Texas Memorial Day Spectacular Recap with Lucie Lundquist and Mary Katherine Camp

EC Blog by: Lucie Lundquist and Mary Katherine Camp

Hey y’all! This is Lucie Lundquist and Mary Katherine Camp here from the Texas Paint Horse Club’s Memorial Day Spectacular! We both compete under the guidance of Simons Show Horses in 14-18 all around events.

• I’m Lucie Lundquist and I show my 8-year-old mare Optimized, aka “Oprah.”
• I’m Mary Katherine Camp, and I show my 12-year-old gelding Radicalized, aka “Rodney,” who happens to be the father of Oprah!

Hopefully, the thunderstorms will hold out for us here in Waco… This weekend is sure to be a fun one with horses and exhibitors preparing for the upcoming AjPHA Youth World Championship Show. Best of luck to all of our fellow exhibitors; we can’t wait to see everyone rock it!

Day 1:

It’s day one of the show here in Waco. Despite the SUPER HOT weather, everyone started off great this morning with English events. After the Jumping and Hunter Under Saddle, exhibitors performed their tough Hunt Seat Equitation patterns. Winning the Youth Equitation was Olivia Mae Eagles with her 13-year-old gelding named Chipped in Roses. “This is my favorite class, so I was really happy when I had I great go and the judges agreed!”

Ali Edison soon joined Olivia as the circuit champion in Amateur Equitation. She rides her 5-year-old gelding named Gametime Sensation. Here’s what she had to say about her pattern: “It was very, very good. He listened well and I had my transitions where I wanted them. It was one my better Equitation patterns!”

After the English classes finished up, exhibitors prepared their horses for a challenging Trail course. Weylon Crisp had a very nice go in the Amateur Walk Trot Trail with his 19-year-old gelding named Just Pretend. “Arnold was great,” he says. “It went really well, especially the first trot poles. Trail is my favorite class.”

Finally, we decided to go chat with Lauren Gralla about how her weekend has been so far. Here in Waco, she is showing RL Sudden Style and her halter horse “Frankie.” Lauren is here without her horse trainers, Wade and Carly Parks. “It’s very relaxed without them!” she jokes. This is Lauren’s last year of 13 and under competition and she is doing all she can to prepare for the AjPHA World Show. “I’m leaving for boot camp for a month in Georgia on Tuesday.”

What a great start to the show! We’re so excited to see what the rest of the weekend has in store! Peace out for now y’all!

-Mary Katherine and Lucie

Day 2:

Today was full of Halter, Showmanship, and Ranch Riding here at the Memorial Day Spectacular. With great numbers in Halter and Showmanship it proved to be a competitive morning. We decided to focus on some of the youth competitors who are going to be competing at the AjPHA World Show in July.

Erin Griffin is showing her two horses, The Only Kiss To Envy, in all-around classes and Gotta Glo Slo in Western Pleasure. “I feel it’s been going pretty well. The high point has been the Senior Trail; there were no ticks and he was perfect.” For the month of June, Erin will be going to boot camp. At the World Show, she is “looking forward to Western Pleasure and Trail, because they’re my favorite classes.”

Erin’s barn mate Ally Fink is showing her horse, My Finest Moment, in all-around classes as well as Gallant Zippo. Ally said her favorite part of the show has been Ranch Riding, because “it’s really fun and really out of the ordinary.” Ally said she is also going to boot camp for a month and she can’t wait to “hang out with all the girls and bond.” At the World Show, Ally is looking forward to  competing in Horsemanship with My Finest Moment, “because he’s very smooth.”

Youth competitor Drew Rogers is currently showing three horses at all of the major APHA shows. Drew rides her 12-year-old mare, Shez Eye Candy, in Horsemanship, Showmanship, Trail, and Western Riding. She also shows her Hunter Under Saddle horse, All Rise, a seven-year-old gelding. She also shows her 3-year-old Western Pleasure horse, Last of the Candy.

This weekend, Drew took the circuit champion award in Youth Trail with Shez Eye Candy; she said it was her favorite class this weekend. “Trail was my favorite class, because I had a really nice go with no ticks and ‘Fran’ was just so good!”

Drew is definitely busy with her three horses and has a plan to prepare for the World Show. “I’m showing here, and then I’m going to come back down to Texas in about two weeks to practice.”

It was another great day at the show. Congrats to all! Peace!

-MK and Lucie

Day 3:

As the weekend comes to a close here in Waco, many exhibitors have once again proven their competitiveness and urge to be at the top. We would like to thank the Texas Paint Horse Club for once again putting on an awesome show! Congratulations to all of the high point winners and circuit champions here at the Memorial Day Spectacular! Everyone should be so proud of the rides they had. Good luck to all of those competing at the AjPHA Youth World Show in July!

Best of luck!

-Mary Katherine and Lucie

If you’re interested in becoming an EC Blogger like Mary Katherine or Lucy, email B.Bevis@EquineChronicle.com to find out how to get involved. Everyone is welcome!