Back to Berrien Introduces $10K Added 3-D Western Pleasure
Aaron Moses piloted Dress Code Required for owner Antonia Capecci in the $10,000 Added dac® $2,500 Novice Horse Open Western Pleasure at the 2024 Back to Berrien. The team earned $4,147 for the first place win. Photo courtesy of NSBA.
“We show, so we know” could well be the motto for the organizers of Back to Berrien, as each year, they continue to build upon their foundation of futurities and fun.
When Gil Galyean, Jon Barry, and Charles Cannizzaro brought the nostalgia and celebratory atmosphere back to Berrien County Fairgrounds in Berrien Springs, Michigan in 2022, they also brought with them their experience and inventiveness. Each year it has paid off for exhibitors at the event with a full slate of NSBA classes and more.
This time around, the June 18-21, 2025, futurity will offer a new spotlight class: a $10,000-added 3-D Western Pleasure, open to horses of all ages, with rider divisions split based on rider career earnings and equal payouts to each division.
The class, Gil Galyean explains, is sponsored by NoltrexVet Synthetic Joint Lubricant and Mid-South Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery.
Then there is the class now known simply as “The Challenge.” In 2024, the trainers in the class were auctioned off Calcutta style to raise money for the NSBA Crisis Fund, and somehow, a challenge presented by trainer Aaron Moses to raise a minimum of $1,500 resulted in his showing in breeches in Saturday’s Hunter Under Saddle class with none other than Starland Ranch’s Rockstar Status.
“The funniest class of the horse show again this year will be THE CHALLENGE,” Galyean says, which once again will be a two-part class that begins with a bridleless pleasure class followed by a barrel race. “This year the top three finishers in the combined classes will get to pick from three briefcases filled with cash. One briefcase will have $2500. We look forward to everyone coming to the funniest horse show of the year.”
Another event returning this year is the flagship class – The DAC Western Pleasure, offered for 3 YO and over novice horses. “It will have $10,000 added money and is for horses who have not earned over $2500 as of June 1, 2025,” says Galyean. The DAC sponsored feature class also offers a limited rider division with added money.
Last year in the much-anticipated class, riders presented their horses down the center at a lope and a jog before they took their places on the rail.
The 2025 Back to Berrien will be judged by Amanda Gately, Valerie Kearns, Judd Paul, Nancy Sue Ryan, and Randy Wilson, with judge Dan Trein judging the NSBA & AQHA Special Event on Wednesday.
Stalls and entries are handled by TNT events, and the show is managed by Jon and Kathy Barry, Gil and Becky Galyean, and Wallace and Sissy Anderson.
For more information on the show, visit the show website: Back To Berrien or contact TNT events: https://www.timzhsm.com/events.html
