Denton DeBuhr Wins First Congress Championship Aboard RR Only Young Once in Coughlin 2-Year-Old Open Limited Division WP Futurity

By: Brittany Bevis

Ever since Denton DeBuhr started riding and showing Quarter Horses nearly ten years ago, he has wanted to win a Congress Championship title. Tonight, at the 2013 Congress, he accomplished that feat by becoming the Congress Champion in the Limited division of the Coughlin 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure Futurity.

DeBuhr’s partner for the class was RR Only Young Once, aka “Sasha,” a mare by Certain Potential and out of Can’t Stop Zippin. The talented youngster is owned by DeBuhr’s employers, Gil and Becky Galyean.

Earlier in the week, Becky Galyean rode Sasha to a unanimous win in the Limited division of the 2-Year-Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure. Tomorrow, the pair will compete again in the Open division of the Non-Pro class.

“Becky was unanimous in the Non-Pro,” DeBuhr says. “So, I felt a little better that she’d been shown before and that she was used to the pen. I was a little nervous because I thought there was pressure too.”

Despite a little added pressure and the hopeful expectation to repeat Galyean’s win in the Non-Pro version of the class, DeBuhr was able to keep his wits about him long enough to pull out an impressive performance this evening. However, he didn’t know he’d won until the Reserve Congress Champion was announced as Jamie Pait with Were Talking Easy.

“I though Jamie had won,” he says. “I’m excited. I’ve worked a long time for this.”

We asked DeBuhr to list the attributes he feels Sasha brings to the arena as an elite western pleasure horse. He cited her eye appeal and natural self-carriage.

“I think she holds her head and neck out there real pretty, and she’s got a real pretty look to her,” he says. “She just stands out from everything else.”

Later on this week, DeBuhr will compete with Sasha in the Open division of the Coughlin Futurity.

Coughlin 2-Year-Old Limited Western Pleasure Futurity-

1-RR Only Young Once/Denton DeBuhr

2-Were Talking Easy/Jamie Pait

3-No Doubt Im Best/Maggie Grandquist

4-Invest Ina Cadillac/Jett Thompson

5-Just A Good Version/Jason English