Trail Legend: Some Hot Potential

By Larri Jo Starkey for The American Quarter Horse Journal
 

Some Hot Potential is realizing his potential in the show ring right now.

He’s also making dreams come true.

In 2013, he was reserve world champion in youth trail with Bailey Mierzejewski. Two years later, Bailey was off to college, and Some Hot Potential needed a new home.

Enter Emma Brown of Zanesville, Ohio.

“I just showed pleasure at the time, and I told my mom and dad that my dream was to ride on a college equestrian team, so we had to find an all-around horse,” Emma says. “I rode ‘Brett’ and I said, ‘This is it. This is the horse for me.’ I knew as soon as I rode him. My mom made me go ride him at least four or five more times just to be sure.”

Emily was sure, and the partnership was made

“We welcomed him to the family on March 6,” Emma says. “The first time I ever showed him was on March 13. That’s why I use the number 313.”

From the beginning, the partnership worked, Emma says.

“Our first show together was in Cloverdale, I think, and we were third in trail there,” she says. “It was my first time showing trail seriously. Our next show was the Madness that the Southern Ohio Quarter Horse Association puts on, and I ended up winning trail there against a lot of competition, and it has just been a crazy ride ever since.”

Some Hot Potential is a 2007 sorrel gelding by Invest In A Hot Star and out of Potential Fortune by Potential Investment. Bailey put 652.5 points on Brett, with 154 of those in trail. In all, as of March 2020, Brett has 539 amateur points, 2,016 open points and 2,531 youth points.

“He’s just so honest,” Emma says, adding that trail is her favorite class now. “Trail patterns are different every time, and I don’t think I’ve ever done the same trail pattern. I love that, and he loves trail.”

Emma and Brett ended 2017 as the youth high-point trail team, and they were reserve in the year-end Markel All-Around Youth standings.

“He’s so smooth, and 12 feet out from a pole, he’ll start adjusting his steps,” Emma says. “He knows when to adjust so he can get the correct space. He doesn’t want to hit a pole. He tries really hard. It’s his favorite class and my favorite class.”

Brett and trainer Jennifer Paul were 2017 year-end open trail high-point winners and Brett was reserve in the year-end all-around senior horse standings.

They also picked up a world championship in senior trail.

Emma didn’t get to see that win in person.

“We were on my college visit to Auburn,” Emma says. “The year before, he was fifth, and we knew that he could do well, but it’s so nerve-racking.”

Instead, Emma parked herself in front of a laptop to watch AQHA’s free live feed of the show with her parents, Jim and Julie Brown.

The finalists were called back into the arena, and the horses were placed in reverse order while the Browns watched.

“We’re in the top 10! Oh, my gosh, we’re in the top five!” Emma recalls their conversation. “Then once we got into the top three, we thought, ‘We’re getting a globe!” and we didn’t really care which one. It was really cool to win.”

Brett is a true show horse.

“If we’re going to a horse show, and he’s not loaded, he’s whinnying in his stall, ‘Take me to the show!’ ” Emma says. “He does not want to be left at home. He hates being left at home. He loves his job, and he loves what he’s doing, especially in trail, and he makes it super fun.”

And remember those dreams? He’s making them come true, too.

In 2018, Emma and Brett were world champions in 14-18 trail. In 2019, they were reserve world champions in amateur trail. And Emma rides on the equestrian team for Texas Christian University.