Rails And Trails Mark Mid-Week At The Congress
Tianna Cooper celebrating her Champion title in the Amateur Ranch Trail at the All American Quarter Horse Congress. All photos courtesy of NSBA.
From the National Snaffle Bit Association at the 2025 All American Quarter Horse Congress:
Keeping It In The Family
Suzanne Cooper celebrates winning the Amateur Select Ranch Trail with SDP Got Fancy Genes.
The Ranch classes continued in the Coliseum at the All American Quarter Horse Congress and saw Ranch Rail and Ranch Trail take center stage.
For Suzanne and Tianna Cooper, showing horses is a family affair. The mother and daughter show together, and often show the same horses between Select Amateur, Amateur, and Non-Pro events. They shared a special moment at this year’s Congress by winning both the Amateur Select and Amateur Ranch Trail classes back-to-back on the same day. Suzanne set the tone by winning Amateur Select Ranch Trail with SDP Got Fancy Genes, scoring a 235.5 for the win.
“I especially liked my gate work, because it went smooth and quiet, and our backing went really well, because I had struggled with that in practice and it came together in the class,” Suzanne said. “I’m always nervous about the bridge and walkovers, because you want the footfalls to go in the right place, but they did.”
Suzanne’s mount, known as Fancy, started out with the Coopers in a different career. “I had bought Fancy at a sale in foal and was going to make her a Reining broodmare,” she explained. “I had been trying to get some embryos from her but didn’t have any luck, and when Tianna wanted a Ranch horse, we pulled her out of the field and took her over to Melvin and Elizabeth Yoder to evaluate. She had earned about $47,000 in Reined Cowhorse events before we started doing Ranch classes with her.”
Suzanne won the 2024 Congress with her in Level 1 Amateur Select Ranch Trail, and Tianna earned the reserve champion title in Amateur Ranch Trail with her in 2025.
Not to be outdone, in the very next class of the day, Tianna won the Congress 2025 Amateur Ranch Trail with Good Gravy, a gelding that the Coopers bred and raised. “I have to credit Tianna, who really believed in ‘Rodney’ as a Ranch horse,” Suzanne said. “He had been in training for Reining and Tianna actually showed him in Reining as a three year old, but she kept telling me he would make a great Ranch horse, and he has fulfilled all of our expectations.”
“My favorite part of our Trail pattern was probably the back-through to the sidepass,” Tianna added. “He sort of ran sideways through the sidepass, so that was kind of neat. Our gate work was really good too. He’s a lot of fun to show, and he was there for me the whole time.”
The Coopers are happy to share their hobby. “It’s very special that we get to show together,” Suzanne said. “I love that Tianna and I share the same passion.”
“It can be challenging sometimes too, especially if we share the same horse, because it will take a minute for them to ‘rewire’ because we each ride a little bit differently,” Tianna added. “But we really do enjoy it.”
Matt Gouthro and Xtra Wimpys Catalyst Earn Double Champion Titles
Matt Gouthro and Zorro at the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
The black stallion known as Zorro has already earned one Congress Championship for his owner, Erika Collins Sterling, but trainer Matt Gouthro added to his hardware and earnings by winning the Open Ranch Trail Stakes as well as the Open Western Working Rail Stakes. The two wins brought the team nearly $11,000 in earnings.
Matt guided Zorro to earn $5,329 in the Trail Stakes and $5,658 in the Rail class the next day. “We have not had him very long,” Matt said of Zorro. “We bought him last year at the AQHA World Show. He had a very successful Reining career before coming to the Ranch classes.
“His first Ranch Riding show was in January in Tampa, and when I got to Tampa, Trail wasn’t even on my radar. I was out riding him one day, and they had the Trail obstacles set up, so I started messing around with him on it a little bit and that was the first time he had ever seen a pole, drug a log, or anything. The first time I took him in the arena, he thought those logs were monsters. He knew he was supposed to go in and show, but those logs were not supposed to be there. Once he got over that, he’s been great ever since.
“He’s probably the most intelligent animal I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. He’s one of those horses that once he understands something, he’s got it. He really thinks and he waits on you to ask him to do it and doesn’t get ahead of you. He’s just a great horse.
“On the Trail pattern, he was really dialed in. We were on the same wavelength. The way I pictured the pattern in my head, we were just really able to execute it – that doesn’t happen very often, but it just all came together. He was great, and he and I were in tune. We do this over and over and over, and that kind of ride is always your goal, but it happens maybe one time in 100.”
Sarah and Buddy Earn First Congress AQHA/NSBA Championship
The whole crew gathers to celebrate Sarah Rose Jons’ and Inferno Joe’s win in the Youth Working Western Rail at the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
The Quarter Horse Congress Youth Working Western Rail class attracted 92 entries, and took five splits and a final to determine the winner, but when the champion was announced, Sarah Rose Jons and Inferno Joe took the victory lap. Sarah had won a Congress NYATT class, but this was her first NSBA and AQHA champion award.
“I’ve had ‘Buddy’ since he was four years old, and he is seven years old now, so for three years,” Sarah explained.
“He’s one of the most special horses ever. Even if he makes a little mistake, he’s always willing to learn and he always gets better. He’s helped me put my name on the map in the Ranch classes. I’m so grateful for the team that has helped me the entire time, and to my parents for letting me do all this.”
When asked about her finals, Sarah noted, “He was really good. He stayed right with me the entire time, and he couldn’t have been any better. It was a little crowded in there, but I was just grateful to be part of this finals, with such an amazing group of horses and riders.”
Double Tapn Rallies In Senior Ranch Trail
Logan Pluhar and Double Tapn add another Champion title to their record at the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
Logan Pluhar took Double Tapn to the front of the line in NSBA and AQHA Senior Ranch Rail, and it was a bit of a comeback story for NSBA’s 2024 Horse Of The Year.
“He got an abscess right when we started showing here at the Congress,” Logan said of the seven year old gelding owned by Dan and Katie Fox. “Through the help of the farrier and the vet truck, Josh Donnell and Matt Ward, they got it dug out, and we’ve been doing the spa with him, and he’s finally back to 100 percent.
Logan appreciated the challenge of the Congress Senior Ranch Trail pattern. “This was a fun, kind of challenging pattern that made you think,” she said. “The double gate we don’t get to see a lot, and not usually at a 90-degree angle, and it was the first time I’ve done a pull gate, which was different for me. We had open interpretation of the pattern, and everyone did something different. You really had to slow everything down and figure out where you were going to put things like the tool bag or the log, and how you were going to approach the obstacles.
“I think that Trail has two sides to it – the technical side where you have to think your way through it, and then a part where you can attack it and be bold – and this pattern had both. This pattern had a lot of transitions, and it’s one of those that separates the people who are very confident going for it and those people who are tentative. I really enjoyed the dichotomy of this pattern. It was a really fun pattern, and I give props to Casey Devitt and the arena crew for putting it together.”
The 2025 All American Quarter Horse Congress continues through Sunday, October 26. To view complete show results, the live video feed in various arenas, or the upcoming schedule, please visit quarterhorsecongress.com or the Horse Show Tracker app.
