CASSOPOLIS — When Landon Jellison, 13, of Edwardsburg, and his family first purchased a white paint breed horse named Zippy about three years ago, the animal was little more than a “rack of bones.” Thin, nervous and missing her tail, it was clear Zippy had not been well cared for at her former home in Allegan County.

Back on the family’s 10-acre farm in Edwardsburg, it would take a lot of hard work to coax Zippy into trusting anyone, but Landon worked with the horse until there was a bond between the two. That bond was apparent Wednesday at the Cass County Fair, as Landon, an Edwardsburg Middle School student, stood beside the now 12-year-old horse and pinned a blue and purple ribbon to her saddle.

As of Wednesday morning, Landon and Zippy had already claimed two winning titles. Landon won first place in ranch horsemanship for 12- to 13-year-olds and Junior Reserve Champion for ranch showmanship.

“It felt pretty good,” Landon said. “I was surprised that I got first place and shocked that I got reserve champion.”

Landon is no stranger to competing in the Cass County Fair. This year was his third year showing horses. Last year, he also walked away with some winning horse titles.

Reflecting on his wins this year, Landon said it took a lot of work to obtain this year’s titles.  Zippy had to be trained to complete a “pattern,” which involves a number of movements and steps. During the horsemanship competition, the judges watched him closely and analyzed how well he could handle and had trained Zippy. 

Landon is proud to see Zippy performing so well, especially given her difficult past. He said the first day Zippy came to their farm, she would not take her head out of the hay feeder.

“I don’t want to say that I trained her, but I feel in a sense that I retrained her,” Landon said. “I felt like the more I did with her, the more everything came back and she has developed into a really nice horse.”

On Wednesday morning, Kelly Jellison, Landon’s mom, ran a brush through Zippy’s now thick and lengthy tail. Zippy’s spotless white coat looked as though it had also been recently cared for. Kelly said she saw how hard her son worked to transform the horse.

“She has been a cool project for him,” Kelly said. “He took her over and started showing and he’s become her buddy.”

For Landon and his family, showing animals at the Cass County Fair is a longstanding tradition that stretches back to his great-grandparents. His grandparents Scott and Karen (Matensen) Harris first met showing animals at the Cass County Fair. Kelly would also show animals at the fair and now she sees her children carrying on the tradition.

Landon said he enjoys being part of the Cass County Fair.

“The experience you get, it’s a lot of fun to be doing this,” Landon said. “It’s an honor to be doing it really.”

Landon and Zippy are not done competing yet. On Wednesday, they competed in the ranch pleasure and Thursday in ranch trail, ranch reigning and freestyle reigning. While this year he focused on the horse competitions, Landon said next year he expects to show different animals. He will still intend to do the horse competitions, too, of course, with Zippy by his side.