Bruce Vickery/Ona Good Cowboy and Sarah Finkel/So So Good Win Junior and L1 14-18 Congress Trail
By: Brittany Bevis
After a long seven hours of Trail, we have two new Congress Champions to congratulate! First, Bruce Vickery rode Ona Good Cowboy to win Junior Trail with a whopping score of 237.5.
Bruce was in the saddle of the 5-year-old gelding by RL Best Of Sudden today for owner, Janet Fraser. “Wesley” has been in the barn since December of 2016. Since that time, Bruce has been trying to build on the horse’s pre-existing foundational skills in Trail and Western Riding.
“I loved the fact that today’s pattern was really flowy and accentuated a horse that could move really nicely and had great expression, which this horse has all of that. He’s strong, and he moves great. He has a lot of flow. Today, he was really focused.”
“I really felt like my lope overs were extremely nice, and I really liked my gate. We haven’t even done a solid gate that much, but it’s almost like he felt natural and confident in it. I really liked his back through, sidepass and walk overs as well. They were all really super nice.”
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. A little bobble during the Green Trail yesterday caused Bruce to reevaluate his plan of attack. “Yesterday, he spooked really badly at at the mum in the corner. I stopped and showed him it was ok. I knew I was coming back today, and we’d already ruined yesterday, so I wanted him to try to get confident in there.”
The plan worked and Wesley delivered a smooth performance that was rewarded with a huge score. However, once again, there was a little “bobble” with the Congress app that caused Bruce to question things. “That was a nervous moment, because I came out and everyone said I had a 237.5, and I was winning. Then, the app said I had a 235 and was fourth, but the Congress people said to trust the main screen, but I didn’t trust anything until they called out fourth place!”
Coming up next, Bruce will show Wesley in 4 and 5-year-Old Trail and Green Western Riding. The Reserve Champion in the class was Brad Ost with Cracking The Code. Third was Brad Ost with The Monie Man. Fourth was Blake Weis with The Extreme Machine. Fifth was Robin Frid with No Question Im Lazy.
Sarah Finkel achieved a longtime dream of being named a Congress Champion when she rode So So Good, aka “Taco,” to score a 226 for the win in L1 14-18 Trail. Sarah is 17 years old, and her horse is 18. They compete under the guidance of David Busick.
“I’ve been showing since I was six years old,” she says. “I’ve never had a Trail horse before. I leased Taco from a friend to finish out my youth career when my horse got injured. We won the L1 Championships this year. He’s been a Trail star. I’ve learned so much from him.”
Sarah liked today’s pattern because the set up rewarded a free-moving horse. “I loved this pattern, because there was so much loping, and he does the best over the lope overs. When I loped him off, I was a little worried, because of the way it was set up. I thought he might dive around, but he was perfect. Our gate was good, and his lopes stayed so smooth for me. I was stressed about the serpentine, because I wanted to get the correct foot over, but he was great. I put my hand down, and he did his job. All the preparation was worth it.”
The Reserve Champion was Lillian Hirschfeld with Putadrinkinmyhand. Third was Anastasiya Potts with Good Tobe Lazy. Fourth was Alexandra Potts with Don’t I Look Good. Fifth was Ella Petak with Gettin Hot.
