Assessment (Imp) Wins NPHA Amateur Western Pleasure Stakes for Second Year in a Row!

Assessment (Imp) Stallion at Stud (Photo: Jo Johnson/Horszone)

Photo: Ace Photography

Assess N Cee (dam: Winderadeen A Passin Pep) Photo: Ace Photography

Assess N Cee My Liberty (dam: Cee A Liberty Bells) Photo: Ace Photography

Pepped Up Potential (dam: Winderadeen Miss Peppy Doc) Photo: Ace Photography

Gorgeous imported Quarter Horse stallion, Assessment, has had yet another successful NPHA Pleasure Celebration show this year, winning the Amateur Junior Horse Hunter Under Saddle and the Amateur Western Pleasure Stakes (for the second year in a row) as well as placing second in the Junior Horse Western Pleasure and third in the Junior Horse Hunter Under Saddle. He was shown and trained solely by his owners Emmi and Rene Hoefchen.

Since coming to Australia this talented stallion, who is a great jogger with a sweepy lope and quiet disposition, has certainly made his mark on the world of western performance showing.  In addition to his 2013 NPHA achievements, some of Assessment's wins include:

2012 Halter Showcase Champion Junior Amateur Western Pleasure

2012 Q12 National Champion Junior Horse Hunter Under Saddle

2012 Q12 National Champion Junior Amateur Western Pleasure

2012 NSW State Show Champion Junior Amateur Western Pleasure

2012 NPHA Champion Junior Amateur Western Pleasure

2012 NPHA Champion Amateur Western Pleasure Stakes

2012 Vic State Show Junior Amateur Hunter Under Saddle Champion

2012 RUNNER UP HIGH POINT Western Pleasure Horse of Australia and R/UP High Point Amateur Western Pleasure

2013 Summer Sizzler Junior Horse Western Pleasure 3rd

2013 Summer Sizzler Amateur Hunter Under Saddle Stakes Champion

2013 Summer Sizzler Junior Amateur HUS Class Champion

2013 AQHA Nationals: Champion Junior Horse Hunter Under Saddle

2013 AQHA Nationals: Champion Junior Amateur Western Pleasure (BACK TO BACK).

Western horse breeders are excited to have such a top quality horse available for their mares, so how did Assessment end up in Australia, a very long way from his birth place in the USA?

At the end of 2009 Rene and Emmi began looking around at what might be available to import from the US. They never really thought about owning a colt, before sending an email to Steve Heckaman to see what he had available - none other than Assessment - a son of Potential Investment, out of Congress winning and outstanding producing mare, Assets.

Assessment being out of Assets was a huge bonus, these bloodlines not in Australia yet and she had produced sires who had gone on, three generations down, to produce sires even better than themselves!

"It was hard not to fall in love with Pistol (as Assessment is affectionately known)," says Emmi. "He had the sire record, and equally important the dam record. He had the movement and trainability that you would expect from this cross, and to top it off, he was just stunning to look at. When we purchased him in the summer of 2010, he was a tall two year old with a lot of potential. Steve had planned for him to be shown at the 2010 All American QH Congress, where he was top 10. He then went on to the AQHA World Show. This was when we first saw him in the flesh. I remember walking into the barn at the show and pinching myself. There he was, all 16hh of him. He was just so big, and this deep mahogany bay. He was all we could have ever asked for and more. We walked into his stable, and he just dropped his head in our arms, as if to say 'Hello'. He was shown to top 16, after making the semi finals, competing against the best two year olds in the world. Rene rode him after the show and he was just amazing, like nothing he had ever have felt." 

Assessment was imported into Australia in late January of 2011. After just a month here, he loped into the Reserve Championship in the 3yo Western Pleasure at the Australian Halter Showcase, ridden by Steve. Rene then showed him for the first time at the AQHA Nationals where he won the All Age American Western Pleasure at just three years of age. 

In 2012 Emmi began to show Assessment. She was undefeated at all the major shows in Amateur Western Pleasure, saying, "He was and still is incredible to show. Steve often said his sire Potential Investment was a show horse. He knew when it was time and he just went out there and did his thing. Pistol is the same. As soon as he is banded, he gets his game on face on! In February 2012 he began his career in Hunter Under Saddle placing third at Summer Sizzler and Australian Halter Showcase before being crowned the National Champion Junior Horse Hunter Under Saddle at Q12. He gave me a great ride that day, a ride I will never forget. Taking me, an Amateur, to an Open National Championship, which will forever be one of my all time highlights. He backed it up again this year, winning the same class, this time with Rene on board, against the best Hunter Under Saddle horses in the country."

In August 2012, Assessment's first foal crop hit the ground. To say they are just like him is an understatement. They are everything Rene and Emmi could hope for, possessing the same quiet temperament, flat movement, deep driving hocks and height. Rene and Emmi cannot wait for them to hit the show pen and wish to thank all owners of mares who bred to Assessment in 2011 and 2012.

Assessment keeps his beautiful coat and figure in great condition by being fed exclusively by Mitavite, who Rene and Emmi would also like to thank!

If you would like to breed your own future western performance superstar Assessment is the stallion for your mare! 

The video below is of the 2013 NPHA Amateur Western Pleasure Stakes Final - Emmi, wearing the orange top, is riding bay Assessment - they went on to win the class.

By: Jo Johnson/Horsezone

 

 

• View Assessment's stallion at stud listing for more information
• Visit the Platinum Performance Horses website