Happy Friday

Found these gorgeous images on a site called "Be Western". I'm not sure who the photographers are but these are awesome! Have a great weekend.

Friday Funny

Picture (screen capture from you tube clip)

Not really reining related, but great for a laugh! Check out this cute clip I found...and enjoy the Superbowl commercials this weekend (is there really any other reason to watch??)

West Coast Classic Wine Auction

Here is a message sent to all WCRA Members from our club president:

Hello WCRA members,

Show season is almost upon us and it's time to start getting the horses in shape and conditioned for all the big events and riding fun!

On that note it's also time to start thinking about fundraising for West Coast Classic July 13-15, 2012.

This show is the WCRA members show! It takes effort from every member to make this show succesful. Without your help, support, fundraising, ideas and entries this show is not possible.....and that would be a great loss to the BC reining industry. West Coast Classic has come by leaps and bounds and is BC's PREMIER reining event to attend.

You may remember the newly added WINE AUCTON.....a new fundraiser we did last year held in conjunction with the silent auction. The wine auction was a huge success and went over very well with excellent feedback. With such great results we decided to bring the wine auction back again for 2012!

**If we can collect 1 bottle of wine from every WCRA member, that would make this years wine auction another huge success!!**

The wine auction will be held as part of the 2012 silent auction at the West Coast Classic Location: Chilliwack Heritage Park ~ 44140 Luckakuck Way Chilliwack, BC.  Bidding will be for individual collections of wine – not individual bottles
WHAT IS BEING AUCTIONED?
Two collections of wine :
Collection #1 ~ all wines in this collection valued at $25 and over
 Collection #2 ~ all wines in this collection valued under $25

HOW TO DONATE BOTTLES:
*each bottle donated will have a tag attached identifying the donor – business cards are welcome.
*the price range of donated wines is up to the individual donor but no homemade wines can be accepted
*the WCRA West Coast Classic website will have a running tally of wine, total value & donors starting May 15th
*for those living out of town you can send us the name of the wine you would like to donate in your name, and applicable funds, and we will purchase the wine and add it to the collection or you can bring your wine to the show where bottles will be added to the wine collections until 10 a.m. Friday July 13, 2012
*the silent auction will commence at 11 a.m. Friday July 13, 2012
*all donors will be included on the website but only bottles received prior to July 8, 2012 can be guaranteed to be acknowledged on the website prior to the auction
*the silent auction will close on Sunday July 15, 2012 ~ exact time to be announced once show schedule is confirmed
*please call 250-819-1609 to arrange to drop off wine donations

HOW TO BID:
*As for all other silent auction items, you can make your bid in person on the bid sheets on the silent auction table
*Bidders must be 19 years of age or older

THE SMALL PRINT:
*The wine must be picked up, by the winner or his/her designate, at the show grounds prior to 4pm Sunday July 15, 2012
*No one under the age of 19 can bid on, or pick up, the wine collection

WE HOPE EVERYONE GETS ON BOARD AND HAS FUN WITH THIS 
PLEASE DONATE & COLLECT BOTTLES FROM ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS, COLLEGUES AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATES
~AND THEN~
GET A GROUP TOGETHER AND BID ON THE COLLECTIONS OR BID AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND START/ADD TO YOUR OWN WINE CELLAR!
~WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT OF THE WEST COAST CLASSIC~

Funds for wine donation purchases are payable to WCRA. Please mail to: WCC Wine Auction c/o Kim Stordahl Box 280 Pritchard, BC, V0E 2P0
For information or to drop off donations ~ call Kim @ 250-819-1609 or E-mail wcrareining@gmail.com

Working Cow Horse or Working Horse COW?

 Pictures: Screen Capture from You Tube clip

If you haven't seen this Youtube clip that's been floating around on FB the last few weeks, you gotta watch this. LOL! I think this cow has got this horse's number! Hilarious...

Not Really Reining Related but a feel good horse story...

