Endless Potential and No Doubt Im Invited capture 2017 Farnam Pleasure Stakes titles

[source: APHA.com]

A pair of Western pleasure classes on September 23 served as the capstone of the 2017 Farnam Pleasure Stakes, and it was two dedicated program supporters whose horses took home the championship payouts, which totaled more than $39,000 between the classes.

Farnam 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure Stakes

Angela Finegan’s young son’s shirt pretty much summed up her feelings about her 2015 bay overo stallion Endless Potential: “I love French Fries.”

“We have a hashtag: #FrenchFryFanClub,” the colt’s exhibitor, Calli Rouse, said. “He started out with the nickname ‘Friday’ because he was born on Friday the 13th; [trainer] Jeffery [Gibbs] changed that because he’s superstitious. ‘French Fry‘ just stuck.”

Bred and owned by Angela, a Farnam program supporter who is from Forest Grove, Oregon, French Fry is by Certain Potential (QH) and out of Sweet N Zippo. Angela enlisted the help of Jeffery Gibbs in Collinsville, Texas, to train the stallion.

In her first year as a professional, Calli was tapped to take over French Fry’s ride for the Farnam 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure Stakes—as a limited rider, it made her eligible for two sets of payouts if they were to do well. And do well they did: Calli and French Fry went around the pen almost like old veterans—minus a few moments in the awards ceremony when the audience’s cheers unnerved the young horse—and the pair netted a combined payout of more than $11,000 for the win.

“It worked out better than we could have expected,” Calli said. “He’s really consistent in his topline, he kicks his hock really hard and he’s really good through his front line. He’s shown probably four times now, and he’s been the same every time. He’s a good horse.”

With French Fry’s performance career off to a solid start, Calli says plans are to see how he holds up as a sire, too.

“Next year, Angela has five or six mares; she’s going to do a test crop with him,” Calli said. “She’s being real selective about what we’ll breed him to, but we’ll see what we get and go from there.”

Reserve in the class went to More Tools, a 2015 sorrel overo gelding shown by Carly Veldman Parks. By CR Good Machine and out of Sexy Invitation , the gelding won $6,295 for owner/breeder Tim and Cindy Snapp of New Carlisle, Ohio.

Top 5
1st ENDLESS POTENTIAL shown by Calli Rouse—$7,928
2nd MORE TOOLS shown by Carly Veldman Parks—$6,295
3rd A SENSATIONAL RIDE shown by Mallory Vroegh—$4,663
4th COWBOY BY DESIGN shown by Sara Beth Simons—$2,331
5th IM HOTT YOURE NOT shown by Shannon Vroegh—$2,098

Farnam 3- & 4-Year-Old Western Pleasure Stakes

From the moment Pamela Switzer laid eyes on the bay overo filly she’d helped foal out, the horsewoman from Busby, Alberta, Canada, knew No Doubt Im Invited was a keeper.

“I made a connection with her right off the bat when she was a baby, and I knew this was going to be my horse,” Pamela said. “I’ve raised a lot of horses in my life, but never one that made me say, ‘This is one I’d like to keep.’ As soon as she hit the ground, I knew she was mine. I wasn’t going to let her go.”

“Ryley” is by No Doubt Im Lazy (QH) and out of Zip Up My Invitation, a decorated all-around Youth mare owned by Pamela’s daughter, Ashley. When the filly was a yearling, Pamela sent Ryley to Simons Show Horses, who have prepped and primed the mare, setting the stage for Pamela to take the reins.

No stranger to the Farnam Stakes program, Ryley was third as a 2-year-old and fourth as a 3-year-old. Yet the championship eluded the 2013 bay overo mare until this year. Pamela saddled up for her final shot at the Farnam cash—a total purse worth $8,270 in this year’s Non-Pro class.

“My game plan was just to have a solid good ride, just to make sure I sat back and kept my hand down. She’s such a floaty horse that I get relaxed on her and slowly my legs come off. I had to stay engaged in order to keep her engaged,” Pamela said.

The feedback from her Simons Show Horses crew was subtle, but spoke volumes about the performance.

“I kept looking over and they kept giving me thumbs up and saying good ride,” Pamela laughed.

Put through their paces in both directions before retiring to the rail, Pamela waited nervously for the results before hearing her name called out as class champion. For the win, the duo took home $3,721 and the pride that comes with showing a homebred horse.

“It’s been four years of hoping, dreaming and wishing, and finally it came true,” Pamela said. “You never know if you’ll have the horse that will get it done, and it happens to be one that I raised, so it’s even more special.”

Top 5
1st NO DOUBT IM INVITED shown by Pamela Switzer—$3,721
2nd GOOD NIGHT KISS shown by John Taylor—$2,894.5
3rd GOOD FOR CERTAIN shown by Angela Finegan—$1,654
4th ONE LAZY COWBOY shown by Caitlin Tenewitz
5th IMPULSIVE POPSTAR shown by Debi East