Region 7, CDS Championships enliven LAEC

Special to the Horsetrader

BURBANK — As the sun set on the Great American Insurance Group / USDF Region 7 Dressage Championships and the 57th Annual California Dressage Society State Championship Show Sept. 26-29 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, memorable experiences traveled home with USDF and CDS members across the state and beyond.

One horse, two friends and champions

Two USDF champions are connected by a special horse, and on Sunday they shared the honor round for the Great American/USDF Region 7 Intermediaire 1 Adult Amateur Championship, with Champion Susan Walker on her own Don Amour N, a 10-year-old, 17 hand bay Oldenburg gelding, and Reserve Champion Kristina Huff on her own Winzer 207, an 18-year-old, 17.2 hand bay Hanoverian gelding.

SCRCHA wraps up 2024 season with September Classic

By SUE CARTER / for the Horsetrader

TEMECULA — The September Classic was the last show of 2024 for Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association. Soaring temperatures did not deter the hardy competitors from vying for the year-end points and coveted Doug Williamson Memorial Buckle, sponsored by Molly’s Custom Silver. The start time was moved up by an hour in an effort to save the horses and competitors from the heat.

Tina Lattanzio aboard her own Smooth Moves won both the Open and Non Pro Cutting, with Craig Cowley aboard Peppys Autumn Cat coming in second in Open Cutting.

Four-show series concludes its 2024 summer run

By Horsetrader staff

HUNTINGTON BEACH: The four-show Surf City Circuit series, put on by Track One Events for the Los Serranos Award Circuit, wrapped up its successful season Aug. 17 at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center.

Beautiful buckles and other awards were icing on the cake for winners at this refreshing circuit of open shows, which featured popular classes in ranch, reining, pleasure, horsemanship and trail.

One gratified Circuit Champion was open reiner Sophia Ritchie, an assistant trainer for Rick Baer Performance Horses that is based at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center. Ritchie rode I Whiza Gangsta to the title for owner Patricia Houk.

Kailty King-Hale and Gotta Have Style are finding their groove

By Horsetrader staff

After a year, it’s safe to say Kailey King-Hale and Gotta Have Style, the grey mare she acquired last year, are connecting.

Kailey, a non pro who rides at her family’s King Performance Horses in Chino Hills, was looking for a next-level reiner to develop in spring 2023 when a friend at the Cactus Reining Classic in Scottsdale arranged an unforgettable test ride in a busy warm-up arena at the show.

More than a learning barn, Devenport Training’s rodeo program is now a ‘family’

By Horsetrader staff

ESCONDIDO — By 6 p.m. at the San Pasqual Valley Ranch arena, the weekday junior rodeo practice is winding down. All 14 girls — ranging from age six to 15 and from beginner to advanced — listen to their coach’s comments as each one takes their horse’s turn through one last practice pattern. It’s clear the young riders are learning, and even clearer they are having fun.

“Many of my members have been together on this team for years now,” says the coach, Mindy van Loggerenberg. “They are growing up with each other. Older members are like big sisters, and the younger ones are mentored, monitored, loved and treated like… well, little siblings.”

Trainer Robin Bond’s background, personality and gifts helped her discover the up-and-coming international sport of Working Equitation

By Horsetrader staff

HORSETRADER: Robin, you have a rich equestrian background — from your English foundation to national reined cow horse accomplishments and many other events. Now, you’ve really taken to Working Equitation.

ROBIN: I love the challenge of Working Equitation. It’s a great sport, and I think the more people who see it — and see everything that goes into it — the more people will be attracted to it.

HORSETRADER: When many hear “equitation,” they think of young riders being judged on the flat going in circles. Not the case, is it?

ROBIN: No, it is an international sport. The four trials are dressage, ease of handling, a speed trial and a cattle trial. It’s not western because the tack and attire doesn’t have to be western. In the United States, it is acceptable to ride under dressage tack and attire or hunter tack and attire, or even native Spanish, Portuguese or Mexican attire. And any breed can compete — you’ll see Fjords, Gypsy Cobs, Lusitanos, Quarter Horses, Paints, Andalusians.

A BLM adoption event is scheduled for June 21-23 in Napa — In this article, Amy Dumas shares details on the path from the range to the stable.

HT: What is the Bureau of Land Management’s function when it comes to wild horses and burros?

AMY: The BLM was tasked to manage the wild horses and burros by Congress in 1971 with the passage of the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burros Act. With that, the Congress designated the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service of the USDA to manage wild horses and burros on the lands where they were found in 1971.

HT: And how’s that working for them?

AMY: We have been highly successful in protecting these animals. The Act protects the animals from capture, harassment, branding on the range, and a few other things. So, I think we’ve done a pretty good job of doing that.

Nicole Donahoo brings home 2024 NRCHA World’s Greatest Youth Horseman title

By Horsetrader staff

The packed Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, was a loud pressure-cooker when Nicole Donahoo and Very Smart Pearl stepped into the arena for her final go in the NRCHA World’s Greatest Youth Horseman finals in February.

Then, she nailed it.

Her championship crowned a 10-year youth show path from junior rodeo to cow horse, along the way putting tools into her toolbox that she continues to build as a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Which tool did she rely on as she entered the final? Start with her mindset.

At 86 years young, Didi Engler reenters
reining arena, shines at Cactus Classic

By Horsetrader staff

CHINO HILLS — When Didi Engler learned of a new National Reining Horse Association Legends Non Pro Division, it was the start of something new.

Actually, it was a restart of something quite familiar — and important — to her. It had been 10 years since she had competed in a reining arena, and new rules allowing competitors aged 70 and over to place their hand on the pommel horn was a difference-maker for her confidence.

“That opened up a whole new world,” she says from the breezeway at King Performance Horses, the barn she has been with since 1986. “If I could hold on to a pommel horn, I’d feel safe.”