AMATEUR WESTERN RIDING

KRISTIN GLOVER AND VITAL SIGNS ARE GOOD SCORE A 237.5 TO TAKE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE.

BY TONYA RATLIFF-GARRISON, INTERNET MANAGER

For Kristen Glover, it was a ride dreams are made of. But when the score was announced, it was a dream come true.

“A 237.5. I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I about fell off my horse when I heard that score. It was very shocking.”

Unofficially, it was the highest score any horse and rider has ever received in the World Show amateur western riding finals. It was the second world championship this year for Glover and her 5-year-old mare, Vital Signs Are Good. They won the amateur western pleasure on Wednesday, November 9.

“Lucy’s” performance in the amateur western riding finals on Thursday, November 10, was unimaginable for Glover.

Kristen Glover and Vital Signs Are Good won the amateur western riding finals with an astounding score of 237.5

“I knew the mare did the best she could have, and I did the best I could have done,” Glover said of her ride. “It was an awesome ride and everything. It was just the way I dreamed it would go in the finals in the World Show. But a 237 is something I thought would only be a dream, really.”

Glover gives all the credit to Lucy.

“It was the horse,” she said. “The horse is amazing. We knew the second we bought her as a 2-year-old here that she was going to be special. And she really is.”

This is Lucy’s fifth world championship. Besides this year’s wins, the mare was the 2002 world champion in 2-year-old snaffle bit western pleasure, the 2003 world champion in amateur western pleasure and the 2004 world champion in junior western riding.

“She’s just an amazing horse,” Glover said. “She’s got so much talent. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of that horse’s life. She’s just so very special.”

But the World Show is not over for Glover and Lucy. The pair will be back next week when they show in junior western pleasure and junior western riding. But after that, Glover said Lucy will get a nice long break before heading back into training to learn horsemanship.

“The second we’re done here, she’s going out to pasture for a while,” she said. “She’s been a good girl. She’s done everything I’ve asked her to do. She deserves a break.”