AMATEUR 2-YEAR-OLD GELDINGS

FROM KID TO KING

BY KIMBERLY FRENCH, JOURNAL INTERN 

CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON FOR VIDEO

Winning a world championship with any horse is a wonderful achievement but accomplishing it with a homebred is in a class by itself. Just ask Rita Crundwell of Dixon, Illinois.

“When you have the mares and the studs and then show their offspring,” Rita said. “It’s really special. It’s extra special.”

Rita and her 2-year-old gelding Im In Touch or “Kid” defeated a class of 25 to attain the 2006 amateur 2-year-old world championship crown. He was the 2006 youth reserve world champion.

Im In Touch and Rita Crundwell waiting to receive the championship trophy for the 2006 amateur 2-year-old gelding class.

The gelding almost never entered the ring under Rita’s ownership.

 “I had sold him to the neighbor boy as a yearling and then he traded back horses with me,” Rita said. “I took him in trade and started showing him myself. So this is extra special.”

Kid collected his moniker because he is inquisitive and curious like a small child. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, according to Rita.

“He’s always kind of messing around,” Rita said. “But he’s a nice horse. He’s very even-tempered.”

Rita was unsure whether Kid would return to Oklahoma City in 2007 to defend his title. She will mull over her options with her trainers, AQHA Pro Horsemen Jim McKillips of Beloit, Wisconsin, and Buddy Laney of Cherryville, North Carolina, and come to a decision.

“I have had several offers to sell him,” Rita said. “After the show, I will talk it over with Jim and Buddy and see if we want to keep showing him or sell him to someone else to show.”