The final Saturday of The Madness featured Level 1 First Year and Level 1 Trail as well as the Junior Trail and Non-Pro Trail futurities, but the highlight of the day was the Equine Chronicle Three Year Old and Older Maiden Horse Open Western Pleasure slot class.
A Goose and a Rhinestone Cowgirl
The competition in the Maiden Three Year Old And Older Open Western Pleasure slot class was so tough that even the judges were split on the winner. When the scores were tallied, Talk To Me Goose and Cody Parrish had tied with Rhinestone Cowgirl and Andy Cochran with each having a first and two seconds. The tiebreaker saw Talk To Me Goose earning the first place award, but the two horses and their owners split the first and second place purse with each receiving $17,500.
Cody’s ride was another home-grown horse that the Parrish family bred and raised, by Machine Made and out of Itz Showtime. The bay gelding is owned by Courtney Stephens. “Mentally, Goose is one of the most trainable horses that we’ve ever worked with,” Cody said.
“He gets where you tell him to get, and just wants to do his job. He’s just solid, and the perfect type of horse for a class like this. We started out with this class as our goal. With a maiden class, you’re never sure how they will be, but he got in the pen and listened and was great. Plus we’re excited to see him do well for the Stephens family. They’ve been great customers, and Goose will be the replacement horse for Courtney for her old show horse, Pistol.”
Reserve in awards only, Rhinestone Cowgirl came to Andy Cochran and Bill and Cindy Costentino on high recommendations. “Mary Webre had wanted me to come and look at this mare,” Andy said.
“And then Cleve Wells called me and told me I really needed to come and look at this mare. As soon as I saw her from a distance, she something to see. She’s beautiful, and she’s made good. She’s just what you look for. Bill Cosentino and I hooked up on her, and I was so happy that he kept her in training with me.
“We weren’t initially sure if we would show her here, but every day she just kept getting better, so I told Bill that I thought we were ready. And tonight she was great. She uses her ears really well and she’s so strong behind. She is a great jogger and she just has a big appearance. She’s by Good Cowboy Margarita and out of an Invester mare.”
For Bill, one of the selling points was the bloodlines for Rhinestone Cowgirl. “What’s great about her is that we can cross her on pretty much any stallion in the industry,” he said. “Andy has done a phenomenal job with her, and he did a great job showing her tonight. He’s a great showman.”
The connections went full circle between Bill and Rhinestone Cowgirl’s connections. “Andy and I go way back to 30 years ago, and it’s fun working together. And we’ve been friends with Mary Webre for years too. She told me she wanted me to have this horse, so it was meant to be.”
Jeff Cochran and Lopin So Radical Earn Limited Title
In the Limited divisions of the class, Jeff Cochran piloted Lopin So Radical to earn the $3,000 first place award for owner Lisa Feinberg. “We bought her in Arizona,” Lisa said.
“She came along and we sort of fell into it. Jeff and Pep (Erin Lieurance) picked her out and told me she’s the one for us. Jeff Worked really hard on her to get her ready for this class. I loved their go in the class tonight.
“I couldn’t do this without Jeff and Pepe. We’re super excited and can’t wait to do the Three Year Old events this year with her.”
Tops In Trail
The Madness Trail classes saw Jennifer Paul sweep both the Junior and the Senior Trail futurities. She showed Code Redy for Bailey Francis to win the Junior Trail with a best score of 245.5 and earned $1,513. In the Senior, Jennifer showed Ur Ride Has Arrived for Emma Brown, earning a best score of 246.5 and a paycheck of $1,925. Jason Gilliam won the Level 1 Junior Trail futurity aboard Here Comes The Blue, showing for Katherine Tobin. The trio earned $5,000 for the win.
Jess Berganztel Sweeps Trail Limited Championships
However one of the biggest stories of the Trail futurities came in the Limited division, where Jess Berganztel swept all through Limited division championships. He showed Huntin Machine to win the Senior Trail futurity for owner Wayne Hembry, earning $500; Blue N Lucky Too for owner Elizabeth Maggert to win another $500 as well as the second and third place Limited Rider horses in the class, for a total of $1,000 in that class.
“We showed five horses between Torey Roderick and I,” Jess said. “Stone, the senior horse is a youth horse and he’s really just making a really nice horse. He was just really good here and looks for his spots on his own. That’s what makes him a great Youth horse.
“The Level 1 horse, Daphne, is just four and did Trail once or twice last year, and she’s making a nice Trail horse too. She moves really pretty, and she had a pretty good Western Pleasure career, so she has a good top line and is soft with her legs. She’s really enjoying the Trail. We won the Level 1 Limited class with a five year old gelding, Rocky, that another youth owns who couldn’t get away to show here, and he’s another really nice horse. He’s a little bit of both of the other two horses – he moves pretty good and had a nice Western Pleasure career and is just fun to show.”
The format at The Madness for the Trail futurities is a welcome change for Jess. “It’s a really nice format because it gives people a couple of chances. You show twice and use your three best scores from among the six judges. It gives everyone a chance to have a good day,” he said.
“They always have nice courses here at the Madness,” he added. “They’re always challenging but they do a great job of setting them. There’s always a place to ride here and they give you ample time to prepare. It’s one of the shows we look forward to every year.”
Nick Mayabb and Jeffrey Win First Year Trail
Nick Mayabb showed Pinball Machine to win the First Year Green Trail for Tali Terlizzi. “We call him Jeffrey,” Nick said. “We just started him on Trail in late fall, and with him coming out of the Western Pleasure futurities, he is so broke that he’s really taken to the Trail and seems to like it. You get him to his spot and he’s golden.”
The six year old gelding is showing in Green/Level 1 and Senior Trail this year at the major futurities, however Nick has been campaigning for Tali to join the fun in Non-Pro Trail. “I haven’t talked her into it yet,” Nick laughed. “She says she enjoys being an owner on this one.”
Emma Brown Takes Thomas To Non-Pro Trail Win
In the Non-Pro Trail Futuity, Emma Brown bested the rest of the Non-Pro field aboard her horse, Ur Ride Has Arrived, earning $5,000 and also winning the Limited Rider award for an additional $3,000. She also showed Some Hot Potential to fourth and fourth in the Limited Rider award as well.
“We recently bought Thomas, or Ur Ride Has Arrived, in September, so he’s fairly new to the family,” Emma said. “We’re getting it and we’re learning each other, and it’s been very fun.” Thomas is by Batt Man.
“The most fun thing about Thomas is that while he warms up really well, when he gets out there, he is just super floaty over the poles. He’s a dream to show because he is so floaty and so expressive. I was nervous about the pattern today, because it was very similar to the Senior pattern yesterday. It was difficult but I enjoyed it and it turned out to be a pretty good day.”
To view complete show results, please visit the Horse Show Tracker.
