Big Money Paid in Trail and Hunter Under Saddle Mid-Week at The Madness

From NSBA at The Madness 2026:

The checks were big and the competition was stiff mid-week at the Madness AQHA and NSBA circuit at Wilmington, Ohio, when the show awarded payouts for the Level 1 Junior Trail, Junior Trail and various divisions of its Three Year Old and Older Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle Slot class.

Three Year Old and Over Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle

With divisions for Open, Intermediate and Limited riders as well as a Maiden horse bonus, there were plenty of reasons to compete in the Three Year Old and Over Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle slot class at the Madness, and the class drew a field of 22 entries.

In the end, Laura Spell guided Laww And Order to the Open division win for owner Teri Nichols, earning the $5,000 first place check. 

“We call him Wyatt, and he’s a three year old gelding by Outlaw Enterprise and out of a Huntin For Chocolate mare,” Laura explained. “We bought him from Julian Harris and Whattaripper LLC as a baby. We’ve had him a long time, and he lived with us for quite a while. We showed in the Maiden class at Ocala, and he was really good there – we were third there. I went home and worked a little more, and I feel like he showed even better here.

“We will be doing the Novice horses at the Premier, Paint World, NSBA World and the Quarter Horse Congress. He might possibly have a Non-Pro career down the road. We’re doing a little bit of everything.”

The top five placings in the Open division included:
Champions: Laww And Order, Laura Spell for Teri Nichols, $5,000
Reserve Champions: Plot Twistt, Farley McLendon for Allison Rassinoux, $2,500
Third: Hot Love N Emotion, Katy Jo Zuidema for Marcie Mcclenon, $1,500
Fourth: Give Me The Girls, Amber Hanson Pickard for Linda Lu Kosal, $1,000
Fifth: Al CU At The Bar, Dawn Baker for Elizabeth Munroe, $750

$1,750 Added Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle Intermediate Rider Bonus

In the Intermediate division, Judy Zeitler showed Richard and Betty Jo Carr’s Ready To Be N Outlaw to the title and $1,000 prize. The duo were ninth overall in the class. 

“Betty Jo Carr raised this horse, and it’s by Outlaw Enterprise,” Judy said of the three year old gelding. “This is the first horse I’ve gotten to show by the stud here at the Madness. I was also very excited to see Laura’s horse win the Open division because he is another Outlaw Enterprise baby.

“My horse trots really well and he’s a big, impressive horse in the arena. I thought he was really good tonight. We’ve only shown two times – here, and at the A Sudden Impulse, so he hasn’t had a lot of trips in the pen yet, but he was so good. We will be doing all of the three year old events at the Premier, the NSBA World Show and the Congress this year.

Payouts for the Intermediate division included:
Champion/Ninth Open: Ready To Be N Outlaw, Judy Zeitler for Richard and Betty Jo Carr, $1,000
Reserve champion: Havin Trouble Sleepin, Jennifer Reams for Cheyenne Reams, $500
Third: The Good Boss, Makenna Smith, $250

$5,000 Added Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle Limited Rider Bonus

Jennifer Reams showed Havin Trouble Sleepin for her daughter, Cheyenne, to win the Limited rider bonus of $2,500. 

“We bought this horse for Cheyenne to be her youth horse,” Jennifer explained. “She might be doing some Non-Pro classes at the Big A and the NSBA and Quarter Horse Congress and it will be her youth horse for next year

“We bought this horse from Mark and Judy Zeitler. He’s by Too Sleepy To Zip and out of a Form The Line Behind mare. He’s a good boy. He was a maiden, so that was his first trip around the pen. It was a big class for him but he did really well. He’s such a cool horse cantering. He was just floating around. He’s going to be a really fun horse for Cheyenne to show. We’re very excited.”

Purses paid for the Limited Rider bonus included:
Limited Champion/Tenth Open: Havin Trouble Sleepin, Jennifer Reams for Cheyenne Reams, $2,500/
Reserve champions: The Good Boss, Makenna Smith, $1,500
Third: Batt Out Of Hell, Melissa Thyfault for Mariah Sherer, $1,000

$1,000 Added Maiden Horse Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle

Amber Hanson Pickard showed Give Me The Girls to the Maiden bonus, winning $1,000 for owner Linda Lu Kosal. “One of our other customers, Sarah Jackson Vance, raised him,” she said. “She put him in the NSBA Yearling Sale, and one of our other customers, Linda Lu Kosal, was helping to bid him up and ended up buying him, so he ended up staying in our barn.

