SAN MIGUEL, CA – The region’s top eventing riders and horses took to the course at the Twin Rivers Horse Park in San Miguel Sept. 18-22, with 337 starters in 29 divisions bringing to life the 2012 Twin Rivers Fall Horse Trials. Emilee Libby and Nonsensical won the Advanced and CWD Saddles Advanced Championships. Taren Atkinson and Gustav topped the Open Intermediate, and James Atkinson won the Open Preliminary aboard Man On A Mission III.

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SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — The Los Angeles International Jumping Festival, after a successful 31 years at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, will move to Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park at San Juan Capistrano starting in 2014. Langer Equestrian Group will hold the Jumping Festival immediately following Blenheim EquiSports’ Blenheim Fall Tournament. Officials say the two back-to-back shows will give exhibitors “two great shows in one fabulous location.”

TEMECULA, CA – Trainer Bill Norwood and Tucalota Creek Ranch hosted a “Fool’em and School’em” benefit Oct. 12 for fellow reiner Becky Hanson, who is undergoing treatment for cancer. The benefit offered Temecula area reiners the chance to tune up before the big fall shows, and it raised money to help the Hanson family with medical and other expenses.

ESCONDIDO, CA – Rancho Los Amigos barn from Imperial Beach was all smiles after a successful Southern California Reining Horse Association one-day reining at Hunter Equestrian Center in Escondido Sept. 22. (Back row, from right) Ali Skelton, April Crandell, Lori Riis, Kim Olivetto, Kyle Roloff, and Dakota Lollis. In front (from right) are Charlene Morgan, Mia Shelton and Kim Hutton. The event, managed by Track One Events, closed out the SCRHA’s inaugural year as the NRHA’s newest affiliate.

LAS VEGAS — Bigger than ever, the 2013 High Roller Reining Classic came to South Point and challenged top reiners and their horses Sept. 7-14, then sent many of them home with more than $300,000 in cash and prizes awarded.

Franco Bertolani of Aubrey, Texas, was a high-profile High Roller, taking the 5-year-old CFR Centenario Wimpy (Wimpys Little Step x Miss Hollywood Whiz) to a show-leading 226.5 that earned $24,192, topping the Level 4 and Level 3 Open Derby Divisions out of a whopping 126 horses. Bertolani had first showed the horse, owned by Domenico Lomuto, at last March’s Cactus Reining Classic after getting him in February. They later marked a 226 to win the NRHA Level 3 Open Derby — his last stop before the High Roller event.

RENO, Nev. — What do you get when you mix a cowy filly with five enthusiastic women and a legendary trainer from Red Bluff?

Maybe a National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity World Championship.

At least that’s the hope of Christine Phillips and four good friends who took her bait when she proposed that they have some fun with a joint venture in a Jaysons Peptolena filly endorsed by NRCHA Hall of Famer Smoky Pritchett.

“I was riding horses with Smoky, and he told me that Ken Wold’s wife used to put together partnerships,” said Christine, a regional product rep for Grand Meadows supplements, Boulet Boots and World Equestrian Brands. “Smoky said, ‘those gals had so much fun — they were good friends who’d travel to shows, and then they’d take their horse to the Snaffle Bit and go and hang out for the week. They really enjoyed it.’ “I got to thinking that it would be fun,” she added.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Enrique Gonzales rode Quilebo du Tillard to a flawless round to edge Susie Hutchison on SIG Zulieka for victory in the $40,000 Fall Tournament Grand Prix on Sept. 15, sponsored by EquiFit. Twenty-five horse-and-rider combinations challenged the International Grand Prix Field on the final day of the 2013 Blenheim grand prix season in Orange County.

In another featured event, Joie Gatlin captured the inaugural CashCall Mortgage Futurity Series, which pitted eight qualifiers from San Juan Capistrano and Del Mar events from throughout the Blenheim season. Horses competing in the finals had no entry fee as well as an increased purse.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Thirty-four leading junior equitation riders competed in the ASPCA Maclay West Coast Regional Finals Sept. 14, each trying to secure a spot on the roster for the prestigious ASPCA Maclay Championships at the Alltech National Horse Show in early November.

With 27 returning for the flat phase and six for the work-off, Olivia Champ took the win aboard Lamont. Trainer of the top five riders, Karen Healey, said it was a good night for her barn.

“It was a good night,” Healey said. “The kids were all great. I was extremely proud of them all.”

PASO ROBLES — Todd Bergen revved up Roxanne Koepsell’s Peptos Shiney Pistol at the National Stock Horse Association’s Snaffle Bit Futurity Aug. 15-18, winning the Open Futurity and its $17,088 purse at the Mid-state Fairgrounds as the NRCHA Futurity nears next week.

The 3-year-old chestnut son of One Time Pepto, out of Shining Spark mare Shiners Lil Pistol, marked a 665.50 composite, then was awarded the title by virtue of a higher cow work score over Jake Telford on Camilla The Cat, who had tallied the same composite. Camilla The Cat (WR This Cats Smart X Bit Of Starlight), owned by Newton White of Santa Fe, N.M., was bred by Art and Sandy Haskins of Clements.

In the Non Pro division, Jayson Fisher of Nipomo continued his remarkable year by taking his 3-year-old red roan, Catjumpoverspoon 10 (Hes A Peptospoonful X Catjumpedovertheboon X High Brow Cat), to titles in both the Non Pro and Intermediate Non Pro Futurities. He also kept alive his hot streak on his son’s Derby horse, Little Brown Indian (Hickorys Indian Pep X No Pleasing This Chic), winning both the Non Pro and Intermediate NSHA Non Pro Derbies.

DEL MAR — From yearlings to 8-year-old jumpers, young horses were celebrated Aug. 28-Sept. 1 at the Blenheim EquiSports All Seasons Tournament held at Showpark.

Between the International Hunter Futurity (IHF) Breeding and Futurity classes as well as the Sallie B. Wheeler/USEF Hunter Breeding National Championship (SBW), Showpark’s Hunter Arena 1 was bustling with babies for two days. In the SBW Championship, handlers showcased youngsters in the “triangle format”, including a standing pose to assess conformation, exhibiting a walk away from the judges at an angle, a trot across the back of the ring and a walk back toward the judges. The honorable Debbie Sands and Sharon Stewart watched the competitors on the West Coast and later hopped on a plane to judge the East Coast group.

It was a busy couple of days for West Coast breeders and their offspring. The end results were especially exciting for well-known hunter breeder, photographer and supporter of equestrian sport, Tish Quirk.