Picture: Erin Bolster and "Tank" (taken from the article link below)

I came across this article this summer from a Facebook post. Here is part of the article. To read the whole thing click on the article link.

That's how she went to work that day: a young but seasoned pro rider on a new, huge and spirited horse, unarmed in the wilderness with eight dudes.
"It was a pleasant ride until we came around a corner on the trail and my horse stopped firm and wouldn't move," Bolster said. "He never refuses to go, so that caught my attention quick."
But not fast enough to avoid the spike white-tailed deer that burst out of the brush and glanced off Tonk's left front shoulder.
As Tonk spun from the impact, Bolster saw a huge grizzly bear crashing through the forest right at the group in pursuit of the deer. Horses panicked and guests grabbed saddle horns for the ride of their lives.
"No amount of training could keep a horse from running from a 700-pound charging bear," she said.
Seven of the horses sensed the danger, peeled out and galloped back on the trail toward the barn.
But Scout bolted perpendicular to the trail into the timber, packing the 8-year-old boy.
"The deer peeled off and joined the horses sprinting down the trail," Bolster said. "So the bear just continued running right past me. I'm not sure the bear even knew the roles had changed, but now it was chasing a horse instead of a deer."
The grizzly was zeroed in on Scout and the boy - the isolated prey in the woods.
Adding to the drama, the boy's father, an experienced rider, could not convince his horse that it was a good plan to ride to his son's rescue.
"The last thing he saw over his shoulder as his horse ran away was the grizzly chasing his boy," Bolster said.
With the bear on Scout's heels, Tonk's instinct was to flee with the group of horses. But Tonk responded to Bolster's heels in his ribs as she spun the big fella around. They wheeled out of a 360 and bolted into the trees to wedge between the predator and the prey.
"The boy was bent over, feet out of the stirrups, clutching the saddle horn and the horse's neck," she said. "That kept him from hitting a tree limb.
"But all I could think about was the boy falling off in the path of that grizzly.
"I bent down, screamed and yelled, but the bear was growling and snarling and staying very focused on Scout.
"As it tried to circle back toward Scout, I realized I had to get Tonk to square off and face the bear. We had to get the bear to acknowledge us.
"We did. We got its attention - and the bear charged.
"So I charged at the bear."
Did she think twice about that?
"I had no hesitation, honestly," Bolster said. "Nothing in my body was going to let that little boy get hurt by that bear. That wasn't an option."
Tonk was on the same page.
***
With a ton of horse, boulder-size hooves and a fire-breathing blonde thundering at it, the bear came within about 10 feet before skittering off to the side.
But it quickly angled to make yet another stab at getting to Scout and the boy - who had just fallen to the ground.
"Tonk and I had to go at the bear a third time before we finally hazed him away," she said.
"The boy had landed in some beargrass and was OK. Scout was standing nearby."
Bolster gathered the boy up with her on Tonk, grabbed Scout's lead and trotted down the trail.
"The boy was in shock," she said. "I looked back and could see the bear had continued to go away through he woods, but I had another five or 10 minutes of riding before I got back with the group."
Not until she reunited with her riders - all OK and standing in various stages of confusion with their horses - did she start to shake.
"I looked at Tonk, and he was wet with sweat and shaking, too," she said.
She was especially concerned for the boy's father, who probably suffered the most terror in the ordeal.
"He was fine, and I got my biggest tip of the season," Bolster said. "My biggest hope is that the boy isn't discouraged from riding. This was a one-in-a-million event."

What an awesome story! Then, a couple of weeks ago, I saw this link on David Letterman, who had also heard of the story and chose to interview her on his show. You gotta watch!

A little Inspiration?

Picture: Smokin Chic Olena (taken from Horse Courses On Line)

Looking for a little inspiration to get out and start riding? Have a look at this you tube video of Craig Johnson and and his APHA horse Smokin Chic Olena at the World Equestrian Games, doing a bridleless Reining Demo..Poetry in motion!

And to get you in the mood...

Have you seen the latest issue of NRHA's You be the Judge? How would you score this circle maneuver?

