FORT WORTH, Texas – When the nation’s best Paint Horses and their young riders gathered at the Will Rogers Center last month, Californians made their presence felt, bringing home thirteen 2011 American Junior Paint Horse World Championships from the show held June 25-July 2.

In her last year of Youth competition, 18-year-old Cassandra Stambuk brought home AjPHA Youth World titles on two horses, taking the Limited Youth Working Cow Horse 18-under class on Hesa Rock Dancer and also bringing home the Youth Reining 14-18 on Smugglin Diamonds.

SAN DIEGO — Changes to 30-year-old regulations of horse operations within the unincorporated areas of San Diego County appear imminent — but not immediate — after the Board of Supervisors July 13 unanimously agreed to have staff prepare new rules.

The new ordinance is expected to provide greater flexibility for smaller stables to pursue permits without public hearings, environmental reviews or onerous major use permits, and it likely will be a “two-tiered system” that divides equestrian operations into different tiers based on the quantity of horses and the lot size.

Waltenberry photo

With Andrea Fappani aboard, Tinker With Guns captured the NRHA Level 4 Derby Open Championship and its $50,000 prize at the June 27-July 2 event in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The 2011 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby showcased the $155,000-added Open Derby finals on Saturday, July 1 at the Oklahoma State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. The NRHA Derby Show is the NRHA’s premiere event for the world’s best four-, five- and six-year-old reining horses and hosts to two slates of ancillary classes.

During the go-round, 428 entries competed for a spot in the finals with 69 of the top-scoring horse-and-rider teams invited back to Saturday night’s event.

AACHEN, Germany — Team USA wrapped up the 2011 World Equestrian Festival CHIO in Germany with more strong performances, including a second-place finish for Steffen Peters and Ravel in the Grand Prix Freestyle CHIO and a win for show jumper McLain Ward on Rothchild.

Peters and Ravel, owned by Akiko Yamazki and Four Winds Farm, stepped up their game today and gave the best dressage horse in the world a run for his money in the Grand Prix Freestyle CHIO for the Deutsche Bank Prize.

Sheri Scott photo

Jenni Martin-McAllister and Glados pose after winning the $20,000 Bayfest Grand Prix July 3.

WOODSIDE — The only thing that’s been predictable about the weather this year is that it is unpredictable, and the Bay Area Summer Festival June 29-July 3 proved that — starting off with an unseasonable rainstorm. However, the clouds soon gave way for a beautiful weekend, and all levels of riders from grand prix to walk-trot found plenty of opportunities to step up their game to meet the demands of the challenging competition and courses.

The $20,000 Bayfest Grand Prix was the highlight of the weekend, and spectators gathered to see if there would be a repeat of the previous week when the juniors ruled the big jumper class. It looked like it might happen again when the previous week’s winner, Haley Robison (Rachel Yorke, trainer), piloted Chantre (Equinity, owner) through the first clear trip in the class, followed by another junior, Kendall Skreden (Kelly Van Vleck, trainer), on her Esperanto. They soon had company in the jump-off when they were joined by Peter Breakwell on Lucas (No Drama, owner) and Jenni Martin-McAllister on two of her rides, Glados (Marnco, owner) and Majuscule (Christina Caruso, owner).

Second in a series
Here are the ‘Five Easy Pieces’, and Les urges you to commit these five to memory as his column in each Horsetrader will refer to them.

1) Lateral Flexion
Piece number one is getting the horse to yield his nose to the side as a response to you just lightly moving the rein. As you’ll hear and read again and again in this program – the KEY to achieving success in a performance training program is having a horse that will do everything you ask with a soft and resistance-free neck. By staying with this exercise until your horse will respond to a rein that still has some slack in it, I know, and you will too, that he is giving his head and neck willfully and not being forced. Again, you’ll do this exercise both to the right and the left.

Normally, Susie Hutchison is in the news when she wins a grand prix jumping event, but it’s also news when the prominent trainer relocates, which she recently did. The Susan Hutchison Stables operation has moved to Casner Ranch, located at 34520 De Portola Road in Temecula. Casner Ranch is a 40-acre spread of manicured property that includes a covered arena and private jumping arena. Hutchison, one of the nation’s most renowned horse show jumping riders, operates a full service horse training facility with a competitive show schedule and services available to both horse and rider. Select horses for sale are also available. To learn more, please visit www.susanhutchisonstable.com.