Happy Endings
These novice riders followed a diligent path to success with their green mounts.
Green rider: Barbie McIntire, Anna, Texas. Green horse: Paint mare Late Night Impulse (Bentley). Trainer: Caroline Wood, JC Stables, Van Alstyne, Texas. Successes: Competed in showmanship at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo; currently showing in Western pleasure with the Hunt County Horseman’s Association in Sulphur Springs, Texas. McIntire aspires to compete in Western pleasure with the American Paint Horse Association. Best advice: “Be consistent with your training, even when you’re having an off day. Green horses are especially sensitive to any anxiety you might be feeling. Strive to let those negative feelings go and focus on being as consistent as possible to instill confidence in your horse.”
Green rider: Jennifer Pettyjohn, Lexington, Kentucky. Green horses: Quarter Horse mare Certainly Stunning (Cupcake or CC) and Quarter Horse mare Blue Berry Margarita (BB). Trainer: Robin Gollehon, Gollehon Quarter Horses, Versailles, Kentucky. Successes: Aboard Cupcake, Pettyjohn won novice amateur Western pleasure at the Coughlin All American Quarter Horse Congress, then continued to show successfully on the regional level until Cupcake had to retire due to a kissing spine diagnosis. Pettyjohn is currently showing Blue Berry in longe line and aspires to show in Western pleasure in the mare’s 3-year- old year. Best advice: “Remember, horses and humans all learn at individual rates. Be realistic and flexible about achieving goals, or else you’re just setting yourself up for disappointment.”
Green rider: Claire Robertson, Burleson, Texas. Green horse: Arabian gelding TWC Boom Boom Pow (Boomer). Trainer: Gordon Potts, The Brass Ring, Burleson, Texas. Successes: Showing in Western pleasure. Robertson won the reining seat medal for 14-and- under at the 2016 Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. Best advice: “You have to be able to trust—100 percent—the person who’s helping you. If you don’t, you’ll never establish the kind of relationship that enables true communication. And that kind of communication is something that, as a novice, you really need.”