A lot has happened since Suzan VonEssen used to strap a pillow on her dad’s sawhorse to ride in the garage of her family’s Tarrytown, New York home.

“I was a horse-crazy girl for sure,” she explained. “Anytime we were somewhere that had trail riding or horses to pet, I was there.”

Then came college, graduate school, marriage, a family and work.

And there have been many “real” horses to ride and show.

But all of those experiences have led VonEssen to right where she is today – anxiously and patiently waiting for her new show partner, Flatout Kool’s show debut in the $100,000 3-Year-Old Maiden Western Pleasure at The Sudden Impulse Futurity in Ocala, Florida later this month with Georgia trainer Jason English in the saddle.

Flatout Kool (Talli) is an AQHA bay mare by VS Flatline and out of Forever N Ever and is a maternal half-sister to Nancy Ditty’s highly decorated show mare, Forever Kool (by Machine Made). Ditty showed Talli to a win in the Super Sires Non-Pro Longe at the 2020 Tom Powers Futurity (earning $5,000) and English got her started under saddle shortly after.

“She always had a presence about her,” Ditty said. “Everyone loves her the second they see her. She was extremely easy to prepare because she was such a natural and so good minded.”

Jason found that to be true as soon as he started her under saddle.

“She has a great top line and does all the gears both ways very well,” he said.

But what both he and VonEssen noticed first is how attractive she is.

“She’s sweet and beautiful and reminds me a lot of Forever Kool,” English said.

The first time VonEssen got to see Talli was at a show in Kentucky last June.

“I thought she was gorgeous,” she recalled. “I never saw her ride at that show as she was just getting some miles put on her, but every time I saw her she got prettier.”

Then in August, at the National Snaffle Bit Association’s World Championship Show, VonEssen’s show partner for the past four years, To Cool To Be Hot, was sold and the search began for a replacement. That was no easy task as VonEssen and the bay gelding by Blazing Hot and out of Suddenly A Cool Lady had achieved so much success in the show pen. In 2018, they tied to win the All-Age Non-Pro Pleasure at the Tom Powers Futurity and were unanimous Quarter Horse Congress Champions in Level 1 Amateur Select Western Pleasure. Both Jason and Jamie English had also logged wins in several $10,000 Limited Horse Maturity classes; a Reserve Championship in the 4 to 6-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure at the NSBA’s Breeders Championship Futurity and top five placings at the Congress.

When VonEssen got the call from Jason in the fall that Talli might be available, she got in the car and drove to Georgia.

“I rode her for 10 minutes and said ‘let’s do this,’” she recalled.    

Jason thought Talli will be a good fit for VonEssen because the more he rode her the more self-carriage she developed.

“Having self-carriage and the great feel she does, will be helpful traits in a non-pro horse,” he explained.

But for now, the focus is on Talli’s debut ride in Ocala.

“She’s really coming together at exactly the right time,” Jason said. “She’s still very pretty and will be eye catching in the show pen. I’m just trying to keep her fit.”

After that Jason will continue to show Talli in Novice Horse Open Western Pleasure events and VonEssen will get her chance to show starting with the 3-Year-Old Limited Non-Pro Western Pleasure at The Madness in Wilmington, Ohio.

Long term, Jason said he wants Talli to gain enough experience to become VonEssen’s Amateur Select Horse, hopefully by next year.

“I just want her to have great experiences in the show pen, and hopefully she’ll live up to her potential,” VonEssen said.

VonEssen counts on Jason and Jamie for that. She met Jason at the Congress in 2012. She had just lost Lopin For A Livin, an AQHA gelding she had been showing in all-around events, to colic.

“I was encouraged to ‘look around’ but I really didn’t feel like it,” she recalled. “However, I kept seeing a flyer for Lopin For Thrills (Cowboy), a gelding one of Jason’s customers had for sale.”

VonEssen went over to Jason’s stalls and ended up trying Cowboy out. He was still green so she was worried about keeping him at home.

That night, Suzan and her husband, Bill, had dinner with their friends, Ray and Candy Maheu, the owners of Custom Bits & Spurs by Maheu. That’s when they got the horrifying call from home that their garage was on fire.

“We rushed home that night and thankfully the fire company had been able to save the house,” she said. “We lost the garage and three vehicles in the fire. Hurricane Sandy came a few days later and we were tied up for weeks getting things squared away. In late December, a beloved friend passed away, so by early January, I was feeling pretty blue. I decided if Cowboy was still available I was going to buy him.”

He was, and that’s how she started riding under Jason’s guidance. Suzan decided to leave Cowboy in Georgia and she drove to Georgia from her home in New York every chance she got to practice then would travel to shows to meet up with them.

VonEssen learned a great deal from Cowboy and did well at the shows they attended. She progressed to her next show partner, Dontyaknowhentozipit, a seasoned Trail competitor.

“I learned a lot from him too, but he could be tough to show as he unerringly memorized patterns,” she said.

Meanwhile, a lot was going on at home. Suzan’s husband, was in the process of relocating the food distribution company his grandfather founded 60 years ago to South Carolina and the couple moved to Woodruff, South Carolina in 2015.

By 2017 things were settling down and at the A Little Futurity in June VonEssen bought To Cool To Be Hot from Annene Miller.

“This was my first foray into Western Pleasure and I was hooked,” she said.

These days VonEssen spends as much time as she can in Georgia.

“I travel down (to Georgia) whenever I can,” she said. “Jason and Jamie are two extremely hard-working professionals. They put the care of the horses and customers above their own needs. They make a great team working with our horses – building each other up while improving the horses. They are both very easy to ride behind as they really get the horses broke. They are kind and compassionate, very easy to talk to and really take your concerns and questions to heart. They also maintain a very supportive barn atmosphere – our barn family always has the largest table at restaurants when we’re at shows.”

VonEssen says that none of this would be possible without the unending support of her husband, Bill.

“He is my proverbial rock,” she explained.

Jason says Suzan has always been dedicated to improving with her show partners and in the show pen.

“She works really hard to be a good rider,” he explained. “She’s at the barn at least twice a week to practice and to get to know her horse.”

And she is just as dedicated to her horses.

“She’s the absolute best to work with,” Jason said. “She really cares about her horses and puts a lot of trust in us, which we appreciate. Whatever needs to happen, it happens. Whether that’s taking one on the road with us or giving them time off to rest. From vet work to advertising, she’s is on top of it all.”