RENO, Nev. — National Reined Cow Horse Association recognized the best of the industry at its annual NRCHA Hall of Fame banquet on Oct. 1 at Silver Legacy Resort Casino during the 2009 Snaffle Bit Futurity. The evening included the induction ceremony for new members of the NRCHA Hall of Fame and Hall of Merit, in addition to presenting Snaffle Bit Futurity Awards and the Vaquero Award to Jimmy Flores, Sr. of Perris, Calif. 2009 NRCHA honorees included:

Ted Robinson, Hall of Fame 2009

Ted Robinson of Oak View, Calif., holds the distinction of being the winningest NRCHA rider of all time. He has won the prestigious NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity a record seven times and has also taken the NRCHA World’s Greatest Horseman title twice.

HARRISBURG, Penn. — The four team members from California’s Zone 10 might have traveled the farthest to get to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s National Junior Jumper Championships, but the reward made it worthwhile for the junior riders. Lucy Davis, Saer Coulter, Paris Sellon and Karl Cook came from California with the intention of winning, and with anchor rider Davis turning in a clear-and-fast ride in the jump-off, they took home the title in this prestigious Prix de States team competition Oct. 9.

The riders from Zone 10 were always in contention for the title, but the combined team of riders from Zones 1 and 8 were in the lead after the initial round.

For Zone 10, Coulter riding Chalan went around the track fault free, while Davis on True Love and Cook aboard Notories Utopia each had a rail down. Sellon riding Troyes had two rails down and two time faults in their first round, and were the ride that was not counted.

GAINSVILLE, Texas — At the 2007 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity, Shining Spark made history as the first NRCHA $2 Million sire when his offspring won enough during the event to propel him past that milestone. Two years later, his talented progeny did it again, and he became the association’s first $3 Million Sire before any other horse could reach the $2 Million mark.

Of the 19 Shining Spark offspring that competed in the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in 2009, 13 made their way to the various finals and earned $233,558 in the process. The total earnings of his foals at the event were $246,640.

Also, at the 2008 National Reining Horse Futurity, a Shining Spark daughter, Shining N Sassy, won the Open and $175,000. Those earnings helped push Shining Spark over the $3 Million Mark in NRHA offspring earnings. At that event, 11 of the Open Finalists were by “Shiner” or out of one of his daughters.

Outside of the competition at the National Reined Cow Horse Association’s 2009 Snaffle Bit Futurity, NRCHA recognized the best of the reined cow horse industry during various events Sept. 20-Oct. 4. Among the honorees were Californians John Ward of Kingsburg, and Jimmy Flores, Sr. of Perris.

NRCHA honored its newest Million Dollar Rider, John Ward, during the Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Finals opening ceremonies on Oct. 4. The name “Ward” is almost synonymous with the reined cow horse, bringing to mind a long family history of great wins and top-notch cow horses. Ward won his second NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity title in 2008, on the home-bred Black Pearl. Ten years earlier, he won the championship on Masteroani.

BURBANK — Eleanor Hellman won the 2009 Riding For Reading Class during the Woodside Labor Day Classic, while Ashlyn Matheus won the Los Angeles Riding For Reading Class for the second year in a row at the Gold Coast 6 Show at Los Angeles Equestrian Center. Every rider in the classes earned grants to their school libraries from Riding For Reading.

Riding For Reading is a non-profit organization which promotes reading, literacy and education through equestrian sports and activities. The Riding For Reading class is open to riders from 1st through 12th grade. Since the program began, more 500,000 students have benefited from Riding For Reading library grants, organizers said.

SYLMAR — Patrick Swayze, a member of the Arabian horse community, died Sept. 14 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 57. Swayze was known to many as a dancer and actor in films such as “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost,” but to the Arabian horse community, he was also an accomplished horseman and active participant at horse shows throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Swayze and his wife, Lisa, own ranches in the Sylmar area of Ventura County, Calif., and Santa Fe, N.M.

In 1991, Swayze bought Tammen, an Egyptian Arabian stallion, from Tom McNair and during the next year the stallion was honored with several halter championships. “Over the years, it happened–people gradually started seeing that I am serious about this and I care more about the horses than my little image. I am accepted now, so going Grand Champion there was like a big event for me,” Swayze said about winning at Arabian Horse Association’s U.S. Nationals.

TEMECULA — The horse community came out to support the Norwood family at the Ella Norwood Benefit Horse Show on Aug. 29 at Casner Ranch. Friends of Bill and Kelli Norwood organized the fund-raising horse show, auction and dinner to help pay for medical costs of their daughter, Ella Maree Norwood, who at just 5 weeks old this past April, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a form of cancer. After a successful surgery at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, doctors reportedly are confident they were able to remove all of the tumor. However, insurance coverage is limited, and hospital bills are high.