Transition Time For Non Pros
Hillary Timchak with her daugher, Lena, following her win in the Maturity Non-Pro Western Pleasure.
Transition Time For Non-Pros
Non-Pro exhibitors have been earning wins over the past several days at the Quarter Horse Congress in the futurity and stakes classes, and many of them have been doing so while going through transitions outside the show pen.
Erin Boatwright Jumps Into The Competition
Erin Shapiro Boatwright took What Is The Matter to the top of the class in the Maturity Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, in one of the first stakes classes of the 2025 Quarter Horse Congress.
“I bought him just before the Premier. We got him from Katy Jo Zuidema who had done an amazing job with him. He had won the Maiden Hunter Under Saddle at the Madness. We call him Derby and sometimes auto-correct changes it to Debra, so that’s his alter-ego,” she laughed. “He just made it really easy and fun. Because he stays in Texas and I’m in California, I haven’t got to ride him very much.”
Erin has made a big transition from rail classes to over fences. “I mostly ride Hunters now so it’s a transition for me to change my body control and everything over to show the flat classes. It always takes me a few rides and him a few rides to figure me out. We came into the warm-up and he just locked in and that allowed me to just go in and be confident,” she said.
The transition has given Erin a new outlook toward her craft and her horses. “Keith and Sydney are always looking for another horse for me, and Derby is a true Hunter Under Saddle horse,” she said. “We’re trying to keep that style and pay honor to what the Hunter Under Saddle horse is supposed to look like. I’ve been having a lot of fun showing Hunters and have shown them quite a bit this year in Maryland and have some coming up in California and Las Vegas.”
Nancy Ditty Navigates Renewed Health, New Division, New Horse
Nancy Ditty has had an eventful 2025. She battled and won a fight with colon cancer this spring. In August, she became eligible for Amateur Select classes, and in September she purchased a new horse, All Nett, and earlier this week she showed her new ride to their first Congress championship together, winning the Three Year Old Non-Pro Western Pleasure Futurity.
Nancy Ditty
“I started the year off with two three year olds and ended up selling them both,” Nancy said. “I had watched All Nett with Rusty and Katie Green all year, and just on a whim asked if I could ride him. He’s one of the most beautiful animals I’ve ever seen. I rode him and just loved him. Susie Johns was so gracious to sell him to me. I got to show him one time before we came here at WEC. I’m excited because I can now show in two classes, Amateur and Amateur Select with two different horses, and having more horses is always fun.”
All Nett also has some family connections for Nancy. “What also intrigued me about him is he goes back to my family’s breeding through Ima Cool Robin that we used to own and is his grandmother. It just seemed fitting and perfect to go down that road.”
Nancy talked about her go in the finals. “To win the Quarter Horse Congress, all your lucky stars have to line up. Your horse has to be good, your rider has to be good, your judges have to be good and most of all you have to have luck,” she said. “It’s a once in a lifetime thing and it doesn’t always happen, so you have to savor those moments. They’re hard to come by. He was great and he was prepared perfectly.”
Although 2025 has had some rough patches for Nancy, she is proud of her horses and of her son, Luke. “Luke is entering his junior year of college and he’s transferred about 30 minutes from me in Florida this year,” she said. “I’m so proud of the young man he has become. He’s overcome a lot for a 21 year old with losing his dad at a young age, his grandmother and his father’s dad recently to ALS, but he walks with grace. It’s been a rough year, but I’ve had many positive things come out of it. I have my health, I have my son, the horses and I have my horse show family.”
Hillary Timchak Balances Motherhood With Horse Show Life
One year ago, Hillary Timchak competed at the Quarter Horse Congress in her last horse show appearance before giving birth to her daughter, Lena, with her husband Eric. This year, she started off the Congress with a win with her mother’s horse, The Cooki Monster, in the Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity Stakes.
“I showed Cher before my mom did, but she’s one hundred percent her horse,” laughed Hillary. “My mom had to have her shoulder surgery redone, and she rides with her right hand, which is the arm she had to have done. Obviously safety issues means it’s not good to be on a horse with one arm but it’s really not good when it’s your riding hand. So I said I’d take that! She's quick to tell me that Cher is just on loan.
“Cher is really the coolest horse ever, so it was really a blast to get to show her again. She’s changed a lot since I’ve gotten to show her and she’s gotten a lot more mature. It was probably the most fun I’ve had showing a horse in quite a while. She just wants to be a show horse, and wants to do anything you ask. She knows the drill, but she waits for you to ask.”
