REST UP ARTICLES

Tami Wagman and Rest Up were featured in several articles in 2003.  We hope you enjoy reading them.

Quarter Horse News, May 15, 2003 

Contrary to the relaxed nature of her horse's name, Tami Wagman is probably one of the busiest reiners in the business.  Along with a full time job as a securities attorney, she and her husband, Marc, have two boys, Ben, 4 and Dylan, six months, and now, Tami is an NRBC Champion as well.  Riding Rest Up, this Talala, Okla., lady reiner performed first in the Non-Pro finals and marked a 216 that won her the Limited Non-Pro Championship plus the accompanying $4,110 purse.  

It was quite a finals, one where a whistle from Mandy McCutcheon saved the day.  Revved and ready to make the most of her last run, Tami urged Rest Up into her first set of spins, which were fine until the rider forgot to count.  Tami probably would have kept going had it not been for Mandy's familiar shrill.  "I always know when Mandy whistles and I just stopped," Tami said.  "I had a one-point over spin, but I was planning to go all the way around."  

By Lenas Gyrator, Rest Up is out of the Topsail Cody mare that was born in a trailer at a rest stop and thus named Rest Stop.  Marc showed another of the mare's offspring, a son named Tougher Than The Rest, to win the 2000 NRBC Non-Pro Championship.   

As for this year's version, Marc started and trained Rest Up from day one.  "My husband is the best," Tami said happily.  "He's so supportive and he wants me to do so well.   He worked so hard to get this horse ready for me."  After the NRBC, the 6 year old Rest Up was headed to the NRBC Derby.  She is being bred this year to Custom Crome plus has two Rowdy Yankee yearlings on the ground and a Smart Chic Olena foal expected soon.  

The Reiner Magazine, June 2003, pg 60 

NRBC Non Pro Coverage

She drew up first in the field of 27 horses primed to win their share in the Intermediate, Limited and Prime Time Non Pro Finals.  "I wanted to go for it, " said the Limited Non Pro Champion Tami Wagman.  "I haven't been as aggressive in the past as I thought I was, so I wanted to hang it all out there and she's the kind of horse I can do that with."  That kind of horse is a six-year-old mare by Lenas Gyrator and out fo the 1998 NRHA Non Pro Reserve World Champion Rest Stop.  With Tami's husband Marc riding, Rest Up, owned by Marc Stuart Farms, Inc., has over $16,000 in NRHA lifetime earnings with a fifth place earned in the 2002 NRBC Non Pro Finals.  Her half brother, Tougher Than The Rest, won the NRBC Non Pro for Marc in 2000.  According to Tami, "Marc worked so hard to get this horse ready for me.  He's so supportive.  He's the best!"

Tami has always been involved with horses.  As she explains it, "As soon as I could sit up my Mom and I were riding double."  But life got in the way of Tami showing on a consistent basis.  She's averaged about one trip to the show pen per year for the last several years.  There was Law School:  Tami is an attorney "doing business and securities law in Tulsa."  There was marriage and motherhood:  Tami and Marc were married in 1995 and have two children:  four-year-old Ben and six-month-old Dylan. And then there's their ranch in Talala, Okla., where the Wagmans breed and raise their reining horses.

Tami scored a 216 in her Final's pattern #5 - even with a one-point penalty for an over-spin heading for an off-course.  When she heard Mandy McCutcheon's distinctive whistle Tami instinctively stopped.  "I lost count in my first set of spins.  I was kicking myself," said Tami.  "I'd hate to blow it because I couldn't count."  But she had the courage to go on and show like the wind.  "My mare was right there for me," said Tami.  "When you quit peddling on her, she slows down and comes back."  She can also stop.  Tami motored around the show pen and built to each slide with confidence.  "We'll be showing at the NRHA Derby," said Tami.  "Then we'll decide whether or not to breed her."  Rest Up already has two Rowdy Yankee yearlings by embryo transfer and she's slated to visit Custom Crome this year.  Tami earned $4,100.68 for the win.

