Jeff and I purchased Finest Hour, commonly known as Versace, as a 3 month old - he was a gigantic fuzzball with a larger than life personality. Funny thing is, not much has changed. He is still gigantic (a fuzzball in the winter) and is referred to as my 1,500 pound labrador thanks to his silly, expressive, and outgoing personality. You never have to wonder what he is thinking; it's written all over his face.

Versace is dressage bred; his dam Pullara, a Hanoverian (Pik Solo), had a successful show career with a junior rider here in the United States. His sire Puccini, a Dutch Warmblood by the famous Gribaldi, had an impressive show career in both Europe and the United States before retiring as a stud.

Being that my background was primarily in hunter/jumpers, I joined Topline Training as a working student in 2011 to expand my knowledge of dressage. I worked closely with Gina Duran, a Certified USDF Dressage Instructor and winner of USDF Gold, Silver, and Bronze metals. When Versace was three, I began hauling him in to her weekly for lessons. Gina taught me how to teach him, and under her watchful eye, we blossomed.

In 2016, we competed at Training Level with scores consistently in the 70’s. We won the CDS Regional Adult Amateur Championship for Training Level with a 78.9% and were awarded high point.

2017 was a big year for us, a year that I will never forget and always be grateful for. We competed at First Level with scores through 76% along with numerous high score awards. We won the CDS Regional Adult Amateur Championship for First Level and were once again awarded high point. We attended the USDF Regional Championship that year and won both CDS and USDF First Level Reserve Champion. We were invited to compete in the USDF Finals, but were unable to financially make the trek across the the country. At the end of 2017, Versace was announced as the USDF All Breed KWPN First Level AA Horse of the Year. This was an absolute dream come true!

In 2018, we made our Second Level debut with scores through 71%. Our season was sadly cut short due to an injury, but for the time we had competed, we were awarded the CDS Eileen Koch Memorial Perpetual Trophy; this was such an honor.

The last couple of years have been spent moving, first to Idaho and then to our forever home here in Kentucky. In place of competing we focused on training and strengthening. I am so excited to get my big guy back into the show ring soon.

Above all our successes together, it’s the time I get to spend with him each day that is my favorite part. I love this horse more than words can express and am so grateful for him. He is brilliant, and talented, and tries so hard to do everything I ask of him.

So, there you have it…Finest Hour Farms. I couldn’t think of a better tribute to my “horse of a lifetime” than to name our farm after him.