Friday Funny-Any Takers?

"Wanted: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred." – Pony Express advertisement

Not really reining related, but good for a Friday afternoon laugh. Have a great weekend everyone, and enjoy the sunshine!

A view of Reining from "the other side"

I came across this article on the NRHA's blog, and felt it was worth posting here. It is an interesting perspective on reining vs the English 4 day eventing, by John Strassburger, Horse Journal Performance Editor

Excerpts from Strassburger’s blog at www.horse-journal.com

I spent last week at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, working in the Media Center, as I’ve done for the last five years, and I’ve come home with two observations after watching the reining competition, a new and very popular addition to the event.

More than 6,700 people came to watch the two nights of Reining, which isn’t that much compared to the 62,000 who came to watch the four days of eventing. Except that the Alltech Arena, where the Reining was held, can only hold about 5,000 fans, while the cross-country course can easily accommodate much more than the 29,000 fans who enjoyed that phase on Saturday.

It took 25 years for the three-day event to reach those numbers, after a lot of work to develop the competition into the truly spectacular event that it is and a great deal of (continuing) marketing and public relations. Reining’s debut, though, was basically sold out for the freestyle on Saturday night, and I suspect that people are going to have to buy those tickets early from now on.

Four event riders—2000 Olympic individual gold medalist David O’Connor; his wife, four-time Olympian Karen O’Connor; 2008 Olympic silver medalist Gina Miles; and Australian Hamish

Cargill—borrowed horses to ride in the freestyle, and afterwards they and some of us eventing press types pondered Reining’s appeal to the fans. We were impressed by the way the crowd’s enthusiastic cheering had created an electric atmosphere rarely seen in equestrian competition. “I think there is a lot we could learn from Reining,” said David, who’s been the USEF president since 2004 and has seen a few reining events.

The biggest topic we pondered was what we could borrow from Reining to increase the connection fans feel to the competition and to the competitors? Reining is presented more like a concert or a stage show than a serious competition. The announcer plays country music or beat-driven rock music during the gaps between competitors, and even during the FEI-sanctioned event on Friday night, every horse performed with music selected by the show manager at only a slightly lower volume. And on both nights the announcer introduced each horse and rider with a tone and excitement that was closer to a monster-truck show than a golf tournament.

As a result, the crowd did lots of cheering and screaming—before, during and after each ride.

These aspects showed in stark contrast to the dressage phase we’d watched (and Karen and Hamish had ridden in) on Thursday and Friday. There, the atmosphere was hushed, rather like a putting green, as the British-accented announcers serenely introduced the horses and riders, with no music playing.

Nevertheless, the fans in the Rolex Stadium—10,962 on Friday and 6,810 on Thursday—did cheer mightily at the end of each test, often seriously surprising the horses.

We weren’t quite sure what eventing (as well as the other two Olympic sports of show jumping and dressage) could borrow from Reining. A particular challenge is that international-caliber horses in these three disciplines are almost always high-octane horses who would become unhinged by pounding music and cheering during their tests. Plus, Reining’s atmosphere would be outrageous to many Europeans and to many dressage riders, European or American.

But why couldn’t show managers and announcers raise the bar and borrow from the managers and announcers of Reining and rodeo? Play low-volume music; tell the folks something interesting—with excitement—about the horses and riders. Anything to make it less like watching a chess match.

At events like Rolex Kentucky, the announcers always attempt to explain how the (dressage) horses achieve their scores, and riders analyze where they gained and lost points, to themselves and in response to journalists’ questions. The scores the judges give are a major point of focus for everyone, and riders often question or criticize those scores.

But in Reining, the scores seem to materialize out of thin air. I’ve probably covered or worked at half a dozen reining competitions, and I’ve yet to hear a reiner question or criticize a judge’s marks.

