Every once in a while, you just need to shake things up a bit.

Just ask Florida mother and daughter amateur competitors Brenda Ramirez and Kristen Holmes. For her entire show career Brenda has only ever shown western horses. Holmes, on the other hand, has always gravitated toward Hunter Under Saddle contenders.

But that’s all changed now. This year, when the gates open at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio, Brenda will be in the stands cheering for her first Hunter Under Saddle contender, Shezza Outlaw (Val) and her trainer, Jamie English as they compete in the 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle and the Green Hunter Under Saddle.

Kristen will be by her mom’s side in the stands. She’s patiently awaiting the arrival of her first child with husband, Jake, and for her Western Pleasure prospect, Shez Been Made, a bay mare by Machine Made out of Bringin Out The Best, to make her show debut in 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure classes next year with Jamie’s husband, Jason English.

“Originally, I was looking to get a coming 2-year-old Western Pleasure horse,” Brenda said. “While Kristen and I were sitting at the (2023) NSBA (National Snaffle Bit Association)  World Show I told Jason, let’s go shopping, but here’s the catch I think I want a hunt seater for Jamie to show.”

So they all started looking. Jason and Jamie had seen Val during a visit to Mark and Judy Zietler’s Florida farm in January and admired her. But the first time Brenda and Kristen saw her was on a video.

“She was loping across the pasture and it looked effortless for her,” Brenda explained.

They looked at several other prospects but kept coming back to the pretty bay mare by Outlaw Enterprise out of Million Dollar Blues.

“I remember the exact moment I told Jason I wanted to buy her,” Brenda said. “Jamie had just won the 2-year-old Open Hunter Under Saddle at the Congress and we were walking back to our stalls. He called Mark and Judy and well the rest is history.”

Jamie spent all of 2024 taking her time to bring Val along at the mare’s own pace.

“She has always been really fun to teach as she always continues getting better and better,” she said.

In January, Val made her show debut by capturing championship titles in both the 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle and Green Hunter Under Saddle at the Fun In The Sun Futurity in Venice, Florida. She followed that up with a Reserve Championship title in the Open 3-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle class at the Virginia Maiden in Lexington.

Jamie describes Val as sweet, kind and confident.

“Her ears and expression are exceptional,” she said. “She always shows like she loves her job.”

After Virginia, the next stop was the Sudden Impulse Futurity in Ocala, Florida where Jamie and Val earned another Reserve Championship title in the 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle.

By mid-summer things were really clicking for the pair.

At the Madness AQHA circuit in Wilmington, Ohio, the pair captured a Reserve title in the 3-Year-Old Novice Horse Open Hunter Under Saddle, earning $2,500 and another Reserve in the 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle.

“She is one that always turns it on when we step into the show pen” Jamie explained.

From Ohio Val and Jamie traveled to Michigan for the Back To Berrien Futurity where they finished as Reserve Champions in the 3-Year-Old Novice Horse Open Hunter Under Saddle and were the Super Sires Reserve Champions there as well.

At the NSBA World Championship Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jamie piloted Val to a Reserve Championship title in the Open 3-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle. And just last month Jamie and Val were Reserve Champions in the 3-Year-Old Open Hunter Under Saddle at The Championship AQHA Show and Futurity at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida.

“With a mixed group of horses everywhere we’ve been, Val has always held her own and consistently been in the top placings at all of the major shows,” Jamie said. “She profiles beautifully with great balance. She is such a fun horse to show.”

And Brenda says she’s just as much fun to watch.

“She’s such a nice horse,” she said. “She’s a beautiful mover and so great-minded. Jamie has done a fantastic job on her. She has handled everything we’ve asked of her and she just keeps getting better and better.”

Following the Congress, Val will get a much-deserved break from the show pen.

“We plan to start pulling some embryos to start her breeding journey and continue her show career as a 4-year-old and into some maturity classes,” Jamie said.

Brenda also hopes that once her daughter comes back from maternity leave she will get to show Val.

“I think she’ll make a great non-pro horse,” she said. “More than likely, it won’t be until the spring of early summer, once Kristen gets back from maternity leave.”

Ultimately Brenda and Kristen will trust Jason and Jamie to determine when the time is right. They have trusted their trainers to make decisions for their horses since joining them in 2018. But they are by no means, new to the sport.

Brenda is a retired critical care nurse and her husband, Tony is a general surgeon. They met in biology class during their first year of college.

“We got paired up by our professor and after class he carried my books to my car,” she said. “We’ve been married for 39 years. We actually got married on the first day of his medical school, in Miami, Florida.”

