WOODSIDE – Andrea Fappani kept his stronghold on the Reining By The Bay Open Derby last month, taking Custom Smart Olena to a 230.5 that scraped past a pair of 230s in reserve to win the $30,000-added Derby Open. The victory was worth $8,635 for Custom Smart Olena (Custom Crome x A Darn Smart Chic x Smart Chic Olena), owned by Steve Simon of Marietta, Okla.

Last year at Woodside, Fappani pulled a hat trick I the Derby Open, winning first, second and third places – the championship coming on board Shiner Olena.

The battle for the Derby Open reserve crown featured Wimpys Little Buddy (Wimpys Little Step x All That’s Dun x Hollywood Dun It) ridden by Martin Muehlstatter for Kim Dooley of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Star For The Chicks (Smart Starbuck x Dun It By Chick x Hollywood Dun It), ridden by Randy Paul for Rancho Oso Rio, also of Scottsdale. The matching 230s earned each of them $5,444.

Next in a series
Last issue, we learned how rein position can make a difference. Now we’ll look at tieing around to let him figure out what works best in response to pressure from the bit.

The goal of tieing a horse around is to get him used to giving his neck and to teach him that resistance against the bit is not going to accomplish much for him. It’s a good way to let him figure out the best response to pressure from the bit without him being able to blame you for his discomfort. If the horse is particularly stiff to one direction, there’s nothing wrong with tieing him off to that side every day until he loosens up.

DEL MAR — Forty horse-and-rider combinations came to play on the grass field at the Del Mar Horse Park Aug. 8 in the $25,000 August Festival Grand Prix. Going 16th, Jaime Azcarraga of Mexico City on Selcius, was the first clean and the only double clear performance for the win.

The Scott Starnes-designed course had several twisty turns and combinations — a total of 16 efforts were included in a tight time allowed of 83 seconds.

“Having not seen a lot of the [Mexican] horses jump, my objective was to get most around but challenge them,” Starnes said. “There was a nice mixture between local and Mexican talent. Azcarraga is a master and he rode really well.”

DEL MAR — Thirty-one duos galloped around the grand prix field July 31 in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Del Mar Horse Park. When thirteen returned for a challenging handy round, it was young professional Nick Haness and his mount Gelato, owned by Conor Perrin, who earned the top score. Forbes and Jenny Karizissis took reserve.

Given the 2010/2011 qualifying season’s new scoring, each of the 4’ options jumped was automatically awarded one point, so up to four points were added to both set of judges’ scores.

Sitting third after the first round, Haness and Gelato managed the trot fence, snake jumps and hand gallop with ease, earning the highest handy total of 202. Going in last, Geller can certainly be proud of her first round performance aboard Fabricio; however, an unfortunate rail on the handy course bumped her to seventh position with a score of 239 overall. It was Gelato’s impressive trip that brought their total to 378 overall, four points above Forbes for the win.

The Norco Fair 2010 is just around the corner – Sept. 2-6 in Horsetown USA! Hosted by the Norco Fair Committee and held at the George Ingalls Equestrian Event Center, this year’s theme is “Old Town Country Fair.” With more vendors, more rides and more fun, this year’s fair is going to be great! Come celebrate the Labor Day weekend with bull-riding, lawn mower races, ranch rodeo, mutton busting, extreme cowboy games, Miss Horsetown USA pageant, family fun day, magicians — and so much more! Visit www.norcofair.org for ticket info and schedule and see the ad on page 89.

CALGARY, Alberta, Can. — After three rounds of intense competition at the Cowboy Up Challenge Extreme Cowboy Race July 10-12 at the Calgary Stampede, Robin Bond and Jose Perfection fell one point shy of winning. Her enthusiasm upon returning home, though, sounded more like a champion’s than the reserve.

“For me — I’d never competed out of our country. I’d never BEEN out of the country,” said Bond, who received a hero’s reception upon return to Rancho Dos Palmas in Vista, where she trains. “It was just really exciting.”

And challenging. The fastest-growing sport in the equine industry, Extreme Cowboy Racing is a timed and judged event that demands both horsemanship and speed. It confronts both horse and rider with an extreme obstacle course of moguls, bridges, log crossings, tunnels, cowboy curtains, roll backs, and water crossings.

TULSA, Okla. – Kelly Resheske combined her poise, appearance, communication skills and horsemanship into the 2010 Miss Pinto Of America title during a pageant held at the Pinto Horse Show Association’s World Championship Show June 8-19.

The 18-year-old Reche Canyon resident, who has trained with Jerry and Shelley Lunde of Norco since 2006, became a PtHA member three years ago and is a member of her local charter, High Desert Pinto. She was the High Desert group’s first queen, representing them as “Miss High Desert Pinto” 2010 -2011, when President Fral Lelli and Sector Director Laura Fowler encouraged her to run for the title of Miss Pinto of America.

She also showed two of her Lunde Show Horses-trained Pintos at the PtHA World Championships, William Potter and Certified Stride — earning Top Five with both. She rode William Potter in the pageant classes.