These differences are, I think, largely a matter of culture and personality, but they’re manifested in the different sports’ public presentation. After last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, there was tremendous debate about the relative merits and faults of a Spanish Andalusian who performed an expressive and hugely popular freestyle test—finishing to waves of cheering—but didn’t get a medal. Dressage purists, including the judges, pointed to technical deficiencies they saw, and analysis of the marks showed that the horse had scored clearly lower on the technical side than the medalists.

Meanwhile, others cried, “How can dressage ever be popular if the most engaging and popular performance doesn’t win, doesn’t even get a medal? People won’t watch what they don’t understand.”

In the Reining freestyle on Saturday night, the winner wasn’t the showiest or the funniest. His freestyle was done to a more melancholy song, and while beautiful, it didn’t have the same flavor as those done to more raucous music with showier choreography and costumes. And he did spin better and galloped faster than everybody else. I’d say that in the aftermath he got a bit overwhelmed by the eventing “celebrities” and by the two more entertaining performances, but I didn’t hear anyone complain that it was a blot on Reining’s reputation that he got the highest score.

I seem to be suggesting that those of us in the Olympic disciplines pay too much attention to the scores, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near that simple. How do you have a competition if you don’t keep score? You can’t—then it’s just a demonstration or a social event. But maybe we could make it just a bit more fun?

If these thoughts seem a bit scattered, it’s because they are. The atmosphere at the Reining freestyle is something I’ve only rarely experienced in 30 years of covering equine competitions. That it’s fun and popular and that we English disciplines should glean some sort of “take-away message” from that experience feels obvious, but it’s hard to figure out exactly what that message should be.

But I’d certainly pay good money to see a dressage freestyle with a horse is wearing an Afro wig and sunglasses and the rider wearing a psychedelic, thigh-length mini-dress and white go-go boots.

The National Reining Horse Association is not responsible for information contained in this posting. Please contact the author or submitting organization for further information, requests, or questions.

Love it! A Reining Shetland Pony!

Pictures (Screen captures from attached video, below)

Check it out. Here is a video of a shetland pony completing NRHA reining pattern 8. (Scroll down the page until you find"Fred Thomsson & Engla Gillstrom Steiner)
This is so cute, and once again is a good demonstration of the fact that ANY horse can do a reining pattern! And I LOVE the commentator!

West Coast Classic Entry Forms now available

Entry forms are now available for the WCRA's premiere event, West Coast Classic. You can download the entry form from the WCRA's website. Entry Fees must be postmarked by June 15th.
Volunteers and Sponsors are needed in order to make this show a success. So even if you aren't planning to show, what a great opportunity to get involved and learn more about the sport of reining from the ground level.

DONATE to the West Coast Classic Wine Auction ~ be part of the fun and help raise funds for the show
* each bottle donated will be tagged with the donor's name or business card
* members, friends & businesses are all encouraged to donate

Call Sharon 604 202-9131 to arrange for drop off in person at the WCC or with a sealed bid by mail as an individual or form a bidding group


BID on the wine collections:
(All wines and donors will be listed on the West Coast Classic website)

AUCTION ITEMS:
1. WINE COLLECTION #1 all wines valued at $25 or over
2. WINE COLLECTION #2 all wines valued at under $25

A SUCCESSFUL BIDDING GROUP could:
Place all of the bottles on a table and let each person choose one bottle in rotation or Get together & divide the bottles by:
* wine varietals and have wine tastings
* price range and have wine tastings
* countries and have theme dinners for each country
the options are endless!
For full details please visit the West Coast Classic website at www.wcra.info
BIDDERS MUST BE 19 OR OLDER

So how about it, Sliders?? Should we donate as a club a few bottles? Would members be interested in getting together to put forward a bid for one of the collections??

Here's the latest installment of "You Be The Judge". How would you score this stop/rollback?

I just wanted to thank my viewers! Over the weekend the Sliders Blog passed the 10,000 views mark. Since I only started the count this past fall, that means all of those views have been in the last eight months!!
However, you are a quiet bunch! I rarely receive comments...which in my mind would make this blog truly successful. So I invite you, especially if you are a regular reader, to help make this blog a good place for people to "join the conversation". Start with this post by telling me who you are, what you like about the blog, what you would like to see more of, or any other tidbits of information you would like to share!

