Around the Rings at the 2023 QH Congress – Wednesday, Oct 11th
On Wednesday, October 11, 2023 in the Celeste Arena at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio, the all-around classes were in full swing!
In the second class of the day, Amateur Pleasure driving, which had two splits and a finals, Stacey Stinson and Without Permission won the Congress Championship in the Amateur Pleasure Driving.
Watch our EC TV interview with Stacey and “Noah Marie” from 2023 All American Quarter Horse Congress!
Stacey Stinson and Without Permission are Congress Champions in the Amateur Pleasure Driving
Results for Stacey’s class, Amateur Pleasure Driving:
6
Then in the Coliseum, Eva Johnston and Certenly A Good Time won the L1 Youth 13 & Under Western Riding! See what Eva had to say about “Zorro” and her first major Western Riding win after a long journey with her beloved Zorro.
Eva Johnston and Certenly A Good Time won the L1 Youth 13 & Under Western Riding
Results for Eva’s class, L1 Youth 13 & Under Western Riding:
1
#8687 225.00
Certenly A Good Time/Johnston; Eva
Johnston; Eva (E)
Madison, GA
$100.00
2
#9067 220.00
Justa Machine/Graves; Emme Grace
Graves; Emme Grace (E)
Prosper, TX
$90.00
3
#2099 220.00
A Certain Red Vette/Hulse; Walter
Riley; Grace (E)
Tulsa, OK
$80.00
4
#5047 218.00
All But Sudden/Gilliam; Shayne
Gilliam; Shayne (E)
Greensburg, IN
$70.00
5
#8632 216.00
Itzonly Make Believe/Rippeon; Alexandra
Rippeon; Alexandra (E)
Mt Airy, MD
6
#6173 216.00
Hot Lil Assets/Nietzer; Ashley L
Nietzer; London (E)
Anderson, SC
$45.00
That evening in the Celeste Arena, a much-anticipated Maturity Non Pro Western Pleasure Stakes class of 55 horses came down to the finals, and winning the Congress Championship were Aint Nothn To It and Hillary Timchak of Capital Quarter Horses.
The class was special for many reasons, one of which was the dedication of it to the name of the late Brittany Harter, a longtime Congress competitor and Hillary explains, one of her best friends growing up, and several of her friends pitched in to make this happen. “We got together and organized this with Justin Billings – this was for Brittany.”
Hillary also explains that Capital Quarter Horses, LLC’s program had three horses they’d raised in the Top 5 of this class – her mare, Irene, was bred and raised by them out of the same mare as JR Cook’s gelding, Line Up Behind, who took a 4th place win in the class.
This magical combo is by Machine Made and out of Shes Immortal, a 5 year old mare Hillary has been showing since she was four, first at the NSBA World Show in 2022, winning the Non Pro $10k with her, then this year, Hillary took the mare to the NSBA World Show with Charles and Angie Cannizzaro and Brian Ale, and she won the Amateur Western Pleasure.
“It goes back to the mare,” she says, “mares like that produce quality stock like that time after time don’t come along very often. As far as developing the absolute best set of mares we could at Capital Quarter Horses, Rusty and Katie Green bought us some fantastic mares, even Shes Immortal was not a planned purchase, but she was in a group of mares – we knew she was bred nice and would cross well on a lot of stallions, it really worked out, and needless to say, she has paid for the herd.”
They expect Irene to be a producer like her momma in the future, but for now, as a show horse, Hillary says she has so much presence. “She’s big and pretty and soft, but she really has to trust you to be able to show her effectively. She has really taken to Brian, and our new nickname for her is Shamu, and for as big and as long as she is, she’s a compact mover. She lets you show her off the rail really well, and you can go on and off and maintain the same speed and cadence, too, which is a big positive for a horse her size. She showed really well, and I couldn’t be happier for her.”
Coming up, they have the Amateur Western Pleasure and Brian has the Junior with Irene, and they’ll do the same at the upcoming AQHA World Show.
What keeps this special and fresh for Hillary, she reveals, is the personal investment. “It doesn’t matter how fortunate you are or how much you get to show here on the big stage,” she explains. “To get their name called at Congress never gets old, and breeding and raising them for me – the new never wears off. Breeding and raising horses you were there for the day they foaled out, and you were there for them in the pen is what keeps me addicted.”
She’s excited about a Hay Goodlookn horse they have in the Coughlin Finals out of Momma Knows Best, a horse she won a lot on, and that excitement of what they’ve put their hard work and passion into is what it’s all about. “That’s what keeps you doing it.”
Results for their class, Maturity Non Pro Western Pleasure Stakes:
More of Wednesday’s winners:
