Little Rascal (“Tex”)
By Tiffany Shipp

The people that know Little Rascal would say he has an incredible gift of determination. This determination has made this little guy one of the fiercest competitors in today’s hunter circuit. Most know him by his show name of Little Rascal, but the ones who know him best know him simply as Tex. Little Rascal was first discovered at Brian Drogheda’s Drogheda Farms by Todd Janzen in 2001, in twenty five below zero weather. Watching Tex go over little straw bales, Todd saw great potential in him, plus something else you don’t always see: spunk.

Tex first came to Ontario in March 2002, covered in a thick fuzzy coat and full of life and attitude. This was when he first met his new owner and one of the many people who would believe in him enough to allow him to succeed, Cassandra Shipp. Before he could succeed in the show ring, Tex had to get used to lots of new surroundings. When Cassandra started riding Tex, he would get scared easily, leaving Cassandra flying the other way on several occasions. Tex would think jumps had teeth and would not jump over them to save his life. Cassandra worked with him every day to conquer his fears and, in doing so, they built a bond that could never be broken.

Tex and Cassandra’s first show didn't start off so well. Cassandra had a chance to really get to know mud, when Tex dumped her in a huge puddle the pouring rain during his first course at Caledon Equestrian Park’s opening show. After competing in Canada for the summer, Tex was on his way to becoming a seasoned campaigner. That winter he traveled to Ocala, Florida where he successfully competed in the Children’s Pony division as well as the Green Pony division.

April, 2003 was a beautiful spring day, which turned into one of the worst days in memory at our barn in Guelph, Ontario. If something was going on at the barn, Tex would put his front feet on the bars of his stall so he could look out over his stall door. On this day, Tex was getting a bit too fresh and decided to jump up on the bars and got his little hoof caught. He was now struggling to stay standing on three legs. It didn’t take long for everyone around to spring into action, trying their hardest to get the hoof free. People started to give up, not knowing if Tex would make it through this tragic event; his career was about to take off when it got crushed underneath his one little hoof. But Tex was determined to fight - he recovered from the incident and came back to the show ring with just a little scar remaining. Tex was brought back slowly working with him in a unique way that made everyone around realize how determined not only Todd and Cassandra were but also Tex. After months of training Tex was ready to show again. Due to his injury he was only able to show in the last 6 shows of the season. That never slowed him down because for those 6 shows Tex placed constantly and was 1st on the stand by heading into the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

As time went on Tex matured, but never lost his character and always lived up to his show name of Little Rascal. During the next season as time went on Tex developed his greatest strength which is consistency in the ring. When Tex figured something out he would be proud of himself and do it right every time after. During the 2004 season Cassandra and Tex consistently placed in the ribbons and also received several championships and reserve championships. They were very successful in many hunter classics competing against small, medium and large ponies combined. As the season progressed, he began to get the swing of show life, landing him 6th overall in Ontario, therefore qualifying him for the 2004 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

During that last show year Cassandra had begun to grow and as a result everyone realized it was time for Tex to move on. It was not a result any of us wanted to face but we knew it was for the best. Tex moved from a little town in Ontario to Atlanta, where he ended up in the arms of Taylor and Frances Land.

At his first show with Taylor he was champion overall in the medium pony hunter and therefore qualified for Pony finals in August of this year. Both Frances and Taylor have won several ribbons including championships and reserve championships while showing Tex. Tex is currently showing on the U.S circuit and traveling around the U.S., receiving many high placing in all the divisions he shows in. During the recent Atlanta horse shows, Todd and Cassandra got to see Tex once again after saying good bye to him earlier that year. Cassandra had the opportunity to ride Tex one last time.Some could say it was just luck or a coincident but I believe that it was, and still is, Tex’s determination and big heart that paved his way into a bright future.

Tex currently has a new owner, Maisie McSwain, who is 11 years old, lives in Georgia, and trains with Heather Tinney. Together Maisie and Tex will show in the short stirrup division and will then moved up into the medium pony division.