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Meet the 2010 USEF Reining Team to Compete at World Equestrian Games

Written by Erin Haynes (photos by Sonny Williams)

Team USA

The last day of competition at the Battle in the Saddle in Oklahoma City saw the final sections of the Adequan/USEF Reining Team Selection Trials, which would determine the team to represent the U.S. at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Kentucky. At the end of a night of exciting, no-holds-barred reining in which horses and riders battled for one of four coveted spots on Team USA, the result was a team that even the most cautious would be hard-pressed to describe as anything but “stacked.”

Other words that describe the newly anointed team? Horsepower. Star power. Experience. Consistency. Representing the U.S. will be Shawn Flarida on RC Fancy Step, Tom McCutcheon on Gunners Special Nite, Craig Schmersal on Boom Shernic, Tim McQuay on Hollywoodstinseltown and alternate Casey Deary on Rootin Tootin Dunit.

RC Fancy Step and Shawn Flarida

After two days of world-class reining, it was RC Fancy Step (Wimpys Little Step x Sonita Wilson x Doc Wilson) and Flarida who claimed the gold medal in the USEF trials. Flarida and the 6-year-old stallion, owned by Buffalo Ranch, Fort Worth, Texas, marked a 223.5 for the lead in the first round of reining on Thursday, July 8. The second round, second section of reining on Saturday, July 10, was the ultimate nail-biter, as three of the four winners – Flarida and RC Fancy Step, McCutcheon and Gunners Special Nite and Schmersal and Boom Shernic – were determined in the last three draws. Flarida and the flashy stallion rode to a 223 in the second round and ultimately topped the podium with a composite score of 446.5.

“RC Fancy Step was good as a 3-year-old, and he’s gotten a little better the older he’s got,” Flarida said. “He won the [2009 NRHA] Derby. He’s just been great.”

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McCutcheon and Gunners Special Nite (also APHA-registered as Colonels Nite Special) claimed silver with a composite score of 445.5. The 6-year-old stallion (Colonels Smoking Gun x Mifs Doll x Mifillena) and McCutcheon marked a 220.5 in the first round, followed by a solid 225, the highest score marked in the second round.

“I’ve always loved that horse, and he has not disappointed me,” McCutcheon said of Gunners Special Nite, recently purchased by Turnabout Farm Inc, Gloucester, Mass. “He’s a super star, a lot of fun. He makes me look like I know what I’m doing.”

Gunners Special Nite and Tom McCutcheon

Hot off their Open Reserve Championship at the 2010 NRHA Derby, Schmersal and Boom Shernic (Boomernic x She And Chic Dunit x Smart Chic Olena) landed the third spot on the podium Saturday night by marking a two-day combined score of 444. Schmersal has continuously praised the honesty of his 6-year-old stallion, who marked a 221 in the first round, followed by a 223.

“My horse has just been so consistent, and I think that’s the same for all of us,” Schmersal said of Boom Shernic who is owned by the Boom Shernic Syndicate.

McQuay and Hollywoodstinseltown (Hollywood Dun It x Miss Tinseltown x Great Red Pine) rounded out the four-man team with a total score of 443.5, the result of a first-round score of 219.5 and an impressive 224 second-round score. McQuay was especially happy to make the team on a horse he has had so much history with.

“Hollywoodstinseltown, he’s been with me his whole life,” McQuay said of the palomino stallion. “I’ve been very fortunate to have Dave and Bonnie Silva be a customer for 30 years. They raised him, and he’s their pride and joy. He’s part of my life; he’s by Hollywood Dun It. It just makes me really proud to be able to take him there.”

Casey Deary and Rootin Tootin Dunit (Gallo Del Cielo x This Is How Its Dun x Hollywood Dun It), owned by Wolf Stern Partnership, Horse Cave, Ky., will be joining Team USA as alternates. The duo marked a 218.5 in the first round and came back with an exciting run in the second round, marking a 222 for a combined score of 440.5. Deary began working with the horse just before the 2010 National Reining Breeders Classic, and it took the NRBC and NRHA Derby to work out some of the kinks in the new partnership.

“This was important me, for me to get a chance to prove to my owners that I can do the job,” Deary said.

Boom Shernic and Craig Schmersal

The newly-formed team is a cast of experienced characters. Flarida, Schmersal and McCutcheon were on the first US reining team to compete at the WEG in 2002 in Spain, while McQuay represented the US in 2006 in Germany. Both Games saw the US win the team gold medal, and Flarida was also the first individual gold medalist in reining at the 2002 WEG. The horses, all six-year-old stallions, have many successes on their resumes, each with earnings near to or more than $200,000.

The 2010 team will travel to Lexington, Ky., to compete against teams from 29 other countries for team and individual medals in reining. For more information on the WEG, visit www.alltechfeigames.com.

Hollywoodstinseltown and Tim McQuay

Rootin Tootin Dunit and Casey Deary

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