RENO, Nev. — Reymagedon and Zane Davis were crowned the Open Futurity champions, and George Booney and Cori Shields made a clean sweep of the three Non Pro Futurity division championship titles at the inaugural Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity, presented by Lucas Oil and Protect The Harvest. The West Coast tradition of the reined cow horse sport continued Sept. 11-17 at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center.

“The support for the inaugural Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity was unbelievable, and the feedback we’ve received has been resoundingly positive, with owners and competitors already excited for 2018,” said John Ward of Tulare, Calif., one of the founders of the Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity. “Thank you to all of the sponsors, vendors, competitors, owners, horse sale consigners and buyers, and reined cow horse fans who supported the futurity and made this year a success

As the Open Futurity Champions, Davis, of Shelley, Idaho, and Reymagedon (Dual Rey X Savannah Hickory) won a $30,000 purse with a composite score of 658 (214 herd, 218 rein work, 226 fence), plus a saddle and breast collar made by Scottsdale Western, a buckle made by Skyline-Vaquero, a Custom Don Dodge Snaffle Bit donated by Greg Darnall Bits & Spurs, and Platinum Performance supplements and Lucas Oil Fast & Easy Detailing Kit.

Mark Matson
Master of Ceremonies
Midwest native Mark Matson became a horse trainer after attending college in Ohio, starting out as a horse trainer’s assistant and eventually working for some of the world’s top trainers. After eight years of assistant trainer experience, Mark went out on his own in 2001, competing in the National Reined Cow Horse Association and Working Cow Horse of the AQHA. He is a founding member of the Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association and served as President of the Valley Cow Horse Association for four years. Mark trained multiple National Champions in the NRCHA and was the 2005 NRCHA Open Hackamore World Champion. Today, he owns the Temecula Carriage Company with his lovely wife, Marika, and their 3-year-old daughter, Annabel. They offer horse drawn tours through the Temecula Valley Wine Country and conduct special events throughout Southern California.
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TEMECULA – Ingrid Vangelos can remember her childhood days in the Bay Area when she and her sister, Ruth Noring, chased one another around the house with horse whips.

“We fought like cats and dogs,” laughs Ingrid. “But then, from the time we were teen-agers on, we’ve been super close. No one was closer.”

The siblings have a horse-riding history, from their first ponies and hunter-jumper action to a point after college where horses vanished for a while. They’ve come full circle after rekindling their horse lives, and now are both active competitors as members of the Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association.

Whether you compete on your horse or not, you’ll find excellent events to attend in fall, and this month is proof!

In Norco, a new event for the equine industry presented by Thrifty Horse Consignment Shoppe will enliven the George Ingalls Equestrian Center Oct. 6-8, as the inaugural Norco Horse Affair comes to Horsetown USA. The entire venue will be teeming with demonstrations, clinics, entertainment, shopping, and an educational equine symposium. (See event program in this issue of the Horsetrader, pages 37-51!) Admission is only $15 per carload, or $5 per walk-in. Much of these proceeds with go to benefit several local area non-profit organizations. Purina Animal Nutrition will also be inviting Norco Horse Affair attendees to enter its drawing for a chance to win an all-expense paid trip for two to the Purina Nutrition Center as a 2018 Professional Horse VIP. This high-tech research facility located in Gray Summit, Mo., is a 1,200-acre working farm with separate units devoted to equine, dairy, swine, cattle and companion animal research. Caring for over 1,000 animals in every stage of development, Purina researchers seek vital new data in areas like digestive physiology, animal metabolism, and growth and development. Stop by the Purina Animal Nutrition booth in the California Horsetrader Breed Pavilion to register. Don’t forget — you can find the Norco Horse Affair Program on page 37 with the map, vendor list, daily schedules, clinician bios, and more! You won’t want to miss the All American Horse Challenge with Mary Rose Anderson (see schedule). You can also visit NorcoHorseAffair.com for more details.

Corey Cushing went 1-2 in the NSHA Open Futurity, winning $25,055 for the title on San Juan Ranch’s SJR Smooth Rio (shown here) and another $16,006 for the reserve on Moonstruck Striker, owned by Wendy Dunn.

Stacy Judd photo

PASO ROBLES — The National Reined Cow Horse Association moved its World Championship Snaffle Bit Futurity to Fort Worth starting this year, but the cradle of reined cow horse still runs strong.

The California-based National Stock Horse Association held its biggest gathering of the year Aug. 22-27 at the Paso Robles Events Center, and the only thing hotter than the heat wave was the competition.

The payouts were downright cool, especially for Corey Cushing, who took first and second in the NSHA Open Futurity on SJR Smooth Rio (Smooth As A Cat X Shiners Diamond Girl), owned by San Juan Ranch, and Moonstruck Striker (Dual Rey x Moonstruck Cat), owned by Eric and Wendy Dunn. The impressive payouts for the Championship ($25,055) and Reserve ($16,006) along with Cushing’s other money-placing — aboard Kevin and Sydney Knight’s Maliblus Most Wanted in a tie for 16th ($1,539) tallied up to a $42,600 take-home in the class.

