BURBANK — Not even badly needed rain showers could dampen spirits at the California Reining Horse Association’s 2016 Challenge Show, held Oct 26-30 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.
Exhibitors from all across California as well as Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming and other points north, south and east came to participate in National Reining Horse Association Finals, Year-end Special Award Events, parties, futurities, derbies, an inaugural para-reining class, youth meetings, and more.

Events kicked off with a CRHA-hosted omelet Bar on Friday morning, setting the tone for Saturday night’s exhibitor party sponsored by longtime CRHA supporter Danny Gerardi. Italian food, a well-stocked bar and a deejay got spirits flowing in time for the evening’s exciting NRHA Open Futurity, where Nicolas Barthelemy, riding Manny Rojo’s WRS Shiney Diamond, swept all divisions L1, L2, L3 and L4, marking a 150 for their big win.

Megan Noelle Wilson and Classic’s Mojah, a 7-year-old Oldenburg former dressage prospect with Steffen Peters, soared to the Training Division A title at the Galway Downs International Event.

capturedmomentphoto.com photo

TEMECULA — Galway Downs International is a popular year-end destination for West Coast eventers, offering not only international CCI divisions, but also a chance to tackle a traditional long format event with their USEA Classic Series divisions. These proved increasingly popular at Galway Nov. 4-6, with entries warranting two training three-day divisions.

Megan Noelle Wilson and her own Classic’s Mojah (Chambertin x Sevillano) led the Training Three-Day A division from start to finish. The 7-year-old Oldenburg was originally slated for a career in dressage, and carried theses skills into the first phase of competition, scoring a 26 on the flat.

Big Horse Feed and Mercantile “Gift Registry” is the best way to avoid gift giving disasters this holiday season. The gift registry is the perfect opportunity to graciously tell your loved ones what you’d truly like for Christmas. Both registrants and their loved ones will receive 15 percent off any purchase of registry items (restrictions apply). That’s Big Horse savings! And ladies, it’s your night…Ladies Night on Dec. 6, 6-8 p.m.! There’ll be food and refreshments as well as 20 percent savings on your Christmas shopping.

David Hanson takes Aces High Whiz, owned by Larry Lease, to a pressure-packed 73.5 in a run-off to win the WCRHA Open title.

John O’Hara photo

RANCHO MURIETA — A beautiful autumn weekend at Murieta Equestrian Center played host to the West Coast Reining Horse Association Year End Show Oct. 20-23. With eight saddles, $21,000 in added money, buckles to champions and reserves and even more prizes up for grabs, this premier Northern California show didn’t take long to hit a high note.

With a four-way tie and run-off for the Open championship saddle, Aces High Whiz owned by Larry Lease and shown by David Hanson, won the run-off with a 73.5 to win. Jennifer Gilliam and her gelding, Hick A Shine, and Martin Padilla showing Diamond Oak captured the Co-Championship in the Open 7 & Up Maturity and Reserve Championship in the Open class with a score of 73.

HEY RAY! I recently adopted a 5-year-old Thoroughbred mare off the track. She behaves well except when I put a saddle on. Then she gets antsy and walks on top of me and sometimes rears. But once the saddle is on, she’s fine. How do I get her to stop before she gets too dangerous?
–April Zimmerman, Aguanga, Calif

As we discussed in last month’s column, the more you properly handle your horse prior to getting started, the easier the first ride will be for both the horse and rider. The best time to start your colt depends on the breed and also on the intended use — is the training for a specific performance? Build a strong foundation? A longtime companion for trail?

When you have been exposed to driving as much as I have, you tend to see the same issues with harnessing, adjustment, and form-to-function almost every time you see someone driving.
When a harness and vehicle are properly adjusted to each other, the effect should be that the horse leans into the collar and can immediately be in draught, or lean back and be into the breeching. If the traces or breeching are incorrectly adjusted, then too much slop and slack is created that can be annoying to the equine trying to do his job.

Now that we have learned how to “rate” our speed, let’s take a look at handling too much forward motion.

Now I’m going to tell you how to deal with a horse that’s a bit chargey. That is, he has a lot more forward motion than you enjoy, and not as much control as you would like. It’s a common problem, but you’ve got to fix it.

I’ve learned how to deal with this kind of horse by working on their neck and by reverse psychology. If he wants to go faster and push me, that is, if he wants to choose speed, I don’t like that idea much. I’m paying for the feed here, and I should get to make those choices. But what do I do? I can’t whip him; he’s too big. So I’ll make him think I agree with him and let him go, but when he wants to slow down, I’m not going to let him. And all the time I’m going to keep his shoulders up, occasionally asking him to frame up, but I’m going to keep him going right along. When he wants to slow, sentence him to three laps more. He’ll be saying, “Hey buddy, I’m getting a little tired here.” He’ll look back at you (and that alone makes it worth it) and say, “Why don’t you slow me down?” And you say, “Why? I’m starting to like this!” You want to ride him until he’s thrilled with the idea of stopping. Don’t cripple him, mind you, but make him look forward to you deciding when it’s time to quit. Then ride to the middle of the arena, let him stop, get off, unsaddle and give him his reward.