On THURSDAY, Aug. 20, the NSHA Futurity moves into the Open reining phase. Herd work finished Tuesday, and the fence work will come Sunday.
THURSDAY, 8 a.m.
Remington, an 18-month old Papillon, is perked up about the start of the week’s reining competition this morning. His owner, Lisa Pomerance of San Juan Bautista, Calif., says he thinks he’s a horse.
“He likes working cattle. He thinks he can do it, even from the bleachers.”
THURSDAY 8:45 a.m.
Billy Cochrane (left), along with fellow judges Bobby Lewis and Dave Vietor, follows the go of Anne Reynolds and Shiny And Verysmart in the morning’s second set of reining competition.
“The quality of horses this year is as good or superior to any group of 3 year-olds I’ve seen. The trainers are getting better, the horses are getting better. It’s early in the season — we’ve got another month before the big (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity, and these horses are performing well. Here in the rein work,the horses are really going in the rundown, taking chances, and they’re making it work. Form and correctness is the ultimate performance, and when you add speed to it, you’re increasing the level of difficulty. These young horses are using a lot of speed — the trainers are not afraid to expose them. That shows that these horses are pretty well-trained. It’s good for this time of the season. Acutally, it’s good for any time of the season.”
THURSDAY, 9:05 a.m.
Sarah Winters leaves the arena on JA Westcoast Whizard after scoring a 215.5 in Open and Intermediate Open reining. At the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity last September at age 18, Sarah was Reserve Champion Limited Open in her first year of Open competition. This year, she’s determined to keep her place near the top.
“I’m putting a little pressure on myself this year, but everyone puts pressure on themselves. For me, there’s more pressure because I did so well last year — I want to keep it rolling and show that last year was no fluke. It’s fun. I was happy with everything today except for my right turn-arounds. We’ll see what happens next (in herd work). He’s a little big, so he’s not as quick a mover. Hopefully I’ll have him broke enough and ready to do it.”
THURSDAY, 1 p.m.
LaDona Emmons puts the finishing touch on Oakinic, owned by Betsy Kienle, before Ron Emmons marked a 212.5 on the gelding in Open rein work.
“Before they go in, they get some extra attention. I like supporting Ron and the clients at the show — I’m out here with the horses, the great people. The camaraderie among everyone here is really amazing. I like to feel like I’m contributing, too, and be sure that the horses look good. Before we get here to the show, they’re all clipped. Once here, they get a bath every day. And then there’s the special attention.”
THURSDAY, 1:30 p.m.
Sandy Collier and Ted Robinson confer during a trip around the warm-up arena before their respective Open rein work. Sandy says the camaraderie in the cow horse world is something special.
“The cow horse people are the friendliest, the most supportive. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that you’ve got to be pretty down home to do this. I don’t think there is one guy or one gal who, if you as a total neophyte or even as a trainer went up to them and said you wanted help trying to do something better with your horse, would do anything but share with you how you could do it better. This group is so approachable and helpful. All the time I am asking these guys `what about this’ and getting their ideas. A lot of guys team up because they live near each other. Lyn Anderson and I have been friends and have helped each other out for years. I think she’s the master of the fence, which wasn’t my strongsuit for a long time. Everybody is so willing to share information, and that makes it better.”
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