Mid-week at the Congress saw the first Ranch Trail classes of this year’s show, and began with the Open Ranch Trail Stakes class, and was quickly followed by Amateur Select Ranch Trail, Amateur Ranch Trail and the Junior Western Working Rail Stakes. The day saw some familiar faces at the top. David Renier showed Cowpuncher Cadillac to win the Amateur Select Ranch Trail, while Lane Kail returned to the winner’s circle with SS Walk The Line in Amateur Ranch Trail.

Matt Gouthro and Whiz A Chicolena Win Junior Ranch Western Working Rail

The five year old stallion Whiz A Chicolena and Matt Gouthro won their second 2026 Congress title in the Junior Western Working Rail on Wednesday. They had won the Junior Working Western Rail earlier in the week. Whiz A Chicolena is owned by Amanda McGinley.

“He’s by by Smart Chicolena, and we bought him back in the spring,” Matt said. “He wasn’t even on our radar to look at but we were at a farm and the farm owner thought we should take a look at him. As soon as I saw him lope about three strides, I knew he was the one. He had been starting the Reining but had never been shown in anything.”

The stallion saw his first outing the same day he joined Matt’s training barn. “He got delivered to us at the Virginia Maiden and we weren’t planning on showing him there. Brad Hill’s horse had fell through, and I had asked Brad if he wanted to try to show him in the Maiden class, and they won that and he’s been winning ever since,” Matt said.

“He’s an amazing animal. He comes out every day in a good mood and has been on the road with me all summer, he doesn’t even know what home is yet. He never gets cranky, he never says no even when he’s tired. I’m pretty excited about his future.”

Matt explained the Ranch Working Western Rail class. “For the Ranch Rail, you want a horse that would be comfortable to ride on the Ranch all day, and that translates into being a good mover,” he explained. “You’re looking for a horse that is going around on a fairly draped rein, that look like a pleasure to ride. They still cover some ground, because you want them to be able to cover some ground, obviously a longer strided horse, without getting tired. It comes down to the quality of movement and the brokenness of the horse and its demeanor.”

It was a last minute decision that led to victory for Matt. “I had another horse entered in the class, and I made a last minute decision to switch and show him, and it paid off,” he said.

Bud Lyon and Romeo Win Fourth Congress Title

Winning his fourth class and second Stakes event of the 2026 All American Quarter Horse Congress, Sumac Gunnabeflashy showed that he’s just as competitive in Trail as all of his other Ranch events with Bud Lyon. The 2023 NSBA Hall of Fame Ranch Horse bested a field of 55 to win the class. Bud had four horses in the top ten placings in the class.

“He’s really a once in a lifetime horse,” Bud said. “It’s kind of crazy, every time we think he’s done everything there is to do, then he proves that there is still more goals, more achievements and more accomplishments that can be had. I’m very grateful to Leslie for allowing me to continue to be this horse’s partner and copilot. This is the one horse in the barn that if he wasn’t standing in my barn I’d be a little sad.”

We got him at the end of his three year old year. When we first got him, he wasn’t very consistent – and that’s a testament that you never know how a horse is going to turn out, because consistency is now his hallmark. He’s Mr. Reliable. It’s been a really fun journey to have a horse like this in the barn. He makes my job easy, he takes care of me. We’ll just keep going 

"This was an incredibly deep field of horses showing in this Stakes class, and in general at this horse show especially. The quality, and the depth of quality in Ranch horses has been outstanding. This is the cream of the crop of what we’re doing, and I think the scores here reflect that. We’ve seen some incredibly high scores and many of those were very deserving. When it takes a 244 or 245 to make the top 15, you know you are in deep water.”

Bud described the Stakes Ranch Trail pattern as a fun pattern to show. “It’s fun to be able to come in the gate and show off your extended walk and do your drag then go right to your lope over. It starts off with a high degree of difficulty. Right after that you’ve got to change leads and extend the lope, then come down to a walk before the bridge. 

“It’s a lot coming at you in a very short amount of time, and I think that it really gave the horses who are willingly guided, really broke and have a lot of handle on them an opportunity to shine. With the walk overs, trot overs and such you prepare as best you can and hope for the best when you get in there, because every hit is going to be a one point penalty per judge. 

“This pattern gave our horses a chance to show off and I think it was enough pattern for the judges to separate out the top horses on their score cards. Today I was very fortunate. I have an outstanding support staff and they had the horses ready to go, warmed up and prepared because I had four horses showing in the class. We got in a rhythm and it flowed.”

The All American Quarter Horse Congress continues through October 25. To view complete show results, please visit quarterhorsecongress.com or view the Horse Show Tracker app.

About NSBA

Established in 1983, National Snaffle Bit Association has expanded from its roots in the Western Pleasure discipline to recognize various disciplines and ten breed associations in competition. NSBA’s mission is to grow the show horse community through various equine programs and events where every activity benefits horses, breeders, owners and exhibitors alike.

National Snaffle Bit Association has more than 20,000 active members and more than 44,000 registered horses across its ten alliance breed organizations. NSBA members earn more than $13.5 million in monetary awards at NSBA-sanctioned horse shows annually, and the association sanctions nearly 600 horse show events and close to 200,000 horse show entries each year.

To learn more about NSBA, please visit nsba.com.