Hillary talked about the finals. “I think the Non-Pro Maturity is one of the toughest classes at the horse show, because almost all of the horses out there are top World Show and Congress horses – they’re all great horses. I think a lot of it comes down to how you present your horse that day, and that’s my favorite part of showing,” she said.
It’s been a year of big transitions for her, too. “Eric had Lena up in the stands, and she’s just learned how to clap,” Hillary explained. “That was the most fun to be in the line-up and see my kid standing up and clapping for me. Winning is great but nothing compares to that.
“Last year at this time I had three people helping me into my chaps, and this year I’m on baby duty,” she said. “Mom and I took Lena to the NSBA World Show for three days by ourselves, and babying at the horse shows is not for the weak.
“My husband Eric is fabulous. He’s a dad hero really. He didn’t come from this background, but he jumped right in, and now that we have Lena, he’s just super dad. Showing horses is great, but having my husband and daughter means much more. This is the most special win I’ve ever had because of them. And celebrating looks a lot different too – this time it was a bath at 6:30 and watching Survivor in the camper.”
Hillary Timchak and daughter Lena
Madeleine Bayless Navigates College, Real Estate While Winning Stakes Classes
Madeleine Bayless
Madeleine Bayless is navigating college while also studying for her real estate license. In her spare time, she is winning Congress championship with her horse, R C Kola. The duo won the Three Year Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle Stakes, and Keith Miller followed by winning the Three Year Old Open Hunter Under Saddle Stakes class two days later.
“This is Rock, and this is our third show together,” Madeleine said. “We got him after the Ocala show in April. Keith and Sydney Miller called me from Ocala to tell me he was one I needed to buy. I couldn’t get away from work, but Keith tried him and showed me lots of videos and it was love at first sight on the video. I had full faith in them in knowing what I needed.
“My first show with him was in Kentucky. He has so much power and natural ability. He’s just so much fun to ride. I feel really privileged to have the opportunity to show him. We got some good spots on the rail and had some really good passes by the judges where I was able to show him off. I felt like everything just clicked in the finals.
“We will enjoy the rest of our Three Year Old year, and then he may have to step up and do some Amateur work next year.”
Mallory Menard Continues Her Winning Ways
Although she has not had big transitions in her life in 2025, Mallory Menard has enjoyed the consistency of winning with the bloodlines of the horses she purchased in the last two Congress Super Sale auctions. She won the Congress Two Year Old Super Sale Non-Pro Western Pleasure Stakes with Batt Mans Girl.
“Last year I had the mare Anti Hero, and she was a Batt Man also. We had such a great year with her. I saw this one and she was beautiful, and I just loved the way she looked on the line, and I thought I’d try another one.
“Harley’s a sweet mare and was there every stride with me. She seems to love her job,” Mallory said. “I’m going to show her in the Non-Pro Two Year Old Western Pleasure Futurity later in the show.
Mallory noted that Harley will probably be for sale, but the mare is growing on her. “She might get to stay, but she’s available,” she said.
Mallory Menard
Consistent Calm For Linda Sargent
While some of the other Non-Pro exhibitors have experienced life changes, like Mallory, Linda Sargent feels consistency has been her key to success. She and her horse The Whoo have been partners for six years now, and their partnership just seems to get sweeter with time. They added another title to their career by winning the Limited Non-Pro Western Pleasure Maturity together unanimously this week at the Congress.
Linda said of the eight year old gelding known as Wyatt: “He knows his job and he knows how to do it. He’s so free moving and he moves the way a Western Pleasure Horse is supposed to move if you read the rulebook. He’s a rulebook perfect horse, a perfect example.”
When the judges each called her number out first on all four cards, it was a once in a lifetime moment for Linda. “I’ve never had that happen before,” she said. “It was unbelievable.”
Linda and her husband Jeff both compete in Western Pleasure, but they don’t have a rivalry. “It’s fun,” Linda said. “We both do the best that we can, and I don’t mind if he beats me and he doesn’t mind if I beat him.
Wyatt is by The Lopin Machine and out of Linda Berwick’s mare, Whos Cheating Who.
The 2025 All American Quarter Horse Congress continues through Sunday, October 26. To view complete show results, the live video feed in various arenas or the upcoming schedule, please visit quarterhorsecongress.com or the Horse Show Tracker app.
Linda Sargent
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.
