reys-a-shine

NRCHA Derby Crowns Champions

reys-a-shineReys A Shine, Chris Dawson and Carol RoseNot all plans work out the way you envisioned, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be a happy ending. Carol Rose didn’t intend on campaigning Reys A Shine (Dual Rey x Lil Miss Shiney Chex x Shining Spark), but when an opportunity presented itself, Rose made the most of it. Now she has another champion to add to her long list as a breeder and the added bonus of also being the owner, as Chris Dawson and Rose’s homebred Reys A Shine won the National Reined Cow Horse Association Open Derby on Saturday, June 20, with a composite score of 666.5 (219.5 herd/223.5 rein/223.5 cow). The pair picked up the Open Novice title earlier in the week in Paso Robles, California, and Rose and Dawson both agree that the horse really earned the “novice” part of that title.

“I’m just so proud because of all the circumstances that have happened around this horse,” Rose said. “I thank Chris so much for the outstanding job. If it wasn’t for Don Murphy and Guillermo Perez, this wouldn’t have happened.”

While most of the horses competing against Reys A Shine were preparing for a 3-year-old campaign, Reys A Shine’s ownership was being disputed in the courts stemming from a lawsuit after Rose’s dispersal sale. His competition is probably thankful that he spent a year making laps around the walker instead of chasing cows around the arena.

“For 15 months this horse was tied up in litigation, and Don coached Guillermo to get him broke,” Rose said. “This is the horse’s third horse show. I think this is the first horse that I’ve owned – that I still owned – that won a major event. I’m just so proud of Chris and Sarah and Chris’ help at home. The best part is that Gabriel Gonzalez that worked for me for 27 years helped drive me out here, and he flew back to help me drive back home and help us prepare this horse. Gabriel is here to help us, and it’s just thrilling to have him here.”  

Dawson showed the horse for the first time at the Arizona Sun Circuit in January, and he describes him as acting like a 2-year-old.

“He’s just gotten better every time,” Dawson said of the horse who earned $31,408 for the win. “He wants to be a really good show horse.”

Intermediate Open

Nicolas Barthelemy took his 22-month-old son Cade on a victory lap in the practice pen after picking up the Open Derby Reserve Championship and Intermediate Open Championship on Sheri Jamieson’s Sonita Lena