Vital Signs Are Good

Lucky is the horse who is loved by a woman. Vital Signs Are Good was lucky enough to be loved by three. And they – Kristen Rinkenberger, Kristen Glover Galyean and Theresa Moran – were each equally blessed by owning her.

Vital Signs Are Good was foaled in 2000. Kristen Rinkenberger of Morton, Illinois, crossed Zippos Mr Good Bar on Vitalism, her mare by An Awesome Mister.

“Lucy” first appeared at the AQHA World Championship Show in 2002, winning the 2-year-old western pleasure title. Jim and Debbie Glover purchased the mare at the show for their daughter, Kristen Glover, to show in the amateur division after her successful all-around youth career.

Kristen and Lucy were amateur world champions in western pleasure in 2003 – and never looked back.

“One of my proudest memories was showing her at the 2005 World Show,” Kristen says. “Lucy won western pleasure unanimously and then came right back in and set a record in western riding. That’s when I realized just how phenomenal she really was.”

Kristen and Lucy added more all-around events and earned the coveted all-around amateur title at the 2007 World Show. That same year, Lucy added “producer” to her credentials, when her 2005 son, Invest N Vital Signs, won the $100,000 maiden western pleasure class at the Reichert Celebration and was the AQHA reserve world champion in 2-year-old western pleasure. That same year, she was named the National Snaffle Bit Association Leading Dam for Invest N Vital Signs’ accomplishments and NSBA Horse of the Year for hers.

In 2009, Kristen sold Lucy to Joe and Karen Moran of Laguna Hills, California, for their daughter, Theresa.

Lucy’s first World Show with the Morans brought them reserve world championship trophies in senior western pleasure and senior western riding. She was also reserve in the Superhorse competition.

Theresa and Lucy were world champions in western riding at the 2011 Youth World Championship Show, and Theresa finished her final youth year as the reserve all-around high-point youth. Lucy was also the high-point senior horse that year.

Lucy carried Theresa into amateur competition, winning amateur western riding at the 2013 World Show, which was Lucy’s final World Show appearance. She retired to California with the Morans and continued to produce foals.

During her remarkable show career, Lucy won 13 AQHA world championships, eight reserve world championships and eight Superiors, racking up 3,097.5 AQHA points and a total of $288,581 in earnings. Following their dam’s example, Lucy’s 18 performing offspring have earned more than 3,500 AQHA points and nearly $500,000 to date.

After a lifetime as a celebrity show horse, “Lucy” died January 24, 2017, and was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2019.

Biography updated as of March 2019.