In the Futurity Intermediate Open, the 2016 World’s Greatest Horseman Champion, Clayton Edsall, rode Bet He Sparks (Bet Hesa Cat x Sparking Train) to the win with a 658.5 composite score. Owner K & L Phillips LLC went home with a check for $8,418, along with an additional $9,234 from their fourth-place finish in the Open.

In preparation for my upcoming demonstrations at the Norco Horse Affair Oct. 6-8, I sent out a request for a fearful horse to use. Immediately, I received responses and videos. I selected the first one I received, but another horse that came in later reminded me of an 18-month-old colt that once was sent to me to start.

Starlight Sam I Am was his name, and he had a common link to the horse recently offered to me for my demo – they had a level of fear that would not be fixed in an hour’s time.

Sam’s fear was unpredictable and explosive. He was a danger to himself and anyone handling him. He lacked self-preservation, meaning if he put himself through a fence during one of his episodes — so be it. This wasn’t due to anything the owner had caused. Sam arrived with his baggage. An attempt to touch his hind legs would elicit a rapid-fire kick. One day he would accept the saddle, but the very next day while repeating the identical steps, he would flip over backward multiple times. As soon as he got to his feet, he would launch into a 20-minute bucking spree with me on the other end of the lead rope, trying to keep him contained in the round pen.

Fall is a great time of year. Temperatures start to decrease, the leaves start to change, and the major holidays are right around the corner. Before life gets away from you with family, don’t forget about your horses. In the fall, there are some routine things that you should be looking at.

This time of year, showing is usually still going strong. In order to keep your athlete ready for the task, make sure you are up to date on vaccines and deworming. In the spring, most people get their major vaccines done. Influenza and Rhinopneumonitis vaccines work well, but not for very long. It is estimated that the antibody levels they stimulate subside in seven to eight months. Therefore, it is usually recommended to give a six-month booster in the fall for these two ailments. This vaccine is typically much cheaper than the ones in the spring. There are intramuscular and intranasal products available. Discuss with your veterinarian what will work best for you.

Halie Robinson and Caracas 89 soar to victory in the 2017 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – West.

Amy McCool photo

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — The third time in the top 10 was the charm for Halie Robinson in the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – West. Having placed second and fifth in years past, Robinson rode with precision, consistency and previous experience that earned her the top call in this year’s challenging four-phase competition.

USEF Talent Search judges, Andre Dignelli, of Katonah, NY, and Patricia Griffith of New York City, designed the courses with Anthony D’Ambrosio serving as Technical Delegate. Well-suited for their roles, Dignelli won the prestigious class in 1986, and has since taken countless riders to success at this level; Griffith was second under Dignelli’s tutelage in 1998 and has been a part of Dignelli’s Heritage Farm since 1997. D’Ambrosio has been a technical delegate as well as a course designer at venues all over the world.Friday morning’s flat phase asked riders to demonstrate knowledge of the elementary principles of dressage training as they affect a show jumper’s performance. Divided into three groups, riders were tested with half-pass, counter-canter, flying lead changes and other exercises. The gymnastics phase asked riders to apply mastery of that flat work to jumping patterns, including the skills of shortening and lengthening the horse’s stride while riding the track, which proved challenging for many.

Just like with everything else, there is a program for developing great stops on your horse, and the exercise we call the collected stop is the first phase. This stop exercise is critically important because it is where you begin to teach your horse to stop with the correct form.

I think it works so well because when you do it, you’ll be pushing your horse into the stop mode rather than pulling on him. We push the horse by clucking, riding him up with our legs and softening his neck. When he assumes perfect posture, then we can let him stop. He develops great form, and the stop becomes the big reward instead of a punishment or something he starts to dread.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — It was a big equitation evening in the Blenheim Farms Indoor Arena Sept. 23. Opening ceremonies included a beautiful retirement ceremony and inception of a new Best Equitation Horse Award, the Vigo Perpetual Trophy, followed by a presentation of the Shelby Drazan Memorial Award to deserving junior rider, Juliette Joseph.

Meanwhile 38 riders prepared to ride the Jasen Shelley designed NHSAA/ASPCA Maclay Region 8 Championship course, vying for a chance to compete at the highly-anticipated ASPCA Maclay Championship.
Blenheim EquiSports hosted the NHSAA/ASPCA Maclay Region 8 Championship, one of five Regional Championships. The top placing riders from these classes, along with the three upcoming Regionals, generate the list of over 150 qualified junior riders that will take on the challenges of competing in the Alltech Arena at the CP National Horse Show in Lexington, Ky., Oct. 31-Nov. 5.