By Amanda Baxter

The Texas A&M Ranch Horse Team competed in the 2023 Western Horseman Stock Horse of Texas, SHTX, World Show in October. The six-day show, held in Abilene, includes four events (reining, cow work, ranch trail, and stock horse pleasure) over two go-rounds. The Ranch Horse Team competed in collegiate divisions against other colleges and universities throughout the country. View the team’s results here.

Grace Chambers, Granbury, is a senior marketing and advertising strategy major with an equine certificate and has been on the ranch horse team for three years. She was one of the few who decided to compete in the regular division as an individual and took the Texas A&M bred, raised and trained TAMU Peppy Rey Marsali to the winner's circle at the world show.  

Grace grew up riding horses, although her background is much different than her teammates; she actually started with trick-riding. Grace entered the world of reined cowhorse and stock horse events when she first began on the ranch horse team. She started on the Texas A&M-owned horse, Pancake, then quickly fell in love with the sport and bought a horse of her own. However, due to an injury to that horse, she came to ride Marsali in March at the first SHTX show of 2023.

The horse program at Texas A&M centers on retaining mares as potential broodmares for the herd, who are trained and used by students in an athletic career before maturing to life in the production herd. Marsali is a Texas A&M horse through and through. Foaled out in the equine production & management class in the Texas A&M University Department of Animal Science, she went into the equine behavior and training class, ANSC 311, as a yearling. Students in ANSC 311 participate in hands-on learning by putting on a foundation of groundwork and the start of under saddle by working together daily with the horses. Marsali graduated from ANSC 311 to train with the students on the ranch horse team, starting under Katie Wright in the fall of 2020.

Katie rode her for a full year while exposing Marsali to all four of the stock horse events. During this time, a fellow teammate, Jarrett Haydon, also rode Marsali to help keep her on track and expose Marsali to more show environments.

“We had a lot of fun starting and showing her. It’s incredible to see how she’s really grown into herself, and Grace has done an excellent job finishing her out and showing her,” Katie said.

Marsali turned four in 2021 and went on to Todd Wellmann in the fall of 2021. Todd competed with Marsali at the SHTX show and continued to help Marsali work through the bumps along the way.

“At first, she was very reactive to both the rider and the environment. She was always respective to me as she was willing to learn, but she needed refinement to help build up her confidence,” Todd said.

Before Todd, Marsali had only ever been to two shows and was now expected to be a full-on competition horse. Because of this, she was still nervous and “looky in the pens, but once I let her see everything, she was chill and ready to work,” Todd said.

Through showing, Marsali was able to practice, travel, and get the experience she needed to be a school horse, ready to continue to help future riders after Todd. Marsali and Grace started working together in 2023 and after winning their first show, Grace decided to ride Marsali for the rest of the team competitions.

“I knew I wanted to compete on Marsali for the SHTX Year-End when I realized how trustworthy she was. After showing her for the first time at the Kick-Off Classic Spring SHTX Show, I gained confidence that Marsali and I could grow together. Once I knew she would let me push her in the show pen and was patient enough to let me learn, I wanted to show her the rest of the year,” Grace said.

Throughout 2023, Grace and Marsali competed at eight shows across the state of Texas. They traveled to Lubbock, Hamilton, Belton, Sweetwater, and Amarillo before ending the year in Abilene. At these shows, the pair consistently did well, never placing outside of top-10 all around. When it came down to the world show, Grace and Marsali were ranked second out of every novice rider in the Stock Horse of Texas Association. Over three days, this team continued to work together and adjust after each event. They were extremely successful in the show pen, winning first all around in both Go 1 and Go 2, crowning them the Novice SHTX World Show Champion. Also, due to this success, Grace and Marsali were awarded the 2023 SHTX Novice Year-End Champion, winning Grace a custom Martin Saddle. Marsali was also given the title of the first school horse to help win a SHTX Year-End award.

Grace and Marsali will continue to show together until Grace’s graduation in May 2024. As a school horse, Marsali will go through tryouts again to find a new partner to carry through learning and success. This cycle will continue with hopeful successes for each one of Marsali’s riders until she retires from the team and moves on to serve in a new capacity as a broodmare in the Department of Animal Science teaching herd. Once she is bred, she will continue to support both the university and the ranch horse team by providing future offspring for the team or other members of the stock horse industry.

“Marsali is a special mare, and a testament to the unique power of using horses as a vehicle for learning and personal growth in the university setting,” said Paige Linne, equine lecturer and ranch horse team coach. “It has been special to know her mother, Marla, as a long-time producer for us, and watch Marsali herself develop into a performer and teacher herself. The continuity of our department herd’s purpose in teaching students all aspects of equine management from foaling and training, all the way to competing in the arena is part of what makes Texas A&M’s program something special. I am thankful for the students along the way who invested in her training, they have ‘planted trees’ for ranch horse and animal science students for years to come.”

Grace Chambers and TAMU Peppy Rey Marsali Accomplishments

1st at Bryan Kickoff Classic (March)
2nd at Belton (May)
3rd at Amarillo (July)
3rd at Hamilton (September)
3rd at Aggieland Classic (September)
1st World Show Go 1
1st World Show Go 2
1st Stock Horse Pleasure World Show Champion
2nd Reining World Show Reserve Champion
1st World Show Champion Overall
2023 Novice Year-End Champion