Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag

James Brownn was bred to be a barrel horse, but when he didn’t want to run, Laurel Anthony and Knabenshue Performance Horses let “Slim” choose where he wanted to be – in the all around pen.

By Delores Kuhlwein

In 1965 when James Brown sang Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag, which earned him his first Grammy, he was paying tribute to trying something new – and to an innovative way he’d found to approach music.

When his AQHA namesake, James Brownn, a 2015 royally bred barrel horse, was purchased by Laurel Anthony as a yearling, he was hardly a diamond-in-the-rough project. His sire, A Smooth Guy, by AQHA Hall of Fame sire Frenchmans Guy, boasts highly sought after foal crops for their athleticism and speed in the barrel arena and roping pen.

About going fast, however, “Slim” had other ideas, and the pretty, 16-hand, big-strided horse seemed destined for a different path – one his owner had the courage to travel.

Early Days

Laurel Anthony started out riding in an English saddle in the open show circuit as a young, horse-crazy girl in Minnesota.  She explains that she didn’t come from a horsey family, so her experiences with horses were very random until her folks finally found her a good fit – an Arab she showed at open shows.  “I had really good coaches, and in college I was around the AQHA all around industry a bit, and I found I loved the look of the big, hunter under saddle horses.”

As it tends to do, life took her down other paths, and after college she moved to Texas, and dabbled in reiner and cutters. But, she admits, when she moved there, she was broke.  “Every time an opportunity with horses was presented to me, I tried it, and the barrel horses were so accessible to me. It was challenging and fun, and I liked how they moved, so I’d take my two-horse trailer and haul to the jackpots, so that’s where barrel horses came into play in my life.”

Enter James Brownn

She’d had her eye on offspring by A Smooth Guy after studying barrel industry genetics, and in 2017, she bought a pretty yearling stud colt named James Brownn, aka “Slim,” sight unseen from Devin and Alisa McGrath. “I had a plan – I turned him out to let him grow up, then sent him to Joy Wargo to get started on the pattern in October of his two-year-old year. Joy was great for him, and I was really happy to have him there.”

Slim’s next step was in the hands of Dustin Angelle, who called Laurel after approximately 90 days to tell her Slim didn’t want to run. She brought him home, and in 2019, she gelded him and started riding him to see what he could do, thinking of perhaps the ranch discipline.

“But he was this big sweepy mover and he never really fit in,” she explains. “I had always joked about showing him in the hunt seat, so I took him to a Quarter Horse show in Sulphur Springs, Texas, to try it, and he was good, and it was fun.”

On the Brink

Laurel connected with Ashley Bailey, who worked for Highpoint Performance Horses at the time, and sent Slim to her.  “I give her credit for seeing his potential,” Laurel explains. “At this point, we were still wondering if we were crazy, and when she recommended Will and Liz Knabenshue, I also wondered if they’d think I was crazy.”

Will didn’t – he called Laurel back and took Slim for an evaluation period in 2023.  “I’ve known Laurel for a long time,” explains Will, “and I had a stall open up.  We got to riding him, and you kind of ride him without pressuring him and he gets better. He has a huge trot, and he’s turned into a really nice horse.”

As he came together, Laurel showed him at their first show, the 2024 Redbud Spectacular.  She explains, “Then we went to the Pumpjack Circuit followed by the Texas Classic, where we earned our first buckle in L1 Amateur HUS, and our first circuit award in All Breed Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle! He just kept on going, and he wasn’t one of those you could make things happen with – you had to let him tell you, and Will has been good about letting him figure it out.”

Laurel says Slim has continued to impress them and has exceeded her expectations.  “I had hoped to just get our named called here and there, but he just keeps getting stronger, more broke, and he wants to do it.”

It really came together for the duo in Las Vegas in May 2025, with Top 5s in L1 Amateur Hunter Under Saddle and Amateur Equitation at the Pinnacle Circuit, followed by a Bronze Championship in Rookie Hunter Under Saddle at the AQHA West L1 Championships, a Top 10 in Rookie Equitation, and a Finalist place in L1 Amateur Hunter Under Saddle.

The Team

“I know for a fact Slim would not be the horse he is without the Knabenshues,” adds Laurel.  “You can tell in his demeanor he’s happy and thriving there, and he’s dappled and slick. He’s solidly built, and he has stayed sound this whole time.”

She says Will giving him the chance and freedom, as well as assistant trainer Emma’s Widener’s work with him, has made all the difference.  “Emma and Slim are a cool team – she showed him in the Green Hunter Under Saddle last weekend (at Redbud), and that was pretty exciting for me.”

In addition, Liz Knabenshue has been irreplaceable help with Laurel’s equitation. “It had been 20 years since I’d been in an English saddle, and I had developed a lot of bad habits.  Our work together is correcting that, teaching me to keep my hands quiet, get my heels down, and ride strategically in the show pen.”

They’re looking forward to more pattern classes, a love of both Laurel’s and of Slim’s.  “He’s a thinker, and so smart – he’s figured out how to open his stall door, and he hears a wrapper and begs like a dog. I’d love to see him go over fences at some point in his life, and I’m hoping to add horsemanship.”

She says at first, she wasn’t sure why she’d been adamant about showing Slim in an English saddle, but she now understands.  “If something is your heart, go for it. This horse has really changed my life by helping me realize I’m where I’m supposed to be, with the people I’ve met – especially the Knabenshue Performance Horses barn family. Getting into shape for the English saddle and preparing my mind for the show pen has been life altering, and I’m really grateful for all of it.”

As audience members continue to watch, the floaty, 16-hand, bay gelding -whose sister is a 15-hand, 1-D barrel horse and whose dam was a PRCA rope horse – will continue to flourish as an all around horse in the hands of Laurel and Knabenshue Performance Horses, and the sky is the limit.