Afternoon Winners at 2017 NSBA World Show Include Dale Sullens, Allee Potts, Madison Parduhn

By: Brittany Bevis

We took a break from the Over Fence classes this afternoon to venture into the other two arenas to chat with competitors riding in the AQHA Show Your Colors event. 15-year-old Madison Parduhn had an exceptional day with a unanimous finish in Novice Youth Trail aboard So Blazin I’m Amazin. Madison and “Guinness” have been a team for just one year now. They recently switched to a new training team as well, after the Redbud Spectacular, Brad Jewett.

Madison and Guinness are fresh off the AQHA Youth World Show where they placed third in L2 Trail, were finalists in L3 Trail, and fifth in L2 Equitation. They’ve been coming to the NSBA World Show for the past two years and plan to compete in the youth and novice youth divisions of Equitation, Trail, and Horsemanship.

Before she entered the pen to compete this afternoon, Brad gave Madison some helpful advice about keeping her pace to ensure she received the maximum bonus points on each obstacle. “He said to really keep the pace; because, if I keep him back, he will chip up to the pole and shorten his stride. I just had to keep forward motion and keep pushing. I think he did the best on the gate, back through chute, and left lead lopes.

Madison’s favorite classes to compete in are Equitation and Trail. “Guinness has been a Congress Champion in Trail, and he’s really consistent. Equitation is personally my best class.”

After the NSBA World Show, this pair will head to the Quarter Horse Congress. We couldn’t conclude our interview without asking Madison about her horse’s interesting barn name. “His name is Guinness, because he’s the color of beer and he has a beer belly!”

Over in the Horsemanship pen, Allee Potts rode Don’t I Look Good to an excellent finish in Novice Youth Horsemanship with a first, second, and ninth place finish under the judges. Allee and “Chico” have only been a team since May of this year, so this is their fourth horse show together. Just the other day, they placed second, third and fourth in Novice Youth Showmanship. Later on at the show, they will compete in Novice Youth and Youth Showmanship, Horsemanship, and Trail. Because Allee is 19, this is her last year in the youth division.

Joining Allee here at the NSBA World Show is her sister, Ana Potts, with her horse, Good Tobe Lazy, and her cousins, Ella and Lenora Roberts, who all compete under the guidance of Duke Williams Performance Horses. We wondered what it’s like competing with her family. “It’s really great. Their mom, my aunt, is actually who got me into horses, because she rode as a kid. She has a barn where we all ride out of together. We’re competitive with each other, and we give each other a hard time, but we don’t really get mad at each other. We’re happy when the other person does well.”

Heading back over to the Over Fence arena, Dale Sullens rode William Grant to win Green Hunter Hack for owner, Michael Shepherd. “Scotch” is a special horse for Dale, because he was purchased as a weanling off his mother’s side, and Dale had a hand in selecting his unique show name. “The breeder had planned to name him Sleepin Off The Scotch, which was cute, but I wanted him to have a more recognizable name, like the name of a person. I googled ‘high end scotch,’ and came up with William Grant, which is a distillery.”

Thus far at the NSBA World Show, Dale and Scotch won the Green Hunter Hack, placed third in Green Working Hunter, and fifth in Junior Hunter Hack. Dale considers that quite an accomplishment since the 4-year-old gelding has only been jumping for about eight months.

While it might not be obvious upon initial glance, Scotch is an Appaloosa. He’s by All Hands On Zip and out of a Too Sleepy To Zip mare. He will be headed to the Appaloosa World Show this fall, which Dale and Michael are both very excited about.

“Scotch is Michael’s first horse. He acquired him this year, so it’s kind of exciting. Michael shows dogs for a living, so it’s kind of the same thing, just different!” Michael confirms, saying his specialities include showing Boxers, Great Danes, and Dobermans. “It’s amazing!” Michael says. “It’s like going Best In Show at the Westminster Kennel Club! There are a lot of similarities as far as the aspects of how the classes are done. In showing dogs, there is a lot of conformation, and in showing horses, there is a lot of performance.”

Stay tuned to EquineChronicle.com for more interviews with winners here at the NSBA World Show.