What song would you want playing while you show?

Click on the link and keep an eye out for Joe Wolfe. He is the best, a good fella and a friend.
http://vimeo.com/7925984

Watch the NRHA Futurity live online

I can't be there but I still love to see wht is going on at the Futurity. Great times, great rides and all the good people. Follow the link to watch the rides.

http://www.nrhafuturity.com/coliseum.php

2008 NRBC to air on Wide World of Horses on RFD-TV

Excitement and anticipation filled the arena as run after polished run was made at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy Texas. The 2008 National Reining Breeders Classic was a show no one wanted to miss.

Watching Shawn Flarida and Mandy McCutcheon earn the top two spots in the Open and Non Pro divisions, Topsail Whiz becoming the first NRBC Million Dollar Sire, Brent Wright earn Million Dollar National Reining Horse Association Status, and KR Lil Conquistador become the highest money earning horse in NRHA history made the day of many reining fans.

Luckily, those highlights and moments can be seen again when the NRBC airs on Wide World of Horses on RFD-TV June 2 and June 30.

Read the entire story in the Equestrian Mag.


Shawn Flarida

Charlie Hutton from Hilldale Farm talks about the move from Tennessee to Kentucky

A packed house greeted Dr. Charlie Hutton here Wednesday when he talked to local residents about the factors that led him to relocate his quarterhorse operation to Caldwell County.
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Hutton, who entered the horse business after teaching at the university level for 15 years, and his wife Tammye rely solely on the Hilldale Farm operation for their livelihood.

“We have no other income — everything we earn comes from our horses,” he told a crowd of about 45 people. “We are different from most horse operations because we are not only breeders, but trainers, too.”

And the business objective is simple — “we must raise the best quarterhorses possible.”
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Hilldale Farm gained national prominence in 1999 when Hutton rode to two all-time records on Nu Chex To Cash, becoming the American Quarterhorse Association’s all-time leading open reining point earner, and Nu Chex To Cash became the only horse to ever earn national high point championships in reining and working cowhorse in the same year.



Nu Chex To Cash is one of eight living studs who have sired winnings over $1 million in reining competition. Total earnings of its offspring are now at $1.3 million.

Read the entire article in the Times Leader newspaper from Princeton, Kentucky.

Tennessee Reining Horse Shows in 2008

2008 Calendar of Events

April 25-27 – NRHA/TNRHA Approved Show, Harriman, TN
July 12-13 – NRHA/TNRHA Approved Show, Harriman, TN
August 9-10 – NRHA/TNRHA Approved Show, Harriman, TN
October 17-19 – NRHA/TNRHA Approved Show, Murfreesboro, TN

Reining Horse and Freestyle Reining

The traditional ride with no extra show or glitz. Simply showing skill and ability of the rider and the horse.
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These next few pictures show a freestyle reining show which allows the chance to show off and have fun with the horse and be very creative.







Learn more at the National Reining Horse Association website.

Cynicism and the NRHA Futurity

Lots of pretty little three year olds are being prepared to make the journey to Oklahoma City for the NRHA Futurity. The planning for many of these prospects took place about this same time in the year 2002.

The Quarter Horse News Stallion Registry arrived and mare owners browsed the stallion ads, looking for the "hot cross" on bloodlines similar to their mares. Phones call were made, contracts were mailed, fees were paid and in the spring of 2003 the mares were shipped off to the stallion station or the fresh cooled semen was shipped to the mare. In some cases multiple embryos were flushed from famous mare, or frozen semen was thawed from busy and even deceased stallions.

Veterinarians were called, palpations and ultrasounds performed, and if the reproduction angels were smiling, mares were checked safe in foal somewhere around 45 days post breeding.

In early 2004 most of the current crop of futurity hopefuls foaled out and owners registered them with official names that they hoped sounded good when called by the announcers! As late yearlings, owners now made plans to send the colts and fillys off to trainers and again, journals were browsed, phone calls were made, and fees were paid. Trainer's opinions helped owners determine if the the futurity payments should be started.

This year's futurity hopefuls have had approximately 23 months of formal training.

And the reason that I don't have one is that I ADDED UP ALL THE COSTS TO GET THERE! (This is something that trainers, vets, and breeders never ever want you to do).

Read the cost and more interesting stuff at The Practical Guide to Reining.

The Reining King aka Shawn Flarida

Reining is a crowd-pleaser with its showy sliding stops, speedy spins and controlled-speed circles, moves that originated from cowboys' herding cattle on the ranch. The idea is to make it look effortless, and Shawn Flarida has gone around the world doing just that.

"In my mind, I've never had a real job," Shawn Flarida said this week as he kicked up a cloud of dust riding in the outdoor arena of his farm near Springfield in Clark County. "I get to do something I absolutely love to do."



Five years ago, Flarida bought 72 acres on Beard Road, mowed down the crops and built a home, a 35-stall barn, an indoor and outdoor arena and a fenced pasture. He boards and trains 35 reining horses, all owned by others. Nineteen of them will go to the Congress, and Flarida will compete on nine.

Read the full article about this sport and this legend in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper.

Inspiration from the Reining Blog

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will.
It's all in the state of mind.

Read more in "The Victor" from the Reining Blog

This is the picture that was on "The Victor" post.