ELK GROVE — It figures that on the most patriotic of weekends, in a show called the Star Spangled Slide, in a sport that is truly American, that the happiest reiner may have been the one from France.

Eric Laporte, who came to Pleasant Grove two years ago, was very happy after a standout showing in the West Coast Reining Horse Association’s fifth affiliate show of 2014, held July 3-6 at Brookside Equestrian Park. Laporte continued a strong year on Linda Hardy’s mare, Whiz N Steady, by taking the Open, Novice Horse and the NRHA $2,500-added Open Level 4 and Level 3 Derby titles — marking a 75 and 76.

Jan Ebeling announced July 13 that he has withdrawn the popular Rafalca from the CDI4* Aachen and contention for the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

The Moorpark-based Ebeling decided that the welfare of the 17-year-old Oldenburg mare, owned by Beth Meyer, Ann Romney, and Amy Ebeling, was paramount, and that it would be in the best interest of World Cup and 2012 Olympic Games veteran to retire from competition.

Reiner Bill Norwood of Temecula is headed to the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, next month to compete for his native Australia with Pegge Aldrete’s Quinberry, and more than 120 friends and supporters came to Tucalota Creek Ranch July 12 to give his campaign a boost.

Hosts Alan and Kay Needle provided a beautiful setting for the fund-raising dinner and wine-tasting, and the entertainment came from three local world-class local trainers, cutter Tim Smith, eventer Tamra Smith and Norwood himself — all of whom took a stab at each other’s disciplines before an appreciative crowd. Smith and Norwood brought down the house by donning jumper helmets — not the pants — and clearing 4-feet on their first attempt. The evening of fun raised about $11,000 towards Norwood’s expenses.

FORT WORTH, Texas — When the dust settled in the Will Rogers Memorial Center after the 2014 AjPHA World Championship Show June 27-July 5, it was clear the APHA’s future is bright in California.

Sixteen-year-old Drew Rogers of Bakersfield and 15-year-old Aubree Scobie of Paso Robles each returned home with respective 2014 AjPHA World Championship All Around titles. Rogers, who trains with Ryan Painter of Pilot Point, Texas, took the 10-year-old sorrel overo mare, Shez Eye Candy, to the All Around Youth 14-18 championship. Scobie, trained by her mother Rachel Scobie along with Bobbie Emmons of Plymouth, took Gameplan, a 14-year-old tobiano gelding, to the All Around Novice Youth crown.

SUSSEX, England — Liz Halliday-Sharp capped off a busy schedule at Eridge Horse Trials last weekend June 29 by taking victory in the Five-Year-Old section with Flynn. The British-based Californian, competing on six horses in four categories at the Kent venue, also achieved top-10 results with Swift, Chaco, and Blackie on her most frenetic weekend of 2014 so far.

However, it was Chailey Stud’s new additions that stole the limelight with Flynn finishing on a superb Dressage score of 21.5 after going double clear in Show Jumping and Cross Country. Fellow newcomer Swift also performed brilliantly on his Novice debut – just the second event together with Liz – producing a positive Dressage display alongside strong Show Jumping and Cross Country rounds to finish a respectable 10th after a few penalties against the stopwatch.

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Independence Day was a hit at the beach, especially for rider Kristin Hardin on Bert, who captured Saturday’s $25,000 GGT Footing Grand Prix, presented by S&S Bankcard Systems, at the Huntington Beach Surf Classic July 3-6.

The pair’s jump-off time of 28.841 edged Lane Clarke on Kiss The Sky, owned by Horsemanship Unlimited, who came in at 29.106.

“The horses jumped so great,” said Hardin, who put the pedal to the metal in crunch time. “You can really take a shot when the footing is that perfect in the jump-off.”

Head tossing, bucking, bolting, biting, rearing, striking — whether you ride arena or trail, English or Western, having a safe, broke horse is built from the ground up.

71st in a series
After wrapping up lope departures last issue, now we’ll learn a new exercise that help us gauge if all the horse’s zones are working together.

A unique futurity concept is now offered by the Santa Ynez Valley Arabian Horse Association for geldings bred in the Santa Ynez Valley. Prize money is available for these Arabian geldings as yearlings, 2-year olds and 3-year olds, with the geldings set to be sold on Tuesday, July 29, on Addis Online Auctions.com. Geldings that were foaled in 2013 are nominated by their breeders to the sale, and the new owner purchases a gelding that comes with a Futurity Right that will have payouts in 2014, 2015 and 2016! On projected figures, it is expected that it will be the biggest payout for futurity geldings existing in the U.S. The current nomination fees alone are $39,000 — not including their sale price -– which makes for a pretty exciting opportunity for buyers to take advantage of. Your gelding could pay for himself and then some! All Futurity classes are for amateur handlers and will take place at this fall’s Arabian Foal Festival on Oct. 4-5. See their ad on page 13, and visit www.SYVAHA.com to view the world class geldings available!

Third in a series

GETTING STARTED
When you learned to drive your parents’ car, you weren’t simply given the keys with the expectation that you knew how to drive, even if you had spent 15 years observing from the back seat. You were taught in a systematic and safe manner to avoid accidents and injury to others.