A Sudden Impulse is officially underway at World Equestrian Center – Ocala, with top competition continuing through Saturday, April 18. Tuesday’s highlights include the $6,000 NSBA Maturity Open & Intermediate Open Hunter Under Saddle, the $5,000 NSBA 4-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle, and the $6,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open & Intermediate Open Hunter Under Saddle, in addition to the $1,500 Super Sires Stakes.

$6,000 NSBA Maturity Open Hunter Under Saddle & $5,000 NSBA 4-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle

Competition in the WEC Grand Arena got underway early Tuesday morning with the $6,000 NSBA Maturity Open Hunter Under Saddle. Keith Miller kicked off a busy day with a win aboard Madeleine Bayless’ 2022 gelding R C Kola (Its A Southern Thing x Its Al Over), then returned shortly after to capture his second featured victory of the day in the $5,000 NSBA 4-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle.

“We bought R C Kola at this horse show last year for a customer, the Bayless family. We actually tried him as a two-year-old and loved him then as well,” Miller said. “He trots great, canters great. He is really smooth and effortless, with a lot of elastic movement in his front legs and a lot of lift. And he has tons of expression.”

Miller said when he was here last year he watched him win the Maiden Hunter Under Saddle Class.

“We loved him, and I called Madeleine and said, ‘I think we found another great horse.’ He has made a lot of hopes and dreams come true for her,” Miller said. “He was her first Congress champion, and she also won the NSBA World Show in the Amateur with him, so he has been a wonderful, wonderful horse.”

$6,000 NSBA Maturity Open Hunter Under Saddle Top Three Results

1 R C Kola, Keith Miller, Madeleine Bayless
2 Always GoodToBe Best, Beth Case, Daisy Mendez-Pompei
3 Al Right All Right, Katy Jo Zuidema, Cindy Kazakevicius

Jesse Jones scored yet another Intermediate title riding Kim & Tim Lindsey’s 2018 All Silver Linings (Allocate Your Assets x A Walk In The Sky) to victory in the Maturity Intermediate Open Hunter Under Saddle.

$5,000 NSBA 4-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle Top Three Results 

1 R C Kola, Keith Miller, Madeleine Bayless
2 You Proof, Dawn Baker, Haley Hartman
3 Shezza Outlaw, Jamie English, Brenda Ramirez 

$6,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open & Intermediate Open Hunter Under Saddle 

A total of 13 horse-and-rider combinations took to the rail to showcase their best efforts in pursuit of the top honor in the $6,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle. Ultimately, it was Amber Hanson Pickard who piloted Gerri Leigh Pratt’s Marilynd (Enticed x Hot N Addictive) to an impressive victory, also capturing the $1,500 Super Sires Stakes win.

 “We were partners on the mare that she is out of and my owner sold her embryo to another customer and we bought her back as a yearling because we had to have her,” Pickard said. “We sold her to Gerri Leigh Pratt because she wanted a nice fancy 3-year-old, and that’s what she is!”

$6,000 NSBA 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle Top Three Results

1 Marilynd, Amber Hanson Pickard, Gerri Leigh Pratt
2 Good Times Roll, Alyse Roberts, Lauren Allen
3 Enticed N Addictive, Ann Lapacinski, Ann Lapacinski

The Intermediate win went to Julian Harris and What A Ripper LLC’s The Queen Beee. 

A Sudden Impulse continues through Saturday, April 18. Spectators are welcome to enjoy competition throughout the week.

Story courtesy WEC

Photos courtesy of Shane Rux Photography.