When Helen Groff of Franklin, New York, led JCG Kidden to the awards table to pick up the gold trophy for the 2007 amateur weanling geldings world championship, she didn’t take any credit for the win.

“This world championship is for my husband, Jim,” she said. “He’s been raising and showing Quarter Horses for over 30 years, and this is his first world champion. This is his goal and has been his goal, and he achieved it today. I am so happy for him.”

JCG Kidden had two firsts and two seconds out of the five judges, to give him the win. Shelia McKenzie and Bullistik of Canton, Texas, won reserve.

The Groff’s homebred gelding is out of the Sierra Te mare, Sierras Vanity, that Helen said they purchased a couple of years ago and bred to Im Kiddin, a stallion they’ve used a lot over the years. Their farm is Jim Groff Quarter Horses.

“My son (Dillon) and I do a lot of traveling together,” Helen said. “I’m the amateur and he shows the open, and Jim stays home and runs the business so we can go on the road.

“I’m like the Girl Friday of the family,” she continued. “We have a supermarket, and I work there when I have to, and I do errands on the farm when I have to, and I have twin year-old grandsons (Bronson and Cameron). I spend as much time with them as I can. I love them dearly and they are so much fun.”

And, of course, there are the horses.

“It’s been a labor of love for Jim,” she said. “When I’ve said, you know, let’s not do this anymore, he just does not die, will not quit, he’s the eternal optimist. And I’m so happy for him!”