All three of their children – first Kristen and then twin boys, Matthew and Michael – were born while Tony was completing his surgical residency in New York.

Brenda says Kristen showed an unrelenting interest in horses from a very young age.

“My sister-in-law had horses she kept on my parents’ property so every time we went to visit, like a magnet, Kristen was out there,” she recalled.

When Kristen turned 4 years old she started taking riding lessons and when she turned 5 the family bought their own horse, a stout American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA_ foundation- bred mare. Before they knew it all three kids were showing.

“The boys eventually branched out and got into roping,” Brenda explained. “As the show mom I hauled Kristen and the boys to open shows, 4-H shows, and the state level breed shows while they were growing up. I dabbled at home riding for fun here and there.”

Although she had owned futurity horses along the way, it wasn’t until Brenda was sitting in the stands at the 2016 AQHA World Championship Show with her daughter and son-in-law that she decided she wanted to try her hand at showing herself. They enlisted the help of Florida trainers Cole & Liz Baker to help find her the perfect Western Pleasure partner.

Enter Hotrod This, a 2010 bay gelding by RL Best Of Sudden out of Hotroddin Good Time.

“Showing for the first time was a thrill,” Brenda said. “I think the first show they took me to was in Florida. I started off in the Walk-Jog and boy could that horse move. I tried my hand at the Horsemanship and Halter with him as well.”

Then in July of 2018, on their way from the Big A Circuit in Conyers, Georgia to a family gathering to celebrate the Fourth of July, Brenda and Kristen passed Jason English Show Horses in Madison.

“We had no clue they were so close to us,” Brenda said. “So in 2018 we sent them Hotrod This and Pretty Good Payback, Kristen’s Hunter Under Saddle partner at the time. We’ve been there ever since.”

Later that same year Brenda moved up to her very first lope class with Hotrod This.

“I had some great times with that horse,” she said.

And there have been others. Dirty Monie, a 2018 bay gelding by Machine Made out of Talkin Hot was the first futurity horse Brenda had with Jason English Show Horses. He was shown by Jason and Jamie in Open Western Pleasure classes and with Kristen in Non-Pro classes. Then he went on to win a Congress Championship in Trail. Both Jamie and Kristen showed Best Be Sleepin In, a 2019 sorrel gelding by Good Better Best out of Just Sleep On It in Hunter Under Saddle classes.

Then in 2021 Brenda broke her neck in an automobile accident and is no longer able to ride.

“When I tell you I went around-and-around with my neurosurgeon about it, I did,” she said. “The downside to having a family full of medical personnel (Kristen is also a nurse) is that they tell on you.”

While she is no longer riding and showing, that does not mean Brenda is not busy. She stays very active with her family’s church, assisting with the children’s ministry and with the youth. She also assists and organizes philanthropy and special needs projects for her community.

“I’m very involved with the Coalition for the Homeless, Martha Ministry and Wednesday night youth group,” she said. “I’m a big supporter of the Lowriders Organization, as a dachshund mom. And I also enjoy crocheting blankets, scarves, hats and, of course horses. I donate many of my creations. I’m especially fond of the two keepsake horses that are also baby blankets that I made for Kristen and our friend, Marlee White.”

Brenda is also a member of the Silver Spurs Riding Club, a local not-for-profit organization that works to preserve western traditions and support local community initiatives within Florida.

But she’s not ready to give up the horses yet, even if she has to settle for being on the sidelines.

“Now I’m back to full-time show mom with the futurity horses and it’s on Jason, Jamie and Kristen to get them shown.”

Brenda’s not worried at all. She knows all their horses are in the best of hands with Jason and Jamie.

“These two are some of the most honest, hard-working people you’ll ever meet,” she said. “I trust them and their program. They do right by the horse and to me that’s what’s important.”

Kristen agrees.

“What makes Jason and Jamie so unique is not just their riding ability and horsemanship, both are exceptional, but their ability to see the potential and execute a plan best suited for both the horse and owner,” she said. “Jason has an unmatched eye for detail and movement. Jamie, on the other hand, has boundless drive and so much talent. Together, they’re the perfect balance. Their passion for the horses and dedication to their clients shines through in everything they do.”

But for Brenda and Kristen, there’s so much more to the partnership than success in the show pen.

What makes this relationship so special is the friendship,” Kristen said. “Jamie has never met a stranger, and Jason is like a big brother who will always shoot it straight. Their honesty, humor and genuine care have made them more than just trainers to me, they’ve become family.”