BAAAAAHHHHH!!

This is brilliantly funny!! Have a look at this rider questioning a judge about her placing in a class...
Here's (in part) what the Fugly Blog had to say...I couldn't have said it any better...

"...They show up at a show with a horse they can’t ride, turned out in a manner that wouldn’t pass muster at 4-H. They are not in control; in fact, they are a hazard to other riders. They scoff at the idea that their horse needs professional training and instead brag that they are doing it all themselves because they have such a wonderful bond with their horse (who is running around on the wrong lead, bucking). Or they have exactly the trainer described in the video. And then, when they do not get a ribbon for exactly the reasons described in the video, they run around saying it’s all politics.
...when you show up unprepared, untrained, out of control and looking like the equine edition of People of Walmart, you are not going to get a ribbon, and it is not the judge’s fault. The judge is a horse professional and it’s true that not all judges are equally talented (duh!) and it may also be true that the judge may have some preferences that are not your trainer’s preferences or last week judge’s preferences. But this is the nature of the game you have freely chosen to participate in. If you do talk to the judge to get input on your ride, please be polite and respectful and don’t argue or try to defend yourself. You just paid this person to critique you — don’t make them sorry for doing their job. If your horse wins under every other judge, and this particular judge hated him, and you had the same ride you always do, and the same horses were in the class, hey, that sucks but sometimes those are the breaks. More likely, your horse or you truly weren’t as good today as the horses who took home the ribbons. If that is happening every time, and you truly don’t know why (and your trainer cannot tell you why except to cry “politics!”), it’s time to haul out discreetly for a lesson with another trainer or two and see if perhaps the flawed opinion stalling your show career is your trainer’s and not the judge’s. Sometimes even a very talented trainer can just plain miss something, or fail to find a way to explain something to you in a way that allows you to correct it.

So don’t be the person in the video — be a grown-up, accept the criticism you paid for, save your bitching for the truck on the way home if you must vent, and come on back and do it again and again. That’s the only way you ultimately start papering your wall with ribbons!"

Absolutley Priceless!

(All Pictures are screen captures from the You Tube video-see link below)

This horse being a palomino is definitely not false advertising-he's solid gold!! Have a look at 5 year old Wyatt Deery and his reining horse Dun Dual. The future of reining is in good shape if this is the face of our up and coming youth! This video made my day!

Lyle Lovett adds star power to reining event

The article below was taken from the following site:

http://www.kentucky.com/2011/04/30/1725111/lovett-adds-star-power-to-reining.htm

PICTURE: Lyle Lovett riding Smart and Shiney, Photo by Pablo Alcala

At the Kentucky Horse Park on Friday night, a gutsy group of amateur reining riders competed against some of the top professionals in the sport in the 2011 Ariat Kentucky Reining Cup.

They held their own, and they said they loved the chance to ride with the best.

Four-time Grammy Award winner Lyle Lovett said riding in the Alltech Arena was a thrill. This was the first year that reining was included in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event.

"I was here for the World Equestrian Games, and when I was invited to ride in the Rolex, nothing was keeping me from doing that," said Lovett, who rode his horse Smart and Shiney on the Ariat corporate team.

With a busy music schedule, Lovett said he doesn't get to ride "nearly enough. But I ride every chance I get." He performs a show in North Carolina on Saturday night.

Also on the team were Canadian rider Lisa Coulter, who rode in the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, and Shawn Flarida, a member of the gold medal reining team at WEG. The Ariat Team finished fourth in the team competition.

Another amateur, Mandy McCutcheon, competes occasionally against pros, but not often against the likes of her husband, Tom McCutcheon, and her father, Tom McQuay, both of whom rode in Friday night's competition.

Both men were on the gold medal reining team at WEG.

