NSBA Non-Pro Matt Main has been a long-time customer of trainer Karen Hornick. The two had big plans for Matt's mare to compete this fall in the three-year-old Western Pleasure events at the 2025 All American Quarter Horse Congress.

A Fall and a Phone Call

Those plans were interrupted on April 9, when Karen had a horse accident that resulted in her suffering with a multiple fracture injury to her leg. “It was the end of the day and I was riding one of my favorite horses, maneuvering around, and it stepped on itself and just fell with me,” Karen explained. “It wasn’t being bad or anything, it was just a freak fall. I ended up fracturing my tibia, fibula and my ankle.”

With Karen sidelined for several months, Matt knew that he would only have one chance to see his horse show in three-year-old events, and began thinking about a Plan B. “Matt came to me with a list of ten potential trainers who might take over his mare’s training and help get her ready for the Congress,” Karen explained. “Katy Jo Zuidema was at the top of the list.”

Katy Jo remembers getting a phone call with a very specific question. “When Karen and Matt called me to ask if preparing their horse would be an option, it was really a full circle moment for me,” she said. “I love Karen to death and she’s been my hero all of my life. It was just something nice I could do for her. I told her, 'Momma Goose, we’ve got you.'”

Putting In The Work

“We took Reese Cup home from the Madness to Florida,” she explained. “Since Karen had been injured, the mare had been off for a little while, so we knew it was going to take some work, and it was going to be tight to get her ready by October.

“I always say that my girls (assistant trainers Becca Spellman and Devon Meshach) bake the cake and I frost it, and that was what happened here – Becca worked so hard on this mare. I need to be clear that she’s the unsung hero in this story.

“I had also told Karen that the only way this was going to work was if Karen became a regular customer. We rode together every day at the Congress, and she would tell me what she liked and didn’t like, and I would tell her what looked good and what didn’t.

Team Reese Cup

The three year old mare that the team prepared is named Lopin To Please. Matt raised the mare, who is by The Lopin Machine and out of She Isa Crowd Pleaser, a mare that Matt and Karen showed successfully before selling her to Jeff and Linda Sargent. The three year old show mare is affectionately known as Reese Cup.

“Matt was taking Reese Cups to the Zuidemas throughout the Congress,” laughed Karen. “Katy Jo, Becca, Devon and Tim have all gone above and beyond to get this horse ready. It truly was all hands on deck, and I’m so grateful to them. Matt had told me that when we got to the other side of this, he wanted me to have a broke horse, and we sure do.”

The crossover team ended the Quarter Horse Congress with a top ten finish in the 3 Year Old & Over $2,500 Novice Horse Open Western Pleasure Stakes. Katy Jo piloted Lopin To Please to eighth place in the class.

Best wishes to everyone on Team Reese Cup in the future!

About NSBA

Established in 1983, National Snaffle Bit Association has expanded from its roots in the Western Pleasure discipline to recognize various disciplines and eight breed associations in competition. NSBA’s mission is to grow the show horse community through various equine programs and events where every activity benefits horses, breeders, owners and exhibitors alike.

National Snaffle Bit Association has more than 20,000 active members and more than 44,000 registered horses across its eight alliance breed organizations. NSBA members earn more than $13.5 million in monetary awards at NSBA-sanctioned horse shows annually, and the association sanctions nearly 600 horse show events and close to 200,000 horse show entries each year.

To learn more about NSBA, please visit nsba.com.