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Serving the Rivers, Rapid City and Oak River areas for 107 years
Lepp a two-time winner December 16, 2016
By Cassandra Lepp
The Manitoba Superhorse 50/50 futurity is Canada’s richest futurity and has been running since 1991. It is a two-day event held every October at Brandon’s Keystone Centre. Members of the 50/50 (breeders who pay into the futurity) sell their weanling foals at the sale held on the same weekend as the futurity. Foals that sell are eligible to come back and be shown as two-year-olds in the futurity; 50 per cent of the selling price of the foals goes to their breeder and 50 per cent goes to futurity prizes. With help from sponsors the past few years, the first-place winner has been guaranteed $10,000 and cash payouts are made for each of the top 10 horses. Each horse shows in a confirmation division, rail division and pattern division both days and are double judged each day. The points of all four judges are combined to determine the winner of the futurity and the high point horse in each division. Twenty-seven two-year-olds competed in this year’s futurity. Cassandra Lepp of Rivers has been training her mare Dressed By Cocoa, also known as Finley, for the past two years, preparing for that weekend. Finley is out of Ima Chocolate Lady and by American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) world champion, Dress Western. Finley was a lunge line champion in her yearling year, winning the MRCHBA futurity and placing third at the Canadian Nationals in the non-pro lunge line futurity in 2015. Prior to going to the 50/50 this year (2016) she won the MRCHBA two-year-old western pleasure and hunter under saddle futurities. All of the preparation, prior events and hard work of training was rewarded on Oct. 29 when Cassandra and Finley were named the Manitoba Superhorse 50/50 Futurity Champions, as well as hipoint non-pro, hi-point confirmation and hi-point rail. However, this story started long before Finley was born. In 2007 Cassandra saw a filly she liked in the 50/50 sale. Cassandra hadn’t shown in the futurity before, but she had watched it every year as a young girl and she had a dream to place in the top 10. She ended up purchasing that filly for her prospect for the 2009 futurity. That mare was an integral part of Cassandra’s life and her learning curve in the horse world. After two years of growing and
Volume 109, Issue 25
learning together, Cassandra and Blair (Ima Chocolate Lady) were not only in the top 10 at the 2009 Superhorse but they were the winners of the Superhorse Futurity along with hi-point non-pro, hipoint confirmation and hi-point pattern. In 2011 the Lepp Family, along with their trainer Scott MacKenzie of Dugald, Man. made a spontaneous purchase of Dress Western, an AQHA world champion and world champion-producing stallion for breeding purposes. The breeding business has been another learning curve for the Lepps and has created opportunities to show horses that they have bred themselves. In 2015 Dress Like A Lady, Blair’s first filly by Dress Western and a full sister to Finley, was sixth at the Manitoba 50/50 with Ruth Enns of Winkler. Finley is the first of their homegrown horses that have been trained and shown by the Lepps. “Our Dress Western foals are proving to be good-minded and talented like their dad. This year was very rewarding for the breeding program because the first-, second- and fourth-place horses at 50/50 were all by Dress Western. Blair got me through one of the toughest times in my life, and together we realized one of my biggest dreams during that time — not only placing in the top 10 of the 50/50 but winning it! She is one of my greatest treasures and an incredibly kind horse. The past two years, training and showing her filly, have been really special. I have never shown a homegrown horse and it adds another element to the team you create together. Winning the futurity was my goal from Day 1 with her, because I just believed she could do it. She shows so many of her mom’s characteristics and heart, and she has a lot of her dad’s movement and talent. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well with her. I wanted her to live up to her mom and dad’s abilities. 50/50 this year was surreal! While I did the majority of Finley’s training, Scott MacKenzie and Kim and Curtis Reynolds were a huge part of how well we did. It’s really great to be able to get guidance and tips from professional horsemen, especially when you get stuck on a problem and when their approach to training two-year-olds aligns with yours. All of their coaching and training was crucial to our success, along with all the
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Cassandra Lepp and her horse Finley won $10,000 at the annual Manitoba Superhorse futurity six weeks ago.
support from my family. Finley won the futurity and hi-point in two out of three divisions, just like her mom, but more than that, she was one of the best partners I have ever had. Very few horses have made me feel the way she and her mom do. There is a higher level of communication and trust with them than I have ever had before. You can feel them with you every step. They are very special girls,” says Cassandra. For many years, Cassandra and Stefanie, Cassandra’s younger sister, have
been showing all over Canada and United States at AQHA shows. Cassandra’s show horse was the Canadian National Superhorse for the third consecutive year in Alberta this August. Stefanie’s show mare has suffered an injury and is bred to Dress Western; because of this she has taken some time out of the show ring. Stefanie will continue Finley’s show career next year at AQHA sanctioned shows. Cassandra and Stefanie are also working with Finley’s full sister, Parker, for the 2018 Manitoba Superhorse 50/50.