The Making of a Super Horse
Category: The Journey
Aug
17
THE MAKING OF A SUPER HORSE by Joann Williams
I am deeply honored and beyond thrilled that Gallod Ffantastic and I are the first recipients of the new Super Horse award in the WHLPAP program. I really appreciate all of the hard work that continues to organize this complicated program. WHLPAP is, without a doubt, a well thought out and comprehensive program.
Gallod Ffantastic, aka “Worf”, so named because like the Klingon Warrior in Star Trek, he has lots of hair and can be quite arrogant. He came to me in a bit of a roundabout way. In the 2000’s I was judging a lot of Welsh Pony and Cob Society shows, and was attracted to specific Cob bloodlines. I contacted Susan and Adi Stepney of Gallod Welsh in Canada to see what they had to offer. There was nothing available that year, but in 2003, Susan asked me if I would be interested in an in-utero Sec C cob. I said yes, the mare carrying my foal came across the border to Wisconsin. That foal, CF Ladysmith, born in 2004, eventually became not only a super dressage pony, we won many Championships at the American Driving Society shows in the Small Pony division. Of course her dam also stayed with me forever, but when we tried to breed her to Susan’s Sec D stallion she didn’t take. Susan then offered me first choice of her 2006 foal crop. I chose Worf from video and pictures, Susan and Adi were coming to the States for a show and offered to bring him with them for me to see in person. Susan and Adi overnighted at my place on their way back to Canada with Worf, one mare and their wonderful stallion Nebo Calenog. I had a wonderful ride on the stallion, helped them pack up and simply said “leave the colt”. Worf’s early career was spent showing at the Welsh shows, winning many In Hand championships including National Champion Section D 2 year old gelding. When he was 4 I started his under saddle training and he excelled in Dressage, often placing higher than the warmbloods. He drew a crowd everywhere we went, people wanted to know more about him. He progressed nicely up the levels, being in the top of the USDF National Vintage Cup year end awards most years up to Prix St George. The PSG was a bit of a struggle for him, so I started to think about giving him another “something” to do as he gained strength. At that time Western Dressage was becoming more popular, the 3 available organizations hadn’t quite found there place yet, but for me, WDAA offered what I was looking for. When WDAA became a USEF affiliate, I was IN. I bought a western saddle, threw it up on Worf, stepped and said “wow, he was born for this”. We never looked back, WD was for us !! At his first recognized WDAA show in 2016, judge Joyce Swanson called me up to the booth after our last ride. Of course I was terrified. She stood up and said “you need to bring him to the World show, we need to see horses like him”. So we went !!! And came home with many new friends and the division Championships in Levels 2 and 3. We made the trip to Oklahoma again in 2017 and repeated our division Championships and were Reserve highest score of the show. In 2018 level 4 was introduced. We stayed home to train for the level 4 and went back to the World Show in 2019 to compete in levels 3 and 4, costume freestyle and regular freestyle. We won 3 classes and were reserve in the 4th class in both levels 3 and 4 earning both division championships, won the Championship in Open Freestyle and reserve in Costume Freestyle. And we were the high score of the entire show with an 86% in Level 3 test 1. I had to sit down on the steps and cry when I picked up the test and saw the score. 2020 gave us the Pandemic Pivot and we repeated the division Championship in Level 4, Costume Freestyle and open Freestyle. We repeated those wins in the 2021 OIC. 2022 brought us the the OIC division championship in Level 5 with 2 scores in the 80’s. Whew, this horse has had a career !!!! Starting in 2020 I decided that he could stay home and just hang out over the winter instead of continuing to train. He’s such a good boy that even after 6 months off, he does everything perfectly. All those years we were earning points in WHLPAP up to and beyond Supreme Champion. I made the decision to keep supporting the program even though we had earned the highest award. We continued to compete in a couple online shows through 2024. When the Superhorse award was announced for 2025 I was hopeful that we could finish filling the requirements. We started a light fitness program in spring, being very careful not to stress my now 19 year old bestest guy and he said “I can do this-let’s go”. We filled the requirements with scores in level 5 of 78.7, 75.2, 77 and 70.8.Now it’s time to hang out and play around with ground work and trail rides around the hay fields until he tells me that he doesn’t want to. We don’t go in the woods as he’s terrified of creaking tree branches. Always has been, always will be. And he’s got a spook-spin-bolt that makes a reining horse rollback look like slow motion. Of course he will be with me forever. He’s done everything for me, including giving me the incentive to start my career as a Western Dressage judge. Thank you WDAA staff, judges, friends and fellow competitors for making this journey possible.
