OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The $100,000 added National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) World Championship Shootout brought some of the best reining horses in the world to the NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship (NAAC) Show Dec. 2. With only two runs left in the class, Andrea Fappani and Yellow Jersey showed their prowess with a score of 226 to take the win and nearly $29,000.

Arcese Quarter Horses USA owns the Wimpys Little Step stallion that recently competed at the 2010 FEI Alltech World Equestrian Games. The six-year-old won the Team Bronze Medal with Stefano Massignan in the saddle and has more than $55,000 in NRHA lifetime earnings. Fappani is a perennial finalist at the NRHA Futurity, NRHA Derby, National Reining Breeder’s Classic and other NRHA major competitions. Fappani became the only European rider to win the NRHA Futurity’s Open Division in 2001.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Friday’s competition at the NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship (NAAC) Show featured the $105,000 added 2010 Cinch®/ NRHA Non Pro Futurity Finals. This championship event welcomed back 59 non pros to compete in a clean-slate format for more than $430,000 in cash and prizes, a variety of prizes from NRHA Corporate Partners and the coveted NRHA Futurity titles.

Tish Fappani of San Marcos, California piloted her gelding Litn Up Conquistador to a 221 to claim the Level 4 Non Pro Futurity championship by a decisive, 6.5-point margin. Fappani earned over $43,000 for the win aboard her gelding by NRHA Million Dollar Sire Conquistador Whiz and out of Aleena Starlight. In addition to over $43,000 in prize money, Fappani won the use of a Cimarron trophy trailer, Bob’s Custom Saddle, Montana Silversmiths trophy buckle, and a variety of gift certificates from NRHA Corporate Partners.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The equestrian sport of vaulting has a new Team Gold-medalist – the FACE Vaulters of the United States. In a move that will forever change the interest level of the sport in the U.S., a sold-out crowd witnessed as the first ever Team Gold was won on a freestyle score of 8.779 and a final composite of 8.029.

Led by California’s Devon Maitozo of Woodside, the team consisted of Blake Dahlgren of Santa Clarita, Mary Garrett of Seal Beach, Emily Hogye of Ben Lomond, Mari Inouye of Redwood City, Rosalind Ross of Aptos, and Annalise VanVranken of Mays Landing, N.J. Their horse, Palatine, a 12-year-old Westphalian gelding, was lunged Carolyn Bland.

“This is an opportunity for us to put vaulting on the map in the United States,” said Maitozo. “People actually now know that this sport exists. They’ve seen it in small towns across America and in the paper. This is exciting for us.”

LEXINGTON, KY. — As Kentucky Horse Park unravels from the experience of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games that ended Oct. 10, the scope of the event begs for a look:

According to the sponsor, more than a half-million people from all 50 states and nearly 60 countries attended over the 16 days. Competitors from 58 countries went head-to-head for world championship titles in eight equestrian disciplines, drawing more spectators than any U.S. sport event since the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah. On one peak day, eventing cross-country on Oct. 2, an unprecedented 50,818 spectators filled the Kentucky Horse Park. Alltech also estimates that, globally, more than 400 million followed the action on television.

BURBANK — Rich Fellers came to the Los Angeles International Jumping Festival for the first time, and based on his success at the Sept. 22-26 event, he’ll return.

On Thursday night, 39 entries challenged the $30,000 L.A. International Welcome Stake scored under FEI Table C, and it was a case of fast, faster, fastest. Richard Spooner was fourth to contest Leopoldo Palacios’ course and with Pariska 2 (C&S Partnership, owner) he was fast at 66.9 seconds. On his heels, Ali Nilforushan on Pegasus went 66.4 seconds.

Going next, Fellers and Flexible (Harry and Molly Chapman, owners) were even faster in 63.53 seconds. It looked like the top three places were settled early on and everyone else was left to battle it out for fourth, until Fellers returned again on the venerable McGuiness. Hunkered down in his characteristic style, Fellers flew around the course and stopped the clock in 62.05, there was stunned silence and then uproarious applause.

BURBANK — While the stars were out in the two FEI classes at the LA International, future stars were making their presence known in the Platinum Performance USEF Talent Search Finals West. This is the only national equitation championship held on the West Coast, and there was no shortage of talent in the 45-entry class.

