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| Ann & Rett Myers at the 1998 Congress |
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2003 Winner
ANN MYERS
By Corrine S.
Borton
The Way To Go Magazine, November 2003 She is said to have the recipe for the best chocolate
chip cookies in the world and she hands out the scrumptious treats wherever she
goes.
She owns World and Congress Western Pleasure Champion, Zips
Chocolate Chip, who has been at or near the top of the American Quarter Horse
Association Leading Sires list since 1994. He has sired World and Congress
Champions and his offspring have earned in excess of 29,106 AQHA points and
$813,597.30 National Snaffle Bit Association winnings.
She is number 21
on the AQHA’s list of all time leading breeders and she accomplished that
by raising just 6-8 foals a year.
In her 21 years involvement in the
pleasure horse industry Ann Myers of Ashland, Ohio has enjoyed tremendous
success.
But this year, Myers was honored by the NSBA with the Jack
Benson Award not for what she has accomplished but for what she has given back.
The Jack Benson Award honors a person who exhibits dedication, and has a strong
influence in the history of the NSBA.
Myers accepted the award at the
2003 NSBA Awards Banquet on Aug. 19, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Ann is
the epitome of of an ambassador for the NSBA,” said President Bill Price.
“We are grateful she is involved in the organization.”
Myers
became involved with the NSBA in the late 1980s after the original founders
determined they had accomplished their goals and there was no longer a reason
for the association to continue.
“At that point, a group of
pleasure horse enthusiasts from Indiana jumped in and decided to keep the
association going,” Myers said. “I knew some of the founders and I
understood their purpose and I was in favor of their goals.”
The
new group asked Myers to serve on the Board of Directors and over the years she
has served in a variety of roles. She has been a member of the Board of
Directors twice since then and currently serves as Secretary.
“The
original goal of the NSBA was to make the training easier on the young
horses,” Myers said. “We had these large futurities and the fear was
that training was becoming too dramatic at such a young age,” Myers said.
“The NSBA wanted to give people a place to compete with and showcase young
horses by allowing them to be guided around the ring and to encourage trainers
to bring them along more slowly to help them last longer, both physically and
mentally.
Myers said the idea was so well
received that the NSBA became the
model for pleasure events across the
country.
Gradually the NSBA started to be
known more as a horse show futurity
oriented association. It grew in size
and status until today it is thought of
as the leader of the pleasure horse
industry.
"Before the formation of the
NSBA, nearly every state had its own
way of running pleasure events,"
Myers said. "The most important thing
about our association today is that it
has established a set of rules that
everyone can use as guidelines by
which pleasure futurities are run."
The NSBA has recently accomplished
several important goals -
including the establishment of
alliances with other associations and
dual approved events.
Both these accomplishments help
the NSBA improve diversity and welcome
new members to the association.
"We are very proud of our
alliances with the American Paint
Horse Association, American Quarter
Horse Association, Appaloosa Horse
Club, Palomino Horse Breeders of
America, International Buckskin Horse
Association, Pinto Horse Association
and Pony of America Club," Myers
said. "The NSBA would like nothing
better than to have more participation
from color breed exhibitors."
Myers is proud of the work the
NSBA has done over the years and that
is why she was so thrilled to receive
the Jack Benson Award.
"My thanks to the NSBA for honoring
me with the Jack Benson
Award," she said. "For me, this award
is huge. I'm very proud and flattered
to be recognized along with all the
recipients of this award, a group of
people that I admire."
Ann grew up in Dallas, Texas and
by the age of 10 was the proud owner
of an AQHA mare named Rita Wonder.
She went away to college at 19 and
moved from Dallas when she married
Phil Myers in 1974.
In 1982 Ann and Phil purchased
some rolling land in Ashland, Ohio
and established Myers Horse Farms,
Inc. a small horse breeding operation
located halfway between Cleveland
and Columbus. This was their first
time to live on a farm. Ann says she
was in heaven and wanted to raise a
few foals. In 1983, their foal crop
totaled one. By 1985, they had a foal
crop of six, including a bay stud colt
named, Zips Chocolate Chip. "The key to my breeding operation
is small numbers and a focus on quality,"
Myers said.
It's a plan that works. At the center
of her early breeding operation was
NSBA Hall of Fame Breeding mare,
Ima Blister Bug. The dam of four
World Championships and eight
Reserve World Championships, her
foals have earned 5,413+ AQHApoints
and more than $145,380 in earnings.
In fact, you'll recognize many of
the horses raised at Myers Horse farm.
Zippo LTD, sired by Zippo Pine
Bar and out of Ima Blister Bug, is a
multiple World and Congress
Champion and the all-time leading
earner of AQHA open performance
points.
Zippo By Moonlight, also by
Zippo Pine Bar and out of Ima Blister
Bug, is a World and Reserve World
Champion Pleasure horse and multiple
futurity winner.
Ziploose N Fancyfree was the 1993
AQHA High Point Western Pleasure
Horse and is an AQHA Superior
Western Pleasure Horse.
Chips Hot Chocolate, sired by Zips
Chocolate Chip and out of Ima Blister
Bug, is an AQHA Reserve World
Champion in Western Pleasure and
was the 1992 High Point NSBA 2-Year-
Old Western Pleasure Futurity Horse.
In addition, he is a two-time Congress
Western Pleasure Champion.
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| Cleve Wells and Jack Benson with Zips Cocolate Chip at the
colt's first show, the Texas Breeders Futurity in 1987. He placed first under
all five judges.
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And of course, there's Zips
Chocolate Chip himself. When he was
born in 1985, Ann knew he was something
special. She was careful to bring
him along slow and with great care.
Ann trusted Chip's progress to a
young, yet unproven, trainer named
Cleve Wells. Their first show was the
Texas Breeders Futurity 2-Year-Old
Snaffle Bit class where the team was
placed first under all five judges. Zips
Chocolate Chip went on to be named
AQHA World Champion Junior
Western Pleasure Horse in 1989, again
winning under all five judges.
Zips Chocolate Chip moved to
Texas in 1987 and today stands at Down the Rail, Valley View, Texas. Myers also recently
purchased "her favorite" Chip son,
Chips Hot Chocolate, back from friend
Jane Curry Smith.
You would think that at this point
in her career, it would be tough for
Ann to get excited over the arrival of a
new foal. But nothing could be further
from the truth.
"That's what I love the most," she
said. "Every one is a surprise package.
It's so exciting to figure out who to
breed to what and then wait to see
what will happen."
Myers has some simple advice for
those who aspire to greatness in the
horse industry:
"My belief is that anyone who pursues
his/her passion will succeed.
And, it is most important to have fun
with the 'ups' and despite the 'downs'
- and there will be some. I mean, if I
could turn my horse career into a success,
anyone can. Recently a friend of
mine asked me if I ever showed at the
Congress. I looked at her and said,
"Yes, twice...and both times I had
terrible rides!" It cracked me up to
think about it because despite my
"bombing" at the Congress, my little
horse farm became successful!"
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ZIPS CHOCOLATE CHIP [VIDEO]
CHIPS HOT CHOCOLATE [VIDEO]
