A Heart As Big As Her Stride

Former Reiner Ever So Fancee holds her own at the 2022 All American Quarter Horse Congress

By Delores Kuhlwein

Wander through an AQHA warmup arena full of Hunter horses, and you might feel, well, diminutive.  The modern English horse is a magnificent picture of flowing movement, ground-covering strides, athleticism, and most of the time, size.

At the 2022 All American Quarter Horse Congress, Ever So Fancee, a mare just shy of 14.2 hands joined the crowd in the Youth warmup pen with her rider, Ellie Clarke.  Ellie, who lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and rides with trainer Suzanne Chubb of Coldwater River Farm in Alto, Michigan, admits they were the smallest team there. “A few people asked to buy her, and if she had AQHA papers.  She might have been the smallest, but she has a big step.”

The competition at Congress, as everyone knows, is tough.  But Ellie had been determined to go to Congress with “Olive,” the mare she’d shown to success over fences in the Large Pony division in the USEF.  Ellie explains, “It was something I’d always wanted to do with her, and Congress is a big show for our barn as the last show of the year.  This year when Congress rolled around, everyone was talking about it, and since we were now done with the Pony Division, it was the year to do it.”

At first at Congress, they thought they’d need to try to add a stride between fences because of the distance and height (they don’t jump her that high at home) and because of Olive’s size. It is a strategy that is allowed when ponies are showing against horses. But it turned out they didn’t need to think outside the box because as Ellie’s trainer, Suzanne, stated, Olive had such a big stride, they didn’t need to.

They’d entered Level 1 Youth Equitation Over Fences, Youth Working Hunter 14-18, and Youth Equitation Over Fences 14-18, and it was the Equitation Over Fences where Ellie and Olive really showed their stuff.  “We had a really great last round,” says Ellie,” and that kind of pulled everything together.”

The duo ended up earning earned a NSBA Reserve Congress Championship in the Youth Equitation Over Fences 14-18, as well as a 4^th Place overall in AQHA.  They also took home several other Top 10 placings, explains Ellie.

What might be even more remarkable about the compact champion, Ever So Fancee, is that she was originally trained as a Reiner.  With a pedigree listing KCH Flash of Hickory and  Zans Fancee Winner, she’s not the average Hunter-bred horse, but as most horse folks know, it’s the heart that matters.

“I’ve talked with the previous owner a bit, who had Olive until she was four or five, and they did Reining with her,” says Jen.  “Olive’s farrier bought her from the previous owners because she saw her potential to go over fences. Her friend trained Olive to go over fences, and she loved the job.”

When the Clarkes bought her in 2018, she was going over 2-foot to 2’ 6”-foot fences, a perfect match for Ellie, who had shown a lot in the USEF and a bit in the QH circuit.  “I started riding at age 8 and had always gone over fences,” says Ellie.

They quickly found Olive was sweet, willing, brave going up to the jumps, and excelled at taking care of her rider.  “She’s really smart and she has a great brain,” Ellie reveals.

Olive’s height of 14.2 designated her as a large pony in USEF, so Ellie brought her up through the ranks, earning titles like Year End Champion for the Michigan Hunter Jumper Association, and Reserve Champion for the US Hunter Jumper Association Zone 5 Year End. Then she stepped up and qualified for Pony Finals in the Large Green Ponies.

At Pony Finals, Ellie and Olive earned 9^th overall in and 5^th Over Fences in the 2020 Large Green Division, along with numerous championships and reserve championships in the USEF before she set her sights on Congress. Now that she has accomplished that goal and moved on to horses in the USEF, Olive has taken on the role of teaching little kids in the barn.

The Clarke Family may still attend another AQHA show with the 14.2 hand horse they call “The Hungry Hippo” because she eats just about anything, nickering at Ellie whenever she hears her voice.  But for now, she’s proven her bravery and her willingness to give her all.  Like the words of Maya Angelou, “If one has courage, nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”