November 8-23, 2013, Oklahoma City

Amateur Stake Race

Katie Pride and Who Is Your Daddy battle injuries for their world championship.

by Allison Grayson
The American Quarter Horse Journal

This win has been a long time coming for Katie Pride and Who Is Your Daddy. They won the stake race class as a youth team in 2007.

After a successful AQHYA career, Katie and “Scooter Daddy” hit a few road blocks. In the last year, the pair have had their fair share of injuries.

“It could’ve (gone) a whole lot better,” Katie said of her winning run with a laugh. “He and I both have had health issues. So it’s kinda nice now to be able to come out and be able to (win) again. I won it the last year of my youth career and then to come out and win it my amateur year… it’s nice to be able to do that.”

“He pulled a shoe a while back and about pulled his foot off,” she said of Scooter Daddy’s injuries. “He pulled his stifle last year at Congress my first sweepstakes run out… and about six months ago, he fell on me at the house and cracked my kneecap, so I had to have surgery.”

Even though the pair have had their ups and downs, Katie has been very happy to be riding Scooter Daddy through all of her wins.

“He’s full of attitude. The best way to explain him is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” she said. “He can be as sweet as can be and then again he can be the meanest horse in the barn. But I’m happy I’ve been able to ride him for all the years I’ve been able to ride him.”

“I’ve showed him since he was a 4-year-old. I won junior pole bending on him when he was a junior horse, and I won  amateur pole bending on him a few years ago,” she said.

The win also means a lot to Katie because she does the majority of her own work and training at home.

“I do just about all my work. My brother helps me, (but) he broke his neck last year, right before I was leaving to go to the Congress,” she said. “So he helps me a lot, but since he’s been injured I do kind of take it on myself.”

And after the successful youth career she had, she’s even more excited to be running with the rest of the amateurs in her classes, many of whom are quite a bit older than she is.

“It’s kind of a little more intimidating,” Katie said. “They’ve been riding a whole lot longer than what I have; so it’s entertaining, but intimidating at the same time.”

Katie wanted to thank several people for helping her and Scooter Daddy to the win.

“There’s too many people to say, you know. My family, my brother (Dwayne Prince), my boyfriend (Thomas Barks). Just everybody helping me travel up and down the road to get qualified and to stand beside me even when I was having my moody moments,” she said with a laugh. “My mom and dad, just everybody that’s been around.”