A Champion at Every Level: Colonel Pepenator to be Named to IHSA Hall of Fame

Colonel Pepenator, Photo by Waltenberry


A World-Class Reiner, "Peppy" became one of SUNY Oswego's most beloved favorites.

Gladys, Va.– April 07, 2026 – Colonel Pepenator, an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) stallion who competed on the State University of New York-Oswego team, will join the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) Hall of Fame Class of 2026 at the organization's National Championship, taking place May 1–3 at Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

Before his career in the IHSA, Colonel Pepenator earned a reputation as a top reiner and a gentle soul, generous with beginners. Nowhere was that more apparent than at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, when “Peppy” competed for Poland with Bogdan Czarnik in the reining championship, while also participating in the “ride-a-reiner” showcase, wherein novices could try out the sport aboard an experienced mount.

After trainers Jennifer and Tom Hoyt helped owner Catherine Berdan Pettite donate the Quarter Horse stallion by Pepenator and out of a granddaughter of Colonel Freckles to SUNY Oswego, he quickly became a barn favorite. While he showed plenty of pizzazz in the show pen with his IHSA riders, he’s just as happy carrying around a young child in a summer camp lesson.


Colonel Pepenator was named Most Popular Western Horse at the 2023 IHSA National Championship, pictured with coaches Dan and Jil Bergstresser, SUNY Oswego team members and IHSA founder Bob Cacchione. Photo by EQ Media

“He’s very pushbutton,” said Danielle Grasmeder Valente, an Oswego graduate who rode Peppy to the NRHA/AQHA Individual Reining National Championship her freshman year. “He knows what he’s doing, and you just have to sit there and trust him. I’ve ridden a lot of reiners, and he’s one of my favorites.”
According to Dan Bergstresser, who trains the SUNY Oswego IHSA team alongside his wife Jill Bergstresser, Peppy is one of a kind, as his numerous Western Horse of the Show honors attest.

“He’s won national championships in all three western divisions: reining, ranch riding and horsemanship,” said Dan. “He’s done everything at Nationals from beginner walk-trot up to the reining.”

"Though he is a stallion, you’d never know it," said Jill, "as he’s a mellow guy who’s not reactive with mares."

“As he made his mark on the IHSA, everyone recognized that this was not your average stallion, this was a gelding stuck in a stallion’s body,” she said. “He was actually the first stud that they allowed to go lower than open, and within a year or two, he made his way all the way down to beginner because he was that level of trustworthy.

“We had videos of our daughter when she was really little, maybe 4 or 5, and she would ask him to spin and he’d spin only as fast as was safe,” she added. 
With his shiny chestnut coat and thick neck, Peppy caught everyone’s eye at IHSA shows, including hunter riders and laymen watching their first horse show. Peppy also showed on the National Reining Horse Association and American Quarter Horse Association circuits a bit while at Oswego, gaining fans there as well. 

Oswego graduate Kelly Dolan remembered one year at Nationals when a rider drew Peppy and was nervous when she saw how fiery he could get while reining.

“Dan talked to her about him and told her, ‘If you say whoa, he’s stopping,’” Dolan recalled. “She went on to have an amazing run on him. Her mother was so thankful to Dan for talking to her, and so grateful to get have such a good time with Peppy. It was amazing to see him take care of other people.”

Peppy made his last trip to IHSA Nationals in 2023 and is now retired.     

“When the riders would send thank you letters for the horses from Nationals every year, Peppy’s would be the best,” said Jill. “Everyone loves him.”


Colonel Pepenator in action and in the winner's circle at the 2023 IHSA National Championship.
Photos courtesy of SUNY Oswego