Ocala, FL – Top Quarter Horse competition continued Friday at The Championship Show 2025 at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC), with several featured classes taking center stage, including the $40,000 NSBA Limited Rider Senior Trail, $25,000 NSBA Open & Limited Junior Trail, the $10,000 NSBA Maturity Non-Pro & Limited Non-Pro Western Pleasure, and the $10,000 NSBA Maturity Non-Pro & Limited Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle.
$40,000 NSBA Limited Rider Senior Trail
The highly anticipated $40,000 NSBA Limited Rider Senior Trail took place Friday in Indoor Arena 4, where fifteen horse-and-rider combinations vied for the champion title. Ultimately, it was Colton Pylman aboard Hot Impulses (One Hot Chocolate x Impulse Be Good), a 2018 gelding owned by Kate Upton, who impressed the judges with a top score of 232.5 to claim the victory and the lion’s share of the prize money.
“This one I’ve had the chance to show a handful of times, and for the most part, he’s been very good for me, but usually he is Becky [George’s] mount,” Pylman shared. “I am the limited rider, and Becky said I can tell my limited status goodbye after this,” he laughed.
The partnership with Hot Impulses, fondly known as “Zach,” began three years ago at the Congress. “We bought ‘Zach’ at the Congress about three years ago. I was in the stands, and Becky was in the chute getting ready to show. Her horse wasn’t the best, but we both said we didn’t care—what about that horse that showed before you? He was super special from the time we first saw him. It’s been a long road to get where we are, fixing and getting everything right, but he’s really, truly special and has become a great horse.”
Pylman credited the horse’s talent with helping him stand out in a tough class. “This was a great pattern, and I think it really set him apart because he is so big and loft,y and he’s soft to the ground. I had two hits—maybe it was me, maybe it was him being a bit lazy, I’m not sure—but it was a great pattern and super fun to show. The last trot serpentine was a bit difficult because there was a lot of guiding and the poles were high, but he was great through that. I couldn’t have asked him to be any better.”
Looking ahead, Pylman is excited to cheer on Becky George as she takes over the reins in Saturday night’s $100,000 NSBA Senior Trail. “Becky will show him tomorrow night, so that’s super exciting and I’m very excited to watch that—hopefully he’s good for her also.”
Grateful for the opportunity, Pylman reflected on the win. “It’s amazing. I am so fortunate to be here, and for this horse, and for Becky letting me show him. I wish Kate could have been here to see this.”
Friday’s winner of the $10,000 NSBA Maturity Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle, Jana Leigh Simons and her own Gimme Ur Best Stuff (RL Best Of Sudden x This Version Glows) shifted gears at the end of the day to give their go at the trail track. The 2019 gelding showed his all-around talents once again with Simons in the irons to land the Reserve Champion title with a score of 232.
Grant Mastin rounded out the top three riding Melissa Armstrong’s Hand Made Machine (Machine Made x Hot Angelina) to third place with a score of 225.5.
$40,000 NSBA Limited Rider Senior Trail Top Three Results:
1 Hot Impulses, Colton Plyman, Kate Upton
2 Gimme Ur Best Stuff, Jana Leigh Simons, Jana Leigh Simons
3 Hand Made Machine, Grant Mastin, Melissa Armstrong
$25,000 NSBA Open & Limited Junior Trail
Sixteen horse-and-rider combinations entered Indoor Arena 4 for the $25,000 NSBA Open Junior Trail. Blake Weis of Pilot Point, Texas, piloted Mary Alice Neilson’s Made For Naturdays (Machine Made x KM Little Bit Of Me) to the win with a top score of 242.
“The pattern was very hard,” Weis said. “The last trot obstacle was really difficult because it was high and tight. The judges were also sitting right there by the fence, which made it distracting for the horses, so they really had to focus. My other horses were good, but struggled in some places. For [Made For Naturdays], it was so easy—he’s the type you just sit there and kick. He’s just a cool guy and so talented.”
