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SENIOR WESTERN PLEASURE FIRST-TIME WORLD CHAMPION, THREE TIMES OVER. BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, FIELD EDITOR The class of horses and riders that entered the pen on November 20 for the senior western pleasure finals had an enviable collection of honors, awards and world champion titles. “A nice group of ponies,” a spectator said, and laughed at the understatement. When all was said and done, Rusty Green of Pilot Point, Texas, aboard Potential Diva was the last rider left in the arena. The judges awarded the mare three firsts, a second and a third. Elated owners Steven and Susan Thompson of Hillsboro, Ohio, immediately called their daughter, Andrea, who showed the mare for years. Andrea is in Japan spending a “semester at sea” in her last year at the University of Miami. It’s the first world championship for the mare, for Rusty and for the Thompsons. Q. Why is this win so special? Susan: It is our first gold. It’s very special because of that. Our daughter (Andrea) has ridden this horse and has really made her what she is. She’s in Japan just now, so she couldn’t be here. This is for her, too. We love her, and we love the horse, she’s a special thing. Steven: We bought her as 2-year-old, and Rusty Green showed her as a 2- and 3-year-old, and she won right at $100,000 her 2- and 3-year-old years. And she’s been such a phenomenal mare and we just – we wanted it for the horse. Susan: We wanted it for her! She’s a great horse; we wanted it for her, not for us. Steven: And she’s going to be a great, great broodmare. We’ve already gotten babies out of her. She’s just a phenomenal athlete, we just love her. Susan: She’s so smooth and soft, but she’s a real special horse to us. Steven: We really appreciate Rusty. Rusty started this horse as a 2, and this is also his first world champion. We’re just so thrilled. Susan: We’ve been with him for years, but this is the first time we’ve been able to share this with him. It’s very special. Q. Did you have any idea coming into the class tonight that they’d do so well? Steven: Yeah … I really felt today, really after the (prelims) go the other night, she has just been really, really good, and I just really felt we had a real opportunity. We had some good judges and real good pleasure horses, I just felt we had a good opportunity. Susan: You’re still sitting there on pins and needles because it was such a good class, and you look out there, and you think any one of them could have done it. We’re just glad it was our turn. It was really special. Q. What are the plans for her now? Susan: Well, I’m showing her now, in Select, hopefully. Mom’s going to have a turn. Fun Fact: The Thompsons' older daughter, Allee, rode Mr Magnolia Zip in the show pen. In her semester at sea, Andrea has also been to Bermuda, El Salvador, Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. WINNER STATS Horse name: Potential Diva Total class entries: 42
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