“This is kind of a little diamond in the rough,” Gilliam says.

“She gets a little nervous in the ring, but we work it out,” Jensen says. “I just talk to her and say, ‘good girl,’ and keeping telling her she’s doing good.

It was a true nail-biter until the bitter end with the determining factor for the top two spots resting on the placings of the final judge.

“She’s just a lovely mare. She’s huge and beautiful. She’s one of those kind of horses that everyone walks up and asks about.”

“He wasn’t even supposed to come,” says stallion manager, Christi Christensen. “We ended up having a horse not be able to come two days before we left.”

“The crazy part is Taylor kicked twice right then, so I grabbed my stomach. I’m a little emotional right now anyways!”

Many of Harrell’s customers have won Congress Champion titles in the past. However, this is his first personal Congress win.

UPDATE: Just moments ago, Laney and Toxi were named the Grand Champion Gelding team in a tough Grand and Reserve Gelding class here at the Congress.

Luke Castle gained his second Congress Championship of the week for the Josh Weakly/Andy Staton duo when he won with Gamechanger in 2-Year-Old Geldings.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is my first Congress Championship. I’m pretty excited.”