Drew and Kate Emnett literally changed horses midstream for the $9,800 2013 Farnam 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle Stakes.

Drew’s dream was to see his wife Kate win the inaugural class, which only yearlings sold through the Breeders’ Trust Select Sale the previous year are eligible to enter.

“Last year, Kate went to bed with our daughter, and I decided to go to the sale,” the Lucasville, Ohio, trainer said.

He won the bid on Sharon Bonner-Brown’s Classy Invitation, a 2011 sorrel overo hunter-bred mare by Ultimate Charisma and out of a Paint daughter by Quarter Horse Invitation Only.

“I called Kate and said, ‘I bought one,’” Drew recalled. “She said, ‘You’re kidding.’ But I wasn’t. My goal was for her to win that first class.”

In March, they decided to partner with their longtime clients, Beth and Jeni Yoak, on a Western pleasure prospect. Bred by Paul Toal of Cedar Hill, Texas, An Amazing End was near the end of the 2012 Breeders’ Trust Select Sale, and was bought by Colby Thornton for $2,000. He was then sold to Andrew Frank.

“Preston” is out of a Zippos Sensation daughter and by No. 4 APHA Leading Sire Gentlemen Send Roses, who is owned by Brent Harnish.

“I’ve followed him since he went through the sale a year ago,” Brent said. “I could tell he was going to be a special one so when Drew bought him in the spring, I thought that was a good place for him.”

“I bought him because he has a lot of talent,” Drew said. “We’ve trained Gentlemen Send Roses horses for other customers and liked them. Also, his mother was a great show horse, so I knew he had a good family and he had talent of his own.”

When it began to become clear that Classy Invitation wasn’t maturing enough to show as a 2-year-old, the Emnetts decided Preston would move to hunter under saddle because he wasn’t strong enough yet for Western.

“He’s so soft across the ground and has a great self-carriage. He holds his topline so strong,” Drew said. “He’s the kind of colt I say that has ‘grit.’ They have a little something to them that helps them be good ones.”

Drew and Kate tag teamed Preston’s training program.

“We take turns,” Drew said. “I kind of get them to where they need to be and then she takes them and puts them where she likes them.”

Besides Preston, there were two more 2-year-olds showing in the November 8 hunter under saddle stakes class: Its All About Scarlet, a sorrel overo mare ridden by Kim Garrett and owned by Kim and her husband Paul, and A Scenic Irishman, a sorrel overo gelding ridden by Jamie Murrow and owned by Holly Ebelberger.

With only three horses in the class, Kate knew even a tiny bobble could cost them.

“There were so many people in there and just the three of us, so there wasn’t a lot I could do. So I just showed what I had,” she said. “I knew he was a quiet colt, so I had tons of confidence in him but you still never know.”

Entering the arena, Preston confidently trotted down the middle of the arena, and appeared to initially be focusing well, Kate said.

“But I never thought he settled in like he had been settling in there,” she said. “He wasn’t bad, I just didn’t feel like he focused as much as I know he can.”

“I know there’s even more talent in there than he was displaying in the class,” Drew added.

However, Brent had no doubt Preston was the class winner.

“His topline is so consistent and he’s fluid and floaty,” he said of Preston’s go. “He trotted and then when he cantered off, it was just like, ‘Wow!’ That’s what they’re supposed to be like.”

The judges agreed. With three firsts and two seconds, Preston went down in history as the first Farnam 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle Stakes winner, and taking home a check for $5,880. Second was Its All About Scarlet, earning $3,920 for owners Kim and Paul Garrett.

“It feels good. Finally, we caught a break,” Kate said. “I hope that class just grows and grows.”

“I think it’s great what Farnam has done,” Drew said. “Those classes will help the Paint Horse industry—both the English and Western horses.”

And the win helped Brent achieve a longtime goal for his stallion.

“We’ve been on a mission for a long time to have a tobiano hunt-seat horse win at the World Show,” he said. “I’m so excited and very, very happy about this. Drew and Kate have done a great job with him.”

Preston returns to the arena on November 15 in the 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle world show class, to prove tobianos are just as good as overos in hunter under saddle.

“A lot of people get worried about color but a good horse is a good horse to me,” Drew said. “I think maybe this will help change that stereotype.”