Iowa trainer Shannon Vroegh and daughter, Mallory, know exactly what it takes to be successful at the top level. They have spent their entire lives in the show horse industry.

Shannon grew up in the Churdan, Iowa, area competing in American Quarter Horse Association shows with her mom. She loved the all-around classes so it came as no surprise that her daughter, Mallory would head in that direction. As Shannon built a career training AQHA, American Paint Horse Association (APHA) and National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA) contenders and coaching youth and amateur competitors, she always made sure Mallory had the best show partner she could come up with. Sometimes that would be a Western Pleasure youngster and other times pattern classes were more the focus. There were many long days, heartbreaks and sore muscles along the way but Shannon and Mallory always looked out for each other and their horses.

“We both grew up working on a farm and learned a lot of work ethic from taking care of animals from the very start,” Shannon said.

That hard work and attention to detail started paying off with wins. Today her resume is full of Quarter Horse Congress Champions, Reserve Congress Champions, World Champions and Reserve World Champions that she trained and/or exhibited. She has also been behind multiple futurity champions at NSBA World Show as well as at the Tom Powers, Southern Belle, and Show For Dough futurities.

Mallory’s success in the show pen started early, with a Reserve Congress Championship in Small Fry Horsemanship with MGP Gorgeous George in 2009, followed up with a Reserve Congress Championship in Novice Youth 13 & Under Hunter Under Saddle in 2010 with Blazen Barefoot.

Mallory and Krymsun Belle, a 2011 sorrel mare by One Hot Krymsun and out of Miss Mega Cash, earned an AQHYA World Championship title in Showmanship, two AQHYA Reserve World Championship titles in Horsemanship, four Quarter Horse Congress Championships in Showmanship and two Reserve Congress Championships in Horsemanship. Before selling Belle last year the pair logged over 1,074 AQHA points in seven different events. In 2018, they collected an AQHA High-Point title in Youth Horsemanship and were Reserve High-Point All-Around champions.

In 2018 Mallory began her collegiate career at Southern Methodist University in University Park, Texas, as an economics major and is a member of the Equestrian team. She is considering law school following her graduation but has continued to show in AQHA and NSBA events. Last year she found a new partnership in No Doubt My Maria, a 2014 bay mare by No Doubt Im Lazy and out of HP Goodnkrymsun.

Mallory wanted to be able to ride often while in school, so she enlisted the help of Texas trainer Blake Weis to help with Maria. The move paid off quickly when at last year’s NSBA World Show Weis piloted Maria to a win the Breeders Championship Futurity in Trail and collected Reserve Championship Awards in Green and Junior Trail. They followed that up with a Reserve Championship title in Green Trail at the 2019 AQHA World Show and placed in the top five in Junior Trail.

Mallory got her amateur career with Maria started this year by competing in Showmanship, Horsemanship, Trail, Equitation and Performance Halter Mares.

“While Covid has held us back from showing as much as we’d like, they started off great at the Redbud (Spectacular Quarter Horse Show Circuit in Oklahoma), earning the Level3 High-Point Amateur award,” Shannon said. “Blake also won a huge Senior Trail Class on multiple cards. We had so much fun with Krymsun Belle that we are super excited to own another truly great all-around mare and are looking forward to competing and the Congress and AQHA World Show at the end of the year.”

In recent years, Shannon and Mallory have been focusing on developing a successful breeding operation with the help of Shannon’s fiancé, Brent Walker.

“When I met Brent and his daughter, Lily, five years ago he had never even been close enough to touch a horse and is allergic to most animals,” Shannon explained. “But he now shares the love Mallory and I have for the horses and we have started a really fun and great breeding program.”

The oldest offspring out of the program is just a 3-year-old now and is out winning at the APHA shows in Junior All-Around events.

Shannon, Mallory and Brent understand that all great breeding programs must have exceptional mares behind it and so they are starting with some they know well – Krymsun Belle, Presidential Affair and No Doubt My Maria.

“As a Christmas surprise to me Brent purchased Presidential Affair from my long-time client Ronda Roozeboom,” Shannon said. “She is by Presidential Order and out of the great mare, Flashy Looking Lady. She was my first ever Reserve Congress Champion, in the Coughin 2-Year-Old Limited Open Western Pleasure and placed fourth in the Open Division. She went on from there to win over $40,000 in futurities and place several more times in the top five at the Congress in Western Pleasure.”

Shannon and Mallory are optimistic about the future of their breeding program.

“We are pretty excited that it looks like the babies we have raised out of these mares the past four years are going to follow in their dams’ footsteps,” Shannon said.

The Solitaire Affair, a sorrel filly sired by The Rock and out of Presidential Affair was the winner of the Premier Quarter Sires Longe Line last year, with Mike Tivoli showing. They also placed third in the Open Longe Line at the Tom Powers Futurity and fourth in the Open Longe Line at the Congress. She will make her debut under saddle in the Coughlin 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure at the Congress and is eligible for numerous other programs, including the Sale Stakes classes at the NSBA World Show, Tom Powers Futurity and the Congress.

They are also excited about The Krymsun Affair, Presidential Affair’s other 2-year-old filly by One Hot Krymsun. Mallory will be showing her at the NSBA World Show in Breeders Championship Futurity classes, as she was in the NSBA sale last year.

“Both fillies are great minded, very talented and have been exceptionally easy to break,” Shannon said.

Presidential Affair also has two weanlings – one by The Lopin Machine and the other by RL Best Of Sudden and she is bred back to I Am The Party for a 2021 foal.

“Both weanlings are big, strong and really look the part,” Shannon said.

Shannon, Brent and Mallory also have two 2-year-olds out of Krymsun Belle making their show debut this year. Itsa Southern Belle, a sorrel mare, sired by Its A Southern Thing, is entered in the Coughlin 2-Year-Old Open Western Pleasure at the Congress and KB Belles N Whistles, a bay mare by Hot Ones Only, is making her show debut in Hunter Under Saddle at the NSBA World Show.

Between the horses they raised, and the outside prospects, Shannon has five 2-year-olds in her program, all getting ready to show at the NSBA World Show.

Add those to the yearlings and weanlings they raised, plus those due next year, and it is clear why Shannon, Brent and Mallory are excited about the future.

“They are all by great stallions like One Hot Krymsun, The Rock, Its A Southern Thing, Scenic Impulse, The Lopin Machine, RL Best Of Sudden, Hot Ones Only, I Am The Party and VS Flatline,” Shannon said.

And next year, while Mallory focuses on her equestrian career, No Doubt My Maria will head to the breeding farm to take a break while she is bred and embryos are flushed.

Although Brent has only been involved for the last five years, he too has become an enthusiastic participant.

“Brent is a strong supporter of all of the programs that the horse industry has to offer so all our babies are enrolled and eligible for all that is offered,” Shannon said.

And with all the new prospects, Mallory is looking forward to returning to futurity competition.

“She feels that the best part of having us breed and raise babies is that she will always have something to show because she truly loves horses and always sees them in her life,” Shannon said. “I like it because it’s always been a family industry for me and it keeps us all together and in touch.”