Fired Up Potential will be presented in the Masters Western Pleasure by Gil Galyean

The search for that one-of-a-kind pleasure prospect with the potential to be a Quarter Horse Congress Masters Western Pleasure contender is not an easy task. So when Gil Galyean of Purcell, Oklahoma heard about Fired Up Potential he knew he needed to investigate.

Michelle Bauer of Holland, Michigan and long-time partners Garth, Sonnesa and Austin Gooding had asked Galyean to be on the lookout for a prospect he thought would fit the bill.

“We had asked Gil to keep an eye out and at Show For Dough this past May he said he had heard of a really nice filly that was in training with Pat Heeley for Susan Knapp,” Bauer says. “We all flew to Iowa and met Gil to look at her and decided she was the one.”

“Susie” as she is called, clearly had the bloodlines that would suggest she is capable of developing into that special horse. Her sire is Certain Potential and she is out of multiple Congress Champion Radically Fired Up. Fired Up Potential was everything Bauer was looking for but she still has some big shoes to fill.

Galyean showed Bauer’s 2011 black gelding, Dont Stop The Lite, by Only In the Moonlite and out of Weretalkinradical, to a Reserve Championship in the Congress 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure Stakes and a third place finish in the 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Show.  Dont Stop The Lite finished 2013 as the National Snaffle Bit Association’s Reserve High Point 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure Champion.

Galyean showed Don’t Stop The Lite to a Reserve Congress Championship

“We had a really great experience with the Galyeans last year,” Bauer says. “They are just great to work with and so we decided to buy another 2-year-old for this year.”

Bauer explains this year’s experience will be a lot different because Steve was shown quite a bit during the entire year whereas Susie will be held back for the Masters Western Pleasure at the Quarter Horse Congress for maiden horses.

“I got to see Susie at the Tom Powers Futurity and am very excited about her progress,” Bauer says. “Gil keeps in touch a lot and says he is pleased with her. I think having a Masters horse will be very exciting.”

Galyean says Susie has a lot of same characteristics of successful horses that he has shown in the past.

“She’s real attractive and has really good conformation,” Galyean says. “She has a very strong topline and exhibits a lot of self-carriage as well as being a really sweepy mover.”

Besides her characteristics, Galyean was also drawn to her outstanding pedigree and feels she will make a great asset to anyone’s broodmare band one day.

“I am really looking forward to showing her,” Galyean says. “We also really appreciate the opportunity to work with Bauer And Gooding Show Horses. They are really great people. They are the type of people we need in the industry.”

The Bauers and Goodings have been together for 25 years

Besides Susie, Michelle has many other great horses in her show string for this year. Under the guidance of long-time trainers, Garth, Sonnesa and son Austin, Dont Stop The Lite is continuing his winning ways in 3-year-old events this year. Steve has already won the 3-Year-Old Limited Western Pleasure at the March Madness Show in Wilmington, Ohio as well as finishing Reserve in 3-Year-Old Limited Western Pleasure at the Show For Dough in Tunica, Mississippi and had top placings at the Tom Powers with Garth in open and Michelle in the non-pro events. Also, A Cool Invitation and Sonnesa have already had a successful year winning the NSBA Green Hunter Under Saddle Futurity at the Madness in March Show and the 3-Year-Old $1,000 Novice Horse Hunter Under Saddle at Show For Dough. Sleepin In the Park will also be part of this year’s lineup competing at the major shows. He was the 2012 Congress Champion in the Limited 3-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle and finished fifth in the Congress Limited Non-Pro Maturity with Michelle last year. Fightin Off Sleep and Austin Gooding were Reserve 2-Year-Old Limited Open Western Pleasure Champions at the NSBA World Show in 2013 and won the 3-Year-Old Limited Open Western Pleasure at the 2014 Show For Dough.

“I started riding when I was 8 and then more competitively with Garth and Sonnesa when I was 12,” Bauer says. “Going on nearly 25 years, we have an unusual long-lasting partnership. The Goodings are more like family to me than a client-trainer relationship. We have a really great time and they are open to trying new things and keeping things fresh.”

Michelle Bauer aboard Flightin Off Sleep

Bauer And Gooding Show Horses, a partnership between Michelle and Sheila Bauer and Garth, Sonnesa and Austin Gooding, has resulted in over 150 APHA World and Reserve World Champions and Honor Roll Champions. Although their focus was primarily Paints, they have switched over to mostly Quarter Horses. For Michelle, there are a lot more big shows close she can attend.

Michelle’s niece, Camille Fogg however has begun her showing career in APHA events competing this year at the APHA Youth World Show in June and winning the Novice Youth 13 & Under as well as the Youth 13 & Under Western Pleasure with nine-time World and Reserve World Champion, Zipped From The Heart.

“She is the next generation of horse showers,” Bauer says. “She really loves the horses and wants to do more and more events in the future. It has really been a lot of fun for me to be able to share this experience with her.”

Bauer also owns  APHA World Champion Charlie Hilfiger, sire of APHA World, AQHA Congress and NSBA World Show Champions.  He currently stands at BSB Quarter Horses in Sturgis, Michigan. Bauer explains that she has a small breeding program with a few mares of her own that are bred to Charlie as well as other stallions depending on what they think will best be suited for the mare.

“We intend to buy more show mares to breed,” Bauer says. “So the long range plan for Susie is to pull some embryos as well.”

In her spare time, Michelle enjoys traveling although she admits horses are her number one hobby.

“Luckily my fiancé, Jason, understands the whole horse show lifestyle,” Bauer jokes. “We have four dogs who are like our kids.”

Although Bauer’s health over the last few years has prevented her from doing a lot of horse showing, she hopes to continue doing more and more in the future adding the all-around events back into her schedule.

“We have many exciting times ahead,” Bauer says. “I look forward to showing more and more.”