Erin Bradshaw and John Simon Win First World Championship in Classic Amateur Trail
By: Brittany BevisErin Bradshaw was noticeably emotional when the announcer revealed that she and her 11-year-old stallion, John Simon, had been named the World Champions in Classic Amateur Trail. Although John and Erin have racked up numerous World Championship titles over the years, the one that has eluded them was a big win in Trail.
“Honestly, I’ve wanted to win this class for so long,” Erin says. “It takes a lot of hard work. I’ve been practicing with James Saubolle every day, because I really wanted to try to win this class this year. When the announcer kept calling out numbers, I thought, “Oh my gosh. I think we might have done it!’ Then, when he called out the Reserve Champion, I lost it.”
Spencer Chelwick
John and Erin were named the Reserve Champions in Amateur Trail back in 2014 and placed third in the class last year. John also has another Reserve World Championship title in the discipline, earned in the senior division with Jeffrey Gibbs back in 2012.
Erin believes it is John’s solid background in Western Pleasure that has provided an excellent foundation for developing his natural aptitude in Trail. “Especially on this course, where we had regular lope portions into the extended lope, you need to have a lot of control. John can reach beautifully and then come back so well that it’s really fun to ride. He really nailed it. I was very pleased with his transitions, because he hit them right on, and that was key to the pattern.”
“He’s getting older, so I thought it was really cool that he can still go out there and do it, especially on a course with so many hard maneuvers.”
Lila Owens
Despite feeling like she had a good trip, Erin refused to watch the other competitors’ patterns after she and John went third in the draw. “When I was done, I came back to the stalls. I didn’t want to watch anyone else, because this class stresses me out so much!” she laughs.
Assisting with preparations for today’s class was James Saubolle. “He was my saving grace,” she says. Later on in the show, Erin and John will compete in Classic Amateur Senior Western Pleasure. Rusty Green will show John in Senior Western Pleasure as well. Earlier in the show, JT Mitchell showed John to a Reserve Championship in Performance Halter Stallions.
Although Erin doesn’t have that many classes left with John, she will compete with two of his foals: I’m Johnny Cash in Classic Amateur Junior Western Pleasure and Elicious in 3-Year-Old Non Pro Western Pleasure. Elicious will also be shown by Rusty Green in the 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure, and Scott Weiss will show in the 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure Challenge and Green Western Pleasure.The Reserve Champion in Classic Amateur Trail was Spencer Chelwick with Goodnight Charlie. Third was Lila Owens with Radically Deputized. Fourth was Kylee John with Krymsunized. Fifth was Ali Eidson with Gametime Sensation. Sixth was Leroy Poignant with Total Assets. Seventh was Maggie Griffin with I’ll Be Sensational. Eighth was Carly Odom with Sensational Bandita. Ninth was Andrea Nelson with Mr Verifiable. Tenth was Callie Ford with Got Sensation.
