Sisters, Susan Johns and Kathy Tobin, Take Top Two Spots in Select Horsemanship

By: Brittany Bevis

Sisters, Susan Johns and Kathy Tobin, decided to keep it all in the family by claiming the top two spots in Amateur Select Horsemanship at the 2014 All American Quarter Horse Congress. Even more amazing is the fact that they placed in the exact order they ran during the preliminaries, first and second.

“I was really thankful, because I followed in her footsteps. She set the pace,” Tobin says. “I was thrilled to be able to follow her. We were first and second, and that was just the luck of the draw; that wasn’t our own doing.”

After the pattern and rail work was complete, Tobin was named the Reserve Congress Champion with her horse Ra Undisputed, and Johns was named the Congress Champion with Heza Radical Zip. For Tobin and “Cocoa,” this is their first trip to the Quarter Horse Congress, while Johns is the returning champion from last year.

“This is our first Congress, so it’s very exciting,” Tobin says. “Cocoa is so sweet, and he reads my every move. He is so sensitive and honest. I feel very grateful.”

“My first pattern was a little conservative, and then, during my second one, we went for it a little bit more. It was exciting that we had improvement.”

This is the second time that Johns has won a Congress Championship in Select Horsemanship. Her mount for today’s pattern, “Troy,” once again delivered an outstanding performance that made his rider proud.

“My horse did exactly what I wanted,” Johns says. “I guess he got a good nap this afternoon, and he got his crumpets for dinner tonight, so he was happy. You never know about him; sometimes he can wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but he was dialed in tonight.”Johns was not only pleased with her horse, she was very happy that she remembered the pattern, a skill that has eluded her in the past…

“For two years in a row, several years ago, I went off pattern,” she says. “Then, two years in a row, I won!”

Coming up later at the Congress, Johns will show Heza Radical Zip in Select Trail and her son will pilot the horse in Amateur Trail. In Select Trail, Johns will ride I Gotta Good Name. Tobin plans to ride Ra Undisputed in Select Trail and Western Riding, and she will ride her other horse, More Radical, in both Trail and Western Riding as well. Both ladies train under the guidance of Jim and Deanna Searles of Arizona.

Select Horsemanship-

1- Heza Radical Zip/Susan Johns

2- Ra Undisputed/Kathy Tobin

3-Invy Of Me/Sherrie Gultz

4- Aint She Radical/Cindy Durham

5- Classically Good/Sally Almond

6- Technical Nat Image/Phillip Roos

7- Heza Hottie Too/Angela McCordic Stanhope

8- Ima Tuff Barpasser/Stacey Stinson

9-Won Lopin RV Machine/Vickie Kent

10- Anns Candi Machine/Gregg Bossard