Quarter Horse News, June 15,2003, page 79

No Resting for these Champions

Tami Wagman and Rest Up win the Limited non-Pro at the Derby, just a month after taking the same title at the NRBC

The working mothers proved to be more than equal to the task by defeating 78 competitors in the Limited non-Pro Derby held during the NRHA Derby at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds on May 17.

Tami Wagman, a mother of two boys and an attorney, rode Rest Up, whose oldest foals are yearlings, to a 220 score in the finals to earn a check worth $2,915.

Wagman, Talala, Okla., is a securities attorney who works out of an office in Tulsa and a home office.  She shows several times each year and her husband Marc, an NRHA board member and non-pro rider, prepares Rest Up for Tami.

The arrangement is working since Wagman and Rest Up are two-for-two in major reining competitions this spring.  In addition to winning the Limited non-Pro class at the NRHA Derby, the twosome won the Limited Non-Pro class at the NRBC.

In the NRBC run, I mentally made mistakes.  I had an over-spin and almost forgot to back up.  I left points on the table," Wagman said of the run with a 216 score.

"I wanted to show what this mare could do and this is the highest mark (220) I've had by far."

Her personal-best score came despite devoting her time to being a full-time attorney and mother.

"It's hard to find the time," said Wagman, whose sons are Ben, 3, and Dylan, 6 months.

My husband prepares her and I ride her once a week and at a lot of schooling shows.  The biggest difficulty in not riding much is when she does something wrong, I don't know how to correct it.  My husband walks me through it."

The 6-year-old mare's heart was a big reason for the win at the NRHA Derby.

"Before the go round, she had a muscle cramp.  She dragged a foot on a lead change (and scored a 213), so I knew that if I made the finals she would be tough."

"It works well to have my husband ride her.  I started riding horses with my mother when I was six-months old and showed Paint all-around horses (as a youngster)."

The Lenas Gyrator-sired Rest Up was a Non-Pro finalist in the 2000 NRHA Futurity and her dam, Rest Stop, was the Reserve Champion in the 1988 NRHA Futurity.

"We raised her, trained her and showed her, so it's special to us,"  Wagman said.   "We might hang it up or keep going because she's doing so well.  But, it's good to end on a good note."

Rest Up's first foals are yearlings.  She has a yearling filly and a a yearling colt, both sired by Rowdy Yankee.  A recipient mare is due to foal a Smart Chic Olena foal after the NRHA Derby and a Custom Crome embryo transfer will be performed on Rest Up.

Wagman is looking toward her reining future after Rest Up.

"I'm beating the bushes for a futurity horse this year.  I prefer to be able to push them and like to ride the younger horses," she said.

Reiner Magazine, July 2003, pg 63 
2003 NRHA Non Pro Derby

Breaking Records - Having Fun

Limited Non Pro Derby

This year's Limited Non Pro Division was run differently from past years.  Instead of just one go, there was a Finals for the top 15 riders plus ties.  And the Champion would receive one year's use of a beautiful, new, three-horse, custom built, aluminum trailer sponsored by Bloomer Trailer Manufacturing of Salado, Tex.  The pressure was on!  And the finalists had to wait until Saturday afternoon to find out who would take that trailer home.

In the Finals, as draw 10 entered the arena, Marc Wagman went wild in the stands.  In the pen was his wife, Tamara, who scored a 213 in the go round, barely making the Finals.  Apparently her "little bay show mare" Rest Up just needed to "rest up" after the first go, as she laid down a steamy 220 to win the class.

According to Tamara, her six-year-old mare never quits trying, has a heart twice as big as she is, and is a huge stopper like her mother, Rest Stop.  Rest Up is sired by Lenas Gyrator and owned by Marc Stuart Farms, Inc., of Talala, Okla.  She was raised and trained by the Wagmans.  Marc does the majority of the training since Tamara is very busy as an attorney in Tulsa, as well as having two young children (ages three year and six months).  Tamara only gets to ride about once a week, but she says she "thinks about it all the time."  Tamara and Rest Up also recently won the Limited Non Pro Derby at the NRBC.  It was Tamara's first buckle since she competed in the 13 & Under Division!