Susan Roberts and Only A Breeze Win Select Western Pleasure For Second Year in a Row

By: Brittany Bevis

Susan Roberts and her mare Only A Breeze have quite the winning streak underway. For the past two years, the pair has won Congress Champion titles in Select Western Pleasure and World Champion titles in Select Western Pleasure; that’s four major titles back to back, not to mention other wins like the Non Pro Maturity Limited Western Pleasure last week at the Congress.

Roberts didn’t have much time to prepare for today’s class, because she also competed in the 2-Year-Old Non Pro Open Western Pleasure Stakes just prior. In that class, she placed 9th with No Doubt I’m Trouble. Thankfully, trainer Katie Green was just outside the gate putting “Abby” through her paces.

“I’ve ridden her so much that I know when she’s going to behave herself,” she says. “I knew she was ready, and she was locked in. I was in the first split, so I loped her around a couple of times and I could tell she was locked in and focused.”How does it feel to win back-to-back titles at the All American Quarter Horse Congress and AQHA World Show?

“It’s amazing,” she says. “I can’t really believe it, and I think we’re going to just go have fun now. I’m not going back to the Select World with her. I just want to go out and not have that stress. She doesn’t like to change leads, but maybe we’ll do Trail one day. I will still show her, but I’m not going to beat it hard. I want to start showing some two and three-year-olds, and we’re going to have some coming up.”

In the future, Roberts is looking forward to breeding Abby and has a few potential stallions in mind.

“We couldn’t breed her this last year, because she had a tumor,” she says. “We took it off, and we’re hoping we can get some babies off her next year. I’d probably pick Lazy Loper, No Doubt I’m Lazy, or Blazing Hot possibly. [I hope she passes on] her attitude and her ability to never be nervous. She doesn’t ever get uptight. She’s really calm, and she has a sweet disposition.”

Although one might think that a pair with this much past success wouldn’t feel nerves or be affected by pressure, that’s simply not true. She offers this advice to her fellow select riders.

“When I first started, I hadn’t shown in 16 years,” she says. “Rusty and Katie brought me here for my first show with Randi [Only Ever After] in the Novice Amateur Western Pleasure. I was stressed out and very nervous.”

“This is supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, you need to reexamine it. It’s not worth being stressed out about. I think you beat yourself sometimes when you’re stressed. If you can go in there and have fun, I think your horse knows you’re more relaxed. When you’re uptight, I think it ruins it for you.”

Select Western Pleasure-

1- Only A Breeze/Susan Roberts

2-Cee Money/Dan Yeager

3-OHK Goodbars Krymsun/Richard Carr

4-A Wish Right Now/Susan Scott

5-Hot Precious Lexus/Carrie Chown

6- Suddenly Its Time/Marilyn Masterson

7- Get Her Vitals/Ron Shelly

8- Hot Lopin Cowboy/Bill Cosentino

9-RR Whisper My Future/Robert Stein

10-Chex This Hot Amiga/Gorman Barger