The Madness saw lots of Trail and the Three Year Old and Over Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle class crown champions at midweek.
Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle Slot Class
The signature class for Wednesday was the Three Year Old and Over Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle Slot class, which featured Limited and Maiden Horse bonuses in addition to the class payout
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Katy Jo Zuidema piloted What Is The Matter to win the Open division of the class, earning the $5,000 first place payout for owner Marcie McLenon.
“This is fun for me because I got to show his dad, What Matters Most, and I loved ‘Wally,’" Katy Jo said. Marcie McLenon owns both What Matters Most and his dam, LastMinuteInvestment, and she raised him.
“He was really good at WEC, and we gave him a week off between the shows and then brought him here. He’s just a good boy. I think he was even one step better here than in Florida after having that little break. When we got here, it was like ‘OK I know my job now.’”
When asked about her horse, Katy Jo said: “I like him because he is a true hunt seat horse. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better trotter, he’s so strong over his back, his top line is great, he just has all of the things,” she said. “His next events will be Jumping and Driving, and he’ll be able to go right into those.”
‘Derby’ earned a third in the Orange Blossom Maiden Hunter Under Saddle class and won the Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle at A Sudden Impulse, with his show career just getting started.
Carly Veldman Parks showed her own horse, Cupcakes And Roses, to third overall and winner of the Maiden division, while Becca Britton and One Hot Casanova earned the Limited division win and fourth overall.
“I raised her, and I was so excited when she was born because she was just so pretty,” Carly said. “Our son Caden named her Cupcake when she was born, so that’s how she got her name. She is a Paint, by All Time Fancy and out of Look Closely, who is a mare I used to show and was given to me.
“She grew so fast – she’s over 18 hands already - and we gave her a lot of breaks. This week was really the most that I rode her every day, and I feel like we really bonded. She was awesome. I think the judges had to have thought that she is beautiful, and she’s so natural. She is big and soft and pretty.”
Carly will give Cupcake a big break to allow her to continue to grow, and plans to prepare her for the NSBA World Championship Show.
One Hot Casanova and Becca Britton have continued their winning ways after winning the Three Year Old and Over Limited Horse Open Hunter Under Saddle at the March To Virginia show in March.
“We got him at the first of the year. He’s a really nice horse and I really like him. He has a Western feel to him and that’s why we get along, he fits me really well,” Becca said.
There’s a lot to like about Casanova, she admitted. “He lopes really good and he also trots really well, and he’s also beautiful. “
Becca and Clarissa have a busy schedule planned for the gelding. “I’ll show him in the Limited Horse classes and Clarissa is going to show him in some Limited Non-Pro Four Year Old classes and the Novice Amateur classes this year. We’re pretty excited about him,“ Becca said.
The Tale Of Two Trails
In the Trail pen, the Junior Open Trail horses took center stage for the $11,250 Added Level 1/Green Junior Hunter Under Saddle and $2,500 Added Junior Trail, which both had Limited Rider bonus payouts.
Two exhibitors tied for the Level 1/Green Open division win. Carly Veldman Parks showed Ladee Luck for Mr. and Mrs. William Wilkes while Nick Mayabb showed Made You Miss Me for Lacey Armstrong. The two teams each earned $3,750 with Carly winning the tiebreaker for awards.
“Ladee Luck (Julia) is five years old, and this is her first year doing Trail,” Carly said. “She is really soft, has a big stride and so much self-carriage. She’s a ten jogger but makes it over the pulls jogging effortlessly. She has a lot of rhythm and we’ve bonded really quickly doing Trail together. Her Western Pleasure background has really set her up well for Trail but she’s going to continue to do some Western Pleasure classes too.
“We’re developing her for another All Around horse for Lisa (Wilkes) but we’re also keeping Up N The Ante showing as well. Julia is pretty special to Lisa, because she is out of the mare Lisa won an AQHA world championship on. Our plan is to show Level 1 and Junior Trail, Western Pleasure and Green Horsemanship with Lisa.”
Nick talked about the gelding he showed to the tie. “We bought Hunter at the Congress from Troy Lehn last fall,” he said.
“He showed just one time in the Three Year Old Trail there. I started showing him at Ocala, and we’re continuing in the Junior and Level 1 Junior Trail.”
The four year old gelding is by Machine Made is concentrating on Trail but may also add Horsemanship later this year with owner Lacey Armstrong. “Lacey is going to show in the Non-Pro Trail in the second round of classes this week,” he said.
In the Limited division of the Level 1 Junior Trail, Shannon Walker and Made Of Money earned the first-place prize of $2,500 for owner Benjamin Schoepf.
“We call her Eleanor, and she is a super fun five year old Western All Around mare,” Shannon said. “She does the Western Riding, Trail, Showmanship and Western Pleasure. She’s by Machine Made.
“In the Trail, I think the best thing about her is that she is good over the poles but she’s so pretty in the middle because she started out as a Western Pleasure horse. Her legs are so pretty over the poles on top of being good at being careful. This is her first year doing Trail. We have been super excited because Mallory has even had a couple of first places in the Level 3 Amateur Trail on her. She’s really trying to be good at it.
“Ben and Rachel Schoepf own her, but they were needing to take a year off from showing, and we really didn’t want to have her leave the program and take a year off, so we were able to lease her for this year. We were glad to be able to keep going in her training, so it worked out for everyone.”
“She is my All Around horse for this year,” Mallory added. “I’m pretty excited because we’re going to do Western Riding, which will be the first time ever for me. She’s so good at the Western Riding and Trail because her top line is so good. It’s fun.”
In the Junior Trail Futurity class, Nick Mayabb returned to the winner’s circle with Straight Line Breeze, showing for the Nancy Chapman Trust, earning $1,495 for the first-place finish. Terry Cross and Hez Extreme won the Limited division of the Junior Trail Futurity and $300 for owner Toni Hughes.
“I’ve had Morty since he was three, and he’s just a really solid citizen now,” Nick said of Straight Line Breeze. “I love his easiness and his willingness to show. This is my third year showing him, and he won the futurity at WEC a couple of weeks ago. He was really good through the whole pattern today. It was a little bit if a tricky pattern, but he is very broke and did everything I asked. He also shows in Select Amateur classes with Nancy Chapman.”
Morty will be competing at major events throughout 2025, with the Premier next on the show schedule with Nick and Nancy.
Terry Cross showed Hez Extreme to win the Limited division of the Junior Trail Futurity for owner Toni Hughes.
“We bred and raised Hez Extreme, and he is out of a mare that was in our breeding program, and he’s by one of the studs we stand, The Extreme Machine,” Terry said of his gelding. “He’s had limited showing. We showed him in a couple of three year old classes last year and then moved into the Green and Junior classes this year.
“He’s incredibly good minded and wants to be slow about things, which makes it easy to push him to do things to get those plus points. Today he really wanted to be careful and I appreciate him so much for that.”
Hez Extreme and Terry will show in Level 1 Junior and Junior Trail events this year, while his owner, Toni Hughes, will show him in Amateur Select Western Pleasure this year. “Toni will start doing Amateur Select Trail with him next year,” Terry said.
The 2025 Madness continues through Sunday, May 11. Thursday’s classes will include Western Riding, Horsemanship and Western Pleasure as well as Ranch events, with the NSBA Three Year Old Open Western Pleasure as the featured futurity class of the day. To view complete show results, please visit horseshowtracker.com.
