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Although the brother sister pair of Brennan and Makenna Coulson are seasoned show competitors, both began leadline at age three, nothing could have prepared the family for the 2010 APHA Summer World Show when the Coulson siblings won back-to-back, matching World Champion titles.
Brennan Coulson, age 11, was first up winning the Novice Youth 18 and Under Trail with his 14-year-old gelding, A Sudden Impulse or “Sud-Z.”
“I was definitely not in any way expecting to win,” he says. “But, I had a lot of confidence because my horse is very good at trail. The part of the pattern that was especially difficult was when we had to do a gate and lope out, and it was really tight.”
Brennan is no stranger to winning World titles, having racked up a leadline World Championship, two Walk-Trot Trail World Championships and a Reserve Walk-Trot All-Around title in previous years.
His father, Brian Coulson, says Brennan didn’t start riding horses until he was three, but Makenna has been riding ever since she was in her mother’s belly.
“Coming into this World Show, Brennan was pretty sure that his sister had a good shot to win,” Brian says. “It is the World Show, so literally they are all very good. But you couldn’t clearly tell who the winner was going to be. It was splitting hairs to see who would win.”
Brennan and Sud-Z are a relatively new team, having only been together since Thanksgiving of 2009. Brennan’s mother, Tamara Coulson, says the pair has struggled for the past couple of months, but everything began to come together in the few short weeks before the World Show.
“I don’t really know what to say,” she says. “I know how special it is and how hard one World Championship is to come by, let alone two. I just feel like this was a big gift.”
Brennan is used to long hours of preparation and practice because he also participates in travel soccer and ice hockey. However, he says the lead-up to the World Show this year was particularly intense.
“I had calluses on my hands, and my legs hurt and my arms hurt from practicing so hard,” he says. “I think you have to prepare and be confident in what you are doing and be positive for things to go your way.”
Makenna Coulson, age eight, and Toys Express had the difficult task of being first to go in the Walk-Trot Trail just after watching her brother win a World Championship title. However, Makenna says she wasn’t feeling the pressure.
“Trail is my favorite class, and this was the easiest pattern I’ve ever done,” she says. “I had to jog over poles, do a gate, a back-through and turn in a box.”
Despite her trainer, Mike Davis’ urging, Makenna seemed to have her own plan of attack for the pattern.
Apparently Makenna told her grandmother, “I know my horse Haley better than Mike does, so I am just going to do what she tells me to do.”
Tamara says like any typical eight-year-old, her daughter Makenna is very unpredictable.
“You never know if you will get the child that is going to listen to their horse trainer, or put her own twist on it and do it her way,” she says.
Makenna also has a Reserve World Championship title in Leadine and a Pinto World title, but this is the first APHA World Championship title she has achieved while riding solo. She also competes in showmanship, western pleasure and horsemanship classes, but she has much bigger plans for the future.
“I like doing roping and pole-bending and all that stuff,” she says. “My horse Haley also likes to bite me a lot. We call her Miss Piranha. She like apple-flavored cookies.”
According to Makenna, she was most excited about her Tinkerbell-inspired outfit, which was hot pink and white.
The Coulson’s trainer, Mike Davis, makes sure to incorporate a little bit of fun into the children’s daily lessons in order to teach them important skills while still keeping their attention.
“They are learning about teamwork together as a pair and about riding and fixing their own horses,” Davis says. “At the end of the day it is about not just sitting there and being a passenger.”
The Coulson family would also like to extend a big thank you to their previous trainer, Julie Thompson-Martell, for helping to give both Brennan and Makenna such a great start in their showing careers.