With sassy charm, Mandy McCutcheon said of women competing against top-flight men, "Anything they can do, we can do better, right?" She finished fourth among the 20 contestants, riding Don Julio Whiz. She had ridden the horse only twice before, both times earlier this week.

Mandy was on the first-place Clark Oil team with her father and Sam Smith.

Flarida finished as the top individual rider, winning $50,000 in prize money. He rode KR Lil Conquistador, a horse with career earnings of $440,000.

Flarida, who lives outside of Dayton, Ohio, is one of reining's top money winners with $4 million in prize money in his career.

In a media conference after the awards ceremony, Tom McCutcheon said the publicity WEG brought reining has been a boost for the sport.

"We are growing and getting a new group of people interested in reining," he said.

In the audience Friday night were Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife, Jane, an accomplished rider who took a reining lesson last fall during WEG, and Wil James, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing's plant in Georgetown.

Reining results

Individual results, with rider, horse and score:

1 Shawn Flarida, KR Lil Conquistador 226.5

2 Craig Schmersal, Miss Lil Addy Tude 225.0

3 Craig Schmersal, Mister Montana Nic 224.5

4 Mandy McCutcheon, Don Julio Whiz 223.0

5 Tom McCutcheon, Chic Olena Starbuck222.5

6 Tim McQuay, Rudy Dun It 221.0

7 Casey Hinton, Play Dual Rey 220.5

8 Craig Schmersal, Dancer Nic 220.5

9 Shane Brown, Houston Shine 220.0

10 Mandy McCutcheon, Chexy Dunit 218.5

11 Sam Smith, Paid By Corona 218.0

12 Jose Vazquez, Wound By Juice 218.0

13 Mathew Palmer , Whale Of A Whiz 217.0

14 Lisa Coulter , Western Whiz 217.0

15 Pete Kyle, Whizs Bronze Star 215.5

16 Jared Leclair , Electric Code 215.0

17 Lisa Coulter, Hollywood Aces 215.0

18 Cynthia M. Bearden, High Roller Rooster214.5

19 Marilyn Farley, She Supreme Chic 209.5

20 Lyle Lovett, Smart And Shiney 207.5

Test Your Juding Ability

Here is the latest installment of "You Be the Judge". How would you score this spin??

Fraser Valley Reining Club Schooling Show

The Fraser Valley Reining Club (WCRA Chapter) are holding a Reining Schooling Show, SUNDAY, APRIL 17 (the same day as our Sliders Schooling Show). Here is another opportunity to get out and try a reining pattern on your horse in a low stress environment, and at a low cost. You can download the class list from their newly revamped website.

Our 5th Set of photo Contest Winners

This weeks category was "HUMOROUS MOMENTS". Thanks to everyone who submitted pictures of your equine in their more "goofy" moments!
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FOLLOWING WINNERS!!

FIRST AND PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD
SHARON GATES-"JUMP FOR JOY"


SECOND MANDY PINCOTT "COW HORSE JUMP"


THIRD CRYSTAL GRIER, "CUTE FACE"

Thanks to everyone for your submissions. You can view all the entries by viewing the contest Facebook site.

Be sure to check out the site for next weeks submissions for the contest. The category will be "Training Moments"

Our 4th Set Of Photo Contest Winners!

This weeks category was "FABULOUS FOALS". Thanks to everyone who submitted your fantastic baby pictures! It certainly got me excited about seeing this spring's new crop of babies!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR FOLLOWING WINNERS!!

FIRST, CRYSTAL GRIER-MOTHER AND FOAL

SECOND-MANDY PINCOTT-NEW BORN FOAL

THIRD-SHARON GATES-MOTHER AND NEWBORN


PEOPLES CHOICE-THERE WAS A TIE!
LOUISE GARRARD-BABY MULE


SHARON GATES-BABY SLIDING STOP

Thanks to everyone again for all your wonderful submissions. To view all of the pictures in this category go here: Fabulous Foals

NEXT WEEKS CATEGORY IS-HUMOROUS MOMENTS
send us your best shots of your horses in their "goofy" moments!