The quintessential Quarter Horse! We are celebrating these horses as our October Breed of the Month on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose an American Quarter Horse as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is a participating organization?
Meet the eye-catching ranch stallion turned dance partner of a Region 2 rider and see how this fellow’s beauty is more than skin deep.
By Kristin Patton
Smokin Custom Crome, aka “Crome”, came into my life four years ago and I can honestly say he has changed my life. At the time, I was showing two great American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) geldings; Swingin For Money, aka “Solo”, in dressage and Who Whiz Chico, aka “Dutch”, in Ranch Riding classes. Unfortunately, Dutch suffered a career-ending injury in October 2019, resulting in his retirement from competition.
In order to continue learning to ride and show in ranch classes, I began searching for a new show partner. I found Crome, a 12-year-old AQHA/APHA double-registered stallion. Crome already had American Paint Horse Association World Championship titles in Reining and Working Cow Horse, as well as $56K in NRHA earnings. He had never shown in Ranch Riding, but was a nice mover and flashy. His great disposition made him suitable for ranch classes, and for me as his new amateur partner.
Our journey together did not begin with dressage in mind at all. Crome spent time between two trainers, continuing his reining training, and beginning ranch riding training. I followed him for lessons with those trainers and met him at shows, learning from him in both disciplines. We had a fantastic year together, with Chrome taking four APHA Reserve World Championship Titles in Ranch Riding and Ranch Rail Pleasure, as well as two reining World Championships. I was thrilled with his progress in ranch, and mine too!
Over that first year together, it became evident that my daughters’ hunter horse needed to retire and my horse, Solo, became her most suitable replacement. On one occasion that Crome was home from the trainer’s, I watched a replay of his amazing reining freestyle with Bub Poplins (his former rider and trainer). It was likely the 100th time I had watched it.
I told my husband that if Solo was going to become a hunter horse, then I needed a new dressage horse. After rewatching that re-play, I thought Crome was the horse. I went to the barn, looked at him, and said, “Okay buddy, let’s see if this dressage saddle will fit you.”
The rest is history. He is truly that horse that I pat on the neck, look at him and say, “Buddy, let’s go try this,” and he looks at me and says, “Okay, let’s win a World Championship in that.”
Crome is my once-in-a-lifetime horse. He will do anything to make his rider happy; he will try his hardest, give the most he has, and will always give you the same ride time after time. Since switching to dressage and western dressage in 2021, we have continued to also show ranch riding, ranch trail, ranch cutting, and ranch rail, and my daughter will occasionally do reining maneuvers on him.
At 16-years-old, Crome is now semi-retired. For us, that means he does not travel as far to shows or do as many different things. We are currently just doing dressage and western dressage, when he is not spending time at the breeding shed or going for trail rides.
While competing in ranch events with him, it was challenging to balance the frame requirements for Ranch Riding with those of dressage. Both disciplines are very forward thinking, but he needs more contact with my hands in dressage than with Ranch. Honestly, this was more of an issue with my riding than it was for him!
In Ranch events, I have to ride with one hand on a loose rein, and he has to move completely off my seat and legs. That, as a lifelong dressage rider, is very hard to master. Different bits help him with differentiating between the events. He knows that a snaffle means he must go in a higher carriage with contact, whereas in a western style bit his head is lower, he is flat in his body, and there is no contact.
It’s a challenge to switch back and forth, but very doable at Training and First Level. At Second Level and Level 3 western dressage, this was physically harder for him, especially at the canter. He struggles with being through and cantering with enough jump, as his gaits are not naturally big. We work very hard on straightness, correct figures, and consistency, which has made me a more technically correct rider.
In four years together, showing dressage and western dressage, Chrome has earned four AQHA World Show Dressage Stake Championships – two at First Level and two at Second Level; two AQHA World Show Western Dressage Stake Championships and two Reserve Championships – two at Level 1 and two at Level 2; three AQHA Year-End High Point Championships and three AQHA Year-End High Point Reserve Championships; two Adequan®/USDF All-Breed AQHA Amateur Championships (one at First Level and one at Second Level), and a Reserve Championship at First level; AQHA Superior Awards in both Dressage and Western Dressage, and his USDF First Level Performance Award.
Crome needs just one more score at Second Level to earn his USDF Second Level Performance Award, and is currently leading the national standings for AQHA Year-End High Point at both Second Level Dressage and Level 3 Western Dressage. I hope to complete his Second Level Performance Award next season and move up to Third Level so that he will be the horse I earn my USDF Bronze Medal on.
We are honored to stand Smokin Custom Crome at our farm, Four Star Quarter Horses. He has sired about 40 foals, and all of them have his amazing brain, his athleticism, and his desire to be with people. They are successful in reining, ranch events, roping, trail horses, and as family horses, and the majority of them are just as flashy.
He is the embodiment of a Quarter Horse –14.3 hands, with no Thoroughbred blood. He is kind, gentle, consistent, always a gentleman, and makes friends wherever he goes due to his amazing work ethic and happy personality. It also helps that he is very distinctive looking, with his half blue and half brown eyes, his bald face, high white socks, and belly spot. Once you meet his happy spirit, he is not one you will forget!
