BURBANK — As the show season neared its mid-year point, Southern California reiners converged on the Los Angeles Equestrian Center June 7-9 to get NRHA Affiliate qualifying points at the 2013 California Reining Horse Association Affiliate Finale show.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — He led the victory gallop in Del Mar a month ago on Calavda, and wins today on La Fleur 4.

On yet another great day in Southern California, a small but stellar group of international competitors took on the challenge presented by world-renowned course designer Linda Allen in the $30,000 June Classic I Grand Prix, sponsored by St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort. Previous to this event, Hannah Heidegger dominated the final qualifier for the 2013 North American Junior & Young Rider Championships and young professional Nick Haness continued his prowess in the CashCall Mortgage Futurity series.

TEMECULA – It was deja vu all over again at the Seventh Annual Sherri Gilkerson Memorial Bridle weekend, as Lyn Anderson and Lance Johnston emerged with respective Open Spectacular bridle and hackamore victories at the May 17-19 event that mirrored their success from two years ago.

BAKERSFIELD — With a total purse of more than $47,000, the California Horse Trials cow horse event put on by the Valley Cow Horse Association May 3-5 at the Sundance Arena brought out the region’s best.

Derby classes were particularly well received — and well-rewarded. In the $10,000-added Open Derby, Lance Johnston took Mary Stroud’s Silky Smooth Hickory to a win that paid $6,210. With their second- and first-place finishes, respectivey, in the Open and Intermediate Open Derbies, John Ward and Got To Go Get It earned a combined $6,060.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — On a couple of cool, breezy afternoons, Blenheim EquiSports presented two stellar high performance events, the $50,000 Blenheim Spring Classic III Grand Prix, presented by Equine Insurance, and this season’s first $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby, both on the International Grand Prix Field during the April 10-14 meet.

Exciting twists and turns captivated competitors and spectators alike. With grand prix prize money increased by over 20 percent for Week III of the Blenheim Spring Series, internationally renowned course designer Leopoldo Palacios intentionally built a tough track.

LAS Vegas, Nev. — Marjie Robinson scored the victory of her life when she entered the show pen at the National Reined Cow Horse Association Stakes last month at South Point Equestrian Center.

Then, she won the Level 1 Limited Open Championship.

Stagecoach Trails Horse Camping
Julian, California
(760) 765-3765
www.stagecoachtrails.com
The great outdoors awaits you at Stagecoach Trails, a delightful and relaxing discovery east of historic Julian in San Diego County adjacent to the beautiful Anza Borrego State Park. Rich in history, wildlife, desert flowers and unspoiled landscapes, the State Park provides Stagecoach campers with a variety of ways to relax and or be active: horseback riding, jeep touring, hiking, or discovering native encampments with pictographs, morteros and other interesting artifacts. Nearby Ghost Mountain was home for Marshall South and his family in their Native American experiment in the late 1930s. Stagecoach Trails offers its guests information and maps on these and other attractions nearby.

TEMECULA – When the three-day Galway Winter Horse Trials wrapped up Feb. 3, it really marked a beginning — of the Area VI winter-spring season, that is.

Successive Southern California competitions at Twin Rivers, Copper Meadows, then back to Galway for this weekend’s International Horse Trials, then on to Twin Rivers for its mid-April event illustrate how the region has become a hotbed for the this exciting discipline that combines cross-country, dressage and stadium jumping.

RANCHO MURIETA — A new season of West Coast Reining Horse Association competition was launched Feb. 8-10 at the Murieta Equine Complex, and with it was a familiar pattern: the nation’s largest affiliate continues to grow.

“We always judge our year on the first couple of turnouts,” said incoming WCRHA President Ollie Galligan. “We had our schooling show at the end of January, and it was a huge turnout, and then the Affiliate 1 show was good. We’re growing and growing some more.”

SAN ANGELO, Texas — In a thrilling, down-to-the-wire fence work finish Feb. 2 at Spur Arena Ron Emmons claimed his second consecutive World’s Greatest Horseman Championship aboard Olena Oak (Smart Chic Olena x Fritzs Oak E Doakie), a 2002 stallion owned in partnership between Nichole Scott and Emmons’ wife, LaDona Emmons.