No one can deny Florida based trainer Katy Jo Zuidema has an eye for talent and talent is exactly what she saw the first time she laid eyes on Waffle House. The pretty 3-year-old mare by The Born Legacy and out of BestSeatInTheHouse first crossed paths with Zuidema while in training with Rusty Green.

“We live close to Rusty and Katie (Green) so we are really tight,” Zuidema explained. “I had seen her quite a bit during her early training process and never forgot about her.”

Zuidema purchased Waffle House last February for her son, JR, to show in Youth and 3-Year-Old Non-Pro events. Again her eye for talent didn’t fail her and soon Waffles, Zuidema and JR were off to a great start being crowned the Champions in the 3 & Over Maiden Western Pleasure at The Madness. The followed that up with a Reserve Championship at Back To Berrien, a championship in the 3-Year-Old Novice Horse Western Pleasure and 3-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure at The Premier before being crowned the NSBA World Champions in 3-Year-Old Novice Horse Western Pleasure last month in Tulsa.

Not to be outdone JR also claimed titles in the 3-Year-Old Open Non-Pro at the Back To Berrien Futurity, Reserve Championships in 3-Year-Old Limited and Open Non-Pro Western Pleasure at The Premier, a sixth place finish at the AQHA Youth World in Level 3 Western Pleasure 14-18 and Championships in the 3-Year-Old Limited and Open Non-Pro at the NSBA World Show. To date Waffle House has earnings in excess of $33,000.

“When we bought her we were looking for a horse for JR. I really wanted to buy him something solid and broke because all he had shown was either a 3-Year-Old or an old war horse,” Zuidema recalled. “I was honestly trying to find something that was 4-6. But she was special so we did it.”

Now it will be Wood’s turn in the pen. The California native practiced law until her retirement when she moved to Ocala, Florida. Wood has been involved with horses since childhood and she started showing AQHA in the 1980s. After her kids grew up she had a full time job and it took her away from horses for a few decades. Once she retired and moved to Ocala she said it felt like a natural move to get back into showing. Over the years Wood has owned several nice Western Pleasure horses and has bought and sold some mares and babies, but she has always wanted to own something special. Wood and Zuidema met and spoke in town and at horse shows for a couple years, but about a year and a half ago they finally got together on Wood’s search and today her special horse is Waffles. 

“We’re so grateful to Karen for buying our girl and keeping her in the family. So much awesome stuff is hopefully yet to come,” Zuidema said. “Truly Waffles is an angel. I mean she knows she is special and we treat her like that was because she deserves it. Now that Karen has bought her and we get to keep her, I am thrilled because I never had a Junior Western Pleasure horse in my whole life. Plus next year is JR’s last year in youth so we thought we would give it a go. Not to mention we get to harvest embryos! We may offer some of those up for sale. We are so excited to see what the future holds for Waffles.”