equally delighted that Leroy gets to remain in his program. “When the opportunity to purchase this horse for Paula came about, it was an easy decision. Paula has always commented on him, and we are so excited that we get to keep “Leroy” in the barn. He is an amazing horse, and we have had a very successful year,” Aaron says.
Leroy’s fans can look forward to Aaron showing him in the Junior Western Pleasure at the Congress and the World Show, with Paula picking up the reins in 2025.
“I would like to thank Dan Yeager and Highpoint for initially giving me the opportunity to add Leroy to my program and all the support they have given me throughout the process,” says Aaron. “I’d also like to thank Angela Fox for being such a great team player always supportive of the big picture and always doing a great job showing him.”
Aaron says he is grateful as well for John and Paula Czapko, “for all they have done for me and my program for several years now and being as spontaneous as I am. All of these people are the kind of people that you want around you on your team.”
Congratulations to the entire team! We can’t wait to watch all of you together.
