Maddie Anger, Deb Craig, and Mackenzie Matthews Are Winners During Day 1 of 2017 NSBA World

By: Brittany Bevis

From the AQHA Youth World Show in OKC to the NSBA World Show in Tulsa, The Equine Chronicle is on the move! Today at the NSBA World Show, the AQHA Show Your Colors event is underway. Tomorrow, the NSBA World Show classes will begin.

Many competitors we spoke with today are using the event as a warmup to the World, as a chance to hone their skills and perfect last minute touches before the giant trophy cups come up for grabs tomorrow.

19-year-old Maddie Anger had an excellent day as she was named the unanimous champion in Amateur Equitation with her horse, Ridinonmycoattails, aka “Red.” Maddie and Red have only been a team since June of last year, but she’s competed under the guidance of her trainer, Shannon McCulloch, since 2013.

This is Maddie’s first year competing as an amateur and her first trip to the NSBA World Show, which she’s enjoying immensely so far! Unfortunately, the NSBA World Show does overlap with the first day of college at The University of Georgia, so Maddie has to fly home tomorrow, go to school for two days, and then fly back to compete in Showmanship with her other horse, Potential Dooplicity, as well as Equitation, Novice Amateur Hunter Under Saddle, and Amateur Hunter Under Saddle later this week with Red.

In today’s class, Maddie was very pleased with Red’s performance citing his flying lead change and flowing movement as two qualities she believes helped to put them over the edge in the eyes of the judges. “He’s got a really pretty lead change, so I think we hit that where we needed to. He’s got a really nice, floaty trot, because he’s really good in Hunter Under Saddle, and then he has a good lope. He’s a really pretty mover. I’m lucky to have him. He goes forward, and he’s really smooth. He likes to sit up in the bridle like a Hunter.”

Maddie and Red have qualified to compete at the AQHA World Show in Equitation, but only time will tell if that will conflict with her equestrian team schedule. However, she’s very excited to attend the Quarter Horse Congress this year.

Also, in the Equitation pen, Deb Craig had a great day with her new horse, PF Put It In Park, aka “Parker.” Deb and her 10-year-old gelding went to their first horse show at the Big A this year and since that time they’ve been working on coming together as a team. “It’s a work in progress! Also, this is a new class for Parker. He’s never done Equitation before. Our first time was the the Buckeye Classic. We’ve had a few things we needed to conquer, but with this pattern I tried to do everything I talked about with my trainers [Michael Colvin and Patty Vatterott] and I stuck with the plan and it worked out.”

Deb and Parker placed first under two judges and second under the third, which resulted in a circuit championship win. “I think I laid out the pattern fairly well, as far as the orientation in the arena. I was happy about that. I felt like we were going fairly forward. We weren’t doing a Quarter Horse kind of lope. I think that might have been what put us over the top.”

Later on in the show, Deb will compete with Parker in Select Horsemanship, Trail, and Western Riding and Michael Colvin will show in Senior Trail and Western Riding. Western Riding is definitely Deb’s favorite class with Parker. “He’s good at it, and I feel like I’m dancing the waltz out there!”

Mackenzie Matthews also had an excellent day in the Equitation pen with her horse, Virtually Perfect, aka “VP,” “Veepers,” or “Fatcakes.” Mackenzie and VP placed first, second, and fifth under the judges. “Equitation is our favorite class. It’s the one we always tend to do best in.”

Later on in the show, this team will compete in Horsemanship, Trail, and Showmanship under the guidance of their new horse trainers, Robin and Jenny Frid. “I’m really enjoying working with them. I just switched one month before the Youth World, so that was my first show with them! I basically spent the whole summer out in Texas. We drove out here. It was a hike. It’s a 16-hour drive from North Carolina.”

This is Mackenzie’s first time competing at the NSBA World Show, and she’s enjoying it so far. “I think it’s a good follow up to the Youth World. I know, for me, and a few youth kids I’m friends with, who didn’t necessarily accomplish everything we we wanted to at the Youth World, it gives us an opportunity  to improve upon things. Also, it’s a good warmup for the Congress. It’s not necessarily about redemption, but it gives you another opportunity, if you didn’t have the best World Show pattern, and it gives you the chance to gain confidence in yourself. Especially in Horsemanship, I’m hoping to prove to myself that I can get through a pattern and place well.”

An entrepreneurial, young lady, Mackenzie also let us in on a project she’d like to begin at the Quarter Horse Congress this fall. “I absolutely love doing my own makeup. I know the market is thin for people who do horse show makeup. I’m kind of interested in next summer, or perhaps at Congress this year, trying to do some makeup for girls. I do makeup for my friends for prom, and I’ve done some senior photo shoots.”

Stay tuned for more coverage of the NSBA World Show, right here on EquineChronicle.com and our The Equine Chronicle Facebook page.