“I didn’t really have a spot for him because I was full, so we decided bring him here to the Madness to show in this Maiden class and compete in the Novice Horse class. He had great expression and a good topline, and just followed where I wanted him to go. I was pretty please with him.

“He’ll be showing with a Limited rider at the NSBA World Show since he is eligible for the sale graduate purse, and after that he might work toward becoming a Non-Pro horse for Linda Lu.”

$12,500 Added Green Junior Trail Futurity

Nick Mayabb had the winning gos in both the Level 1 Junior Trail and Junior Trail futurities with two different mounts. In the $11,250 Added Level 1 Junior Trail, he piloted Beth Lepping’s Look Here Cowboy over the course to collect the $5,000 first place prize.

“I started showing her at WEC a couple of weeks ago in the Maiden class and got to show her a couple of times there,” Nick said. “She showed really well every time and just had a tick here or there, just a spot out of being the winner, but she showed clean here and had a really good go.

“She is a really good mover – she came from the Western Pleasure pen, and she is really good in her top line and is pretty to watch. She’ll be doing first year Green classes this year. Her owner had sent her to me to teach her Trail to sell her, but now she may be interested in continuing her career.”

Tops in the class included:
Champions: Look Here Cowboy, Nick Mayabb for Beth Lepping, $5,000
Reserve Champions: SuddenBreakingNews, Jennifer Paul for Jolene Mierzejewski, $2,500
Third: Lifes A Trip, Whitney Lagace for Elizbeth Ribder, $1,500
Limited Champion: Towin The Line, Dale Hamilton for Nathan Carson, $3,000
Reserve Limited Champion: Smooth Like Butter, Brenden Mehochko for Michelle Speck, $2,000

$3,000 Added Green Junior Trail Limited Rider Bonus

In the Limited division of the class, Dale Hamilton showed Towin The Line for owner Nathan Carson to earn the $3,000 rider bonus. 

“This is Towin The Line and we call him Denver,” Dale said. “He belongs to Nathan Carson. He’s been challenging, but he was very good today. He’s been doing the Trail about a year and a half, and he’s five years old. When he’s on, he is a great one to show and he listens well. He tends to get distracted easily. 

“Nathan shows him in Western Pleasure and I show him in Trail. This is Nathan’s last year as a Youth, so we’re trying to help him go out with a big year.”

Purses paid for the Limited Rider bonus included:
Limited Champion: Towin The Line, Dale Hamilton for Nathan Carson, $3,000
Reserve Limited Champion: Smooth Like Butter, Brenden Mehochko for Michelle Speck, $2,000

$2,500 Added Five and Under Trail with $600 Added Limited Rider Bonuses

Nick Mayabb followed up his Level 1 win with another futurity championship in Junior Trail with Cookin Somethin Up, showing for owner Eliabeth Maggert to a $1,564 first place payout. 

“He is a horse I’ve been showing for about two years now,” Nick said. “I won the Junior Trail on him last year at the Congress and Junior Trail at WEC and made the finals in the $100,000 Trail class there just last week.

“We just know each other well, and we can be very aggressive in the pen and just go for it every time. He’s a great mover and usually goes very clean through the course. He’s a great horse. Elizabeth also shows him in Non-Pro classes, so he’ll have a busy year.

“We just know each other well, and we can be very aggressive in the pen and just go for it every time. He’s a great mover and usually goes very clean through the course. He’s a great horse. Elizabeth also shows him in Non-Pro classes, so he’ll have a busy year.

Tyler Schultz took Cool Sultry Lady to the Limited win for owner Wendy Brodersen.

Tops in the class included:
Champions: Cookin Somethin Up, Nick Mayabb for Elizabeth Maggert, $1,564.50
Reserve champions: SuddenBreakingNews, Jennifer Paul for Jolene Mierzejewski, $1,229.25
Third: Its Tha Cowboy In Me, Carly Veldman Parks for Siena Holyoak, $949.88
Limited Champions: Cool Sultry Lady, Tyler Schultz for Wendy Brodersen, $300
Limited Reserve Champion: The Man N Black, Pasley Mathis for Nettie Olsen, $200

The Madness continues through May 10 at the World Equestrian Center-Wilmington. To view complete show results, please visit the Horse Show Tracker app.