TP Christmas Challenge Champions Include Parks, Littlefield, Oliver, Cook, Ditty

By: Brittany Bevis

Today’s classes at the Tom Powers Christmas Challenge started out indoors with Hunter Under Saddle. Carly Veldman Parks rode Skye Miles to win the Maturity $2,500 Limited Horse Hunter Under Saddle.

Believe it or not, but this is the first full year of showing for 4-year-old “Luca,” and he’s had great success. “He won at the Youth World with Natalie Vargo, and then we sold him to Cindy Schrader,” Carly says. “He was Reserve in two classes at the NSBA World and won at the Novice Championship. He’s a green horse, but you never feel like he’s a green horse. He’s a little angel. He’s definitely the easiest Hunt Seat horse I’ve ever ridden. He’s perfect and a barn favorite. He’s a sweetheart.”

Luca is by Iron Enterprise and out of A Walk In The Sky. He’s here at the Tom Powers to practice his Equitation skills ahead of the Florida New Year’s circuits. “Cindy is going to have to practice very hard, because he’s very clumsy. That’s his only flaw. We’re working on stopping with purpose without falling on his face. That’s really why he’s here, to get ready for Equitation at the Florida circuits. Then, when I got here, I thought, ‘What am I doing? I should show Luca!’ So I late entered him. We’re really supposed to be working on Equitation, but I had to steal him one more time!”

Allie Littlefield and All Time Vandal won 3-Year-Old Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle. Allie’s three-year-old stallion named “Graffiti” is certainly a crowd favorite, because he’s very flashy. “We’ve been showing against Quarter Horses since he was a baby, but this is my first time coming to the Tom Powers, so it’s very exciting. My mom actually lives down here, and we haven’t gotten to see her lately with COVID and not traveling. We thought it would be really cool to be the first people to show at this facility and to combine a vacation with a horse show.”

Allie purchased Graffiti when he was just a weanling, from Lisa Novacek, and she has been showing him ever since. He’s currently in training with Keith Miller. “He’s so easy to ride. He just floats, and he’s really slow-legged, so you just have to push the whole time. If you stop kicking at any point, he will stop. I get worked up riding him, but I love showing that kind of horse. He’s been shown a lot, and he’s so honest. He just listens to you and doesn’t try to make any of his own decisions.”

Graffiti has 25 babies and a full book for the coming year. Allie says that he’s been able to continue showing while being collected, because he’s so good minded.

Classes then moved outside during the afternoon for Western Pleasure events. Dean Oliver rode Enchanted Lexus to win the Limited Non Pro Maturity Western Pleasure. “Bella” is a special horse for the Oliver family, because she’s a home-bred by Machine Made and out of a daughter of RL Best of Sudden that Dean still owns. Here at the show, Bella and Oliver have won the Intermediate Non Pro Maturity Western Pleasure, Novice Amateur Western Pleasure, and were Reserve in the Open Non Pro Maturity Western Pleasure.

“I raised her, and I own her mother,” he says. “From the start, I hoped she was special and it turned out that she was and is. She’s so strong and has a ton of self carriage. She’s also so pretty. I think she looks better on the outside than the inside. She’s special all the way around.”

Oliver has competed under the guidance of Kristy and Jay Starnes for four years now. He says the biggest aspect of riding horses that they have helped him with is developing confidence. “It’s about trusting your horse and knowing that you know how to ride your horse and not second guessing yourself. We prepare really well, and I’m proud of that.”

JR Cook and Line Up Behind were the winners of the 3-Year-Old Limited Non Pro Western Pleasure. Then, Nancy Ditty led Flat Out Kool, aka “Tally,” to win the Super Sires Non Pro Yearling Longe Line.

Tally is by VS Flatline and out of Forever And Ever. She earned her nickname for a special reason. “My mom’s favorite show was NCIS, so for 2019 we named all of the fools after NCIS characters,” Nancy says.

Even though this is only Tally’s second time off the farm, she’s taking it all in stride. “She’s a lot like my other horse, Pumpernickel. She has an unbelievable mind and is not scared of anything. She’s very easygoing.”

Nancy has always trained her Longe Line horses herself, and it’s something she thoroughly enjoys. “I don’t think the training itself is very hard,” she says. “They either have that natural movement or they don’t. You just have to learn how to present it. We live in Florida, so we’re very fortunate that our horses live outside, as long as the weather is permitting. So we work them during the day and turn them out at night. It lets them still be a horse, be babies, and love their job.”