Chase it with Brandy: Jana Griemsman’s WPRA Badlands 2016 Horse of the Year

April 2, 2017
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by Ruth Nicolaus

Jana Griemsman has the horse of a lifetime.

The Piedmont, South Dakota barrel racer and her husband, Paul, own Brandy, an eight year old sorrel mare who carried Griemsman to an eighteenth place finish for the 2016 rodeo year in the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association standings.

Brandy came from Jana’s sister, Jill Schimkat Moody’s, breeding program. Brandy’s dam, Corona Special (no relation to the Corona Cartel line), was purchased from Lyman Chase, who had good race horses off the Pierre, South Dakota, rack track.

Corona Special was a good barrel horse, Jill said, but never seemed to be healthy. “She was one of those hard luck horses for me,” she said. “Every time, it seemed like she was hurt.” She was also a “fruitcake,” as Jill describes her. “If you could get her to turn the first barrel, no one could outrun her. But if she didn’t turn, she’d hit the bleachers.”

At the time, Jill was married to Terry Moody, who owns TM Sakem Drift, Brandy’s sire. The stud is an eighteen-year-old sorrel the Moodys have done well with.

Jill crossed them, not sure what she would get.

The filly, whose registered name is Chase It With Brandy, was born at Jill and Jana’s parents’ place near Pierre. From day one, their mother, Ruby Schimkat, and Brandy Holzer, a neighbor, were paying extra attention to Brandy. “They spoiled her,” Jana remembered, and when she turned two years old, Jill sent the horse to Jana and Paul’s place.

She was an easy start for Paul, who broke her. She never bucked, Jana remembers, but she was spooky. “She was even terrified of the steers at the end of the arena. She’d spook at the neighbor’s cows on the hill.”

Click here to read the rest of the story at Tri-State Livestock News. Published in 2017 Black Hills Stock Show® Horse Sale Catalog and Stallion Row Showcase