Taylor Ann Adams made the trip from Florida to ride in the West Coast version of the Finals. “My trainer, Don Stewart, always goes to Capital Challenge, and that conflicted with the East Coast Finals, so we decided to come to California,” explained Taylor, who leased El Toro (Lindsay Anderson, owner) and had Karen Healey step in to coach the talented rider.

As a former ranch kid and a dedicated trail rider with 7,000 logged trail hours, I now ride in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park. It is the largest City park in the world, with nearly 60 miles of horse trail.

It is a prized and unique feature of a huge city like L.A. to have this Park adjacent to centralized horse-keeping facilities. The Griffith Park system is overloaded and under budgeted, like most parks in the U.S. They deal with a wide variety of demands in the public’s usage of the park areas. The horse riders, a minority, have their own agenda to fulfill.

ENLIGHTENED SELF INTEREST
If it is a danger or nuisance to you, it will be for other riders also.
When I first started riding in Griffith Park, I noticed many things about

Patrick Lyons – Southwest Trailer Sales, Ramona
Makes: Cimarron, Lakota, Bison, Trails West and Classic
See ad on Page 29
Safety. I would strongly suggest horse owners have an annual inspection done on their trailer. Some states require it by law. Due to the economic conditions over the last two years, many people have postponed their trailer maintenance. The age, condition and proper inflation of tires is a big one. Just because a tire looks good does not mean it is safe. Brakes, bearings and floor boards are also critical. A failure of any of these items can cause anything from an inconvenience to a major catastrophe.

Also, make sure their tow vehicle, hitch and equipment are all properly rated to be pulling the gross vehicle weight rating (GVRW) of the of the trailer they are pulling. California is starting to set up check points for trailers to make sure the tow vehicle, it’s hitch and other equipment are properly rated. Many receiver hitches are under rated for pulling dual axle trailers without the use of a weight distribution hitch. Get caught without out one and your trailer just might be impounded.

Keeping the pony dry…
Venice Liston, Riverside, Ca
I’m the mother — but I thought I’d share our story. I was 29 and my daughter, Elishia, was 7 when we first got into horses – and we got her first pony. He was a Shetland Pinto, about 11.1 hand (good thing my daughter is very small … she’s still 5-feet-4 at age 26 today!) We named him Oreo since he was black and white. We were new to horses, and this was our first small ranch. It was a stormy, rainy night after we had rain all day. We only had partial covers, so Oreo was soaking wet. I felt so badly because my daughter Elishia felt so sad for her pony. So, thinking I was doing a good thing for Oreo and my daughter, I brought Little Oreo into my living-room, in front of the fireplace. My daughter was so excited, she got her blowdryer and we proceeded to blow dry him. Well, we got him all dry and fluffy. He looked happy. Then my husband came into the living room and said, “Well now that you got him all dry, when are you taking him back outside to his stall?” Oh, Oh. We didn’t think that far. We just thought we were doing a good thing for Oreo, and I thought I was doing a good thing for my daughter. But poor Oreo, all nice and warm and dry in our living room, had to go outside back to his stall with the partial cover to get all wet again. I think we made it worse. We will never forget that. Now, after owning horses for about 21 years, we know better. Now I have a 3-acre ranch with about 18 horses — some mine, some boarders — and all have full covers.I have made sure of it. Not a one will get wet in the rain. Ever. In fact, I think the horses I’ve raised are very spoiled and they do not even know what rain is. (Don’t know if this is good or bad.) But at least I know, and my daugher knows, forever on my ranch no horse will stand in the rain again!

SHADOW HILLS – With the same spirit that has launched nations, a group of horsepeople in northeast Los Angeles has organized to get its due representation. And it’s working.
The agenda is an ambitious one:

• License all Los Angeles horses
• Educate city sanitation on horse manure as a resource
• Fix anomalies in city codes that deal with animal keeping
• Establish an equestrian “Bill Of Rights”

The nine-member board is just as ambitious, led by President Royan Herman, owner of Peacock Hill ranch and a self-described hot tempered Irishwoman who mixes hard work and passion into her heartfelt cause.