Weis is already looking ahead to Saturday evening’s $100,000 NSBA Senior Trail in the Grand Arena. “I’m going to show four in it. I love coming here—it’s my favorite place to show. I live in Texas, and it’s a bit of a hike to get here, but it’s so worth it.”
$25,000 NSBA Open Junior Trail Top Three Results:
1 Made For Naturdays, Mary Alice Nielson, Mary Alice Nielson
2 KM Once Upon A Time, Sara Simons, Firefly Ridge
3 Made You Miss Me, Nick Mayabb, Lacey Armstrong
In the Limited division, Clint Ainsworth claimed the win aboard Alyssa Barbour’s 2020 gelding Straight Line Breeze (VS Flatline x Only A Breeze).
$10,000 NSBA Maturity Non-Pro & Limited Non Pro Western Pleasure
Friday’s feature classes opened with the $10,000 NSBA Maturity Non-Pro Western Pleasure, where Nancy Wilkerson and Ditty Up LLC’s Forever Twisted (Gone Viral x Forever Kool) earned top honors.
“He is out of my favorite show mare, Forever Kool,” Wilkerson shared. “He’s always happy, I’ve never seen him mad or angry, and he always shows with the best expression—that’s what I love about him.”
Known as “Pretzel” in the barn, Forever Twisted overcame a difficult start in life. “He was born to a recipient mare who kicked him to the curb, so we had to get a nurse mare,” Wilkerson explained. “In the womb, he laid odd, which gave him a fishhook nose, so he couldn’t nurse or drink from a bottle. I actually had to bowl feed him. He just looked like a little pretzel with his long legs. I think anyone else wouldn’t have put so much time into him, but I did everything I could. I even put him in a back pasture because I wasn’t sure he was going to have a show career, but then he blossomed into this amazing horse.”
The pair has already celebrated major milestones together. “I showed him last year as a three-year-old, and he went on to win the AQHA World Show in the Amateur Pleasure and Non-Pro Three-Year-Olds. Now he’s four, and he’s still continuing to do great things. I love him so much.”
$10,000 NSBA Maturity Non Pro Western Pleasure Top Three Results:
1 Forever Twisted, Nancy Wilkerson Ditty, Ditty Up LLC
2 Top Gunn, Deanna Willis, Deanna Willis
3 Start Ur Engines, Yvonne Robeson, Yvonne Robeson
In the Limited Non-Pro division, Yvonne Robeson piloted her own Start Ur Engines (Machine Made x Momma Knows Best) to the win.
$10,000 NSBA Maturity Non Pro & Limited Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle
Closing out the day’s featured classes in Indoor Arena 1, Jana Leigh Simons of Dallas, Texas, topped the $10,000 NSBA Maturity Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle with her own Gimme Ur Best Stuff (RL Best Of Sudden x The Version Glows).
“I’ve owned him for a while. I bought him at a NSBA sale and won a bunch of sale money with him when he was three,” Simons said. “Sara [Simons] helped me turn him into my All-Around horse, but he’s always been a talented Hunter Under Saddle horse. When I saw that they added a bunch of money in the Hunt Seat, I thought maybe let’s give this a go again, and it turned out well. He’s just such a neat horse.”
Simons appreciates the gelding’s consistency in the show pen. “He is super easy to show. It takes a minute to remind him what he’s doing, but overall he’s so easy. He puts his little ears up and goes around. His self-carriage is amazing, and he really swings his legs in the canter. I just have to put my hands forward, truck around on him, and he is the exact same every single time.”
$10,000 NSBA Maturity Non Pro Hunter Under Saddle Top Three Results:
1 Gimme Ur Best Stuff, Jana Leigh Simons, Jana Leigh Simons
2 Give Me The Moves, Rebekah Kazakevicius, Rebekah Kazakevicius
3 Dreaming Bout You. Kimber Mitchell, Kimber Mitchell
In the Limited Non-Pro division, Kimber Mitchell of Frisco, Texas, rode her own Dreaming Bout You (Mr Sherlock Holmes x Ima Bodacious Dream) to victory.
Competition at The Championship Show 2025 continues through Sunday, September 14, at WEC – Ocala. To learn more and view the competition schedule, click here.