Inductees

Sometimes, out of mourning will rise a little sunshine that eventually brings a smile to all.

In 2013, Kendra Weis – a horse trainer outside of the northern Missouri town of Moberly – had to deliver the tough news to horse owner Twylla Brown. A mare which Brown had owned for years, a show horse named Bailey, had to be put down.

Soon, Weis turned to her adult son, Blake, who had spent the previous five years working in Texas, to head back to the Lone Star State.

“I said, ‘Go to Texas and find Twylla a new horse. Look in the barns of the top trainers in Texas,’” Weis said. “He called a few days later and said he rode this gray mare and fell in love with her.”

Everybody else did, too. Named Snap Krackle Pop, the show horse went on to dazzle at the American Quarter Horse Association Championships, twice earning the rare distinction of Superhorse status. And now it has another notable honor – it’s the first animal ever inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, with the Class of 2022.

Under the training of the mother-son duo at Twin Acres Ranch in Moberly, Snap Krackle Pop won Superhorse championships at the American Quarter Horse Association World Show Championships in Oklahoma City in 2015 and 2016.

To earn Superhorse status, Snap Krackle Pop had to win the most points in four challenging categories. More remarkable, the consecutive championships marked the first time in 15 years for a back-to-back Superhorse winner at the show and the first time a mare had accomplished the feat.

It also was the first time a Superhorse won in the junior division one year and won in the senior division the next year. That was quite a feat, considering a mare moves up to the senior division, which is for 6-year-olds and older. The division is much more competitive, considering it has nearly 100 entries with more experienced horses.

Truth is, Brandi – as the Weis and Brown families call her – apparently isn’t shy in front of crowds or cameras.

“Brandi knows when she’s at a horse show. Her ears are up and she’s performing,” Weis said. “She’s just kind of the whole package.”

Blake discovered her in late 2013. That following year, Snap Krackle Pop was eligible to compete in the all-around at the AQHA World Show in Oklahoma City. The fact that the mare was eligible to compete at that level being only 3 years old was incredible.

“That was when we were like, ‘This is pretty special,’” Kendra said. “She just consistency excelled.”

Credit, too, goes to Blake, a 34-year-old rider who is one of only two all-around riders ever inducted into the Quarter Million Dollar Club by the National Snaffle Bit Association.

“She, Blake and I just have a chemistry,” Kendra said. “We trained her and we rode her and we showed her as a team. Brandi made both of us better showmen. You’ve just got to have that horse that goes for it. And Brandi does just that, she performs. She knows you can’t miss one step or someone will pass you up.”

“You just don’t realize the intensity and difficulty of the maneuvers she does,” Kendra added. “Those of us who show horses for a living work all year to get to that point of world championship competition.

Twylla and her husband, Ed, have owned American quarter horses for many years. They keep a few horses on their farm in Perry. However, the horses that competitively show are sent to reside at Twin Acres Ranch for training under the guidance of Kendra.

And so while Snap Krackle Pop loves showing off and competing, she knows her surroundings well.

“Twylla is a select rider (riders over the age of 50) and still enjoys riding her,” Kendra said. “Even though Twylla is a select rider, I never worry about putting her on Brandi.”

As one would think, many folks have asked to purchase the horse from the Browns. That has ramped up lately because the mare’s first foal was Snap it Send it, which in 2021 earned Superhorse status – the first time in the history of the sport that a Superhorse’s foal became a Superhorse.

However, the Browns have always declined.

“I never would have dreamed this,” Kendra said of Snap Krackle Pop’s success. “I started out as a trainer and became a judge. Sometimes I just have to pinch myself. She has brought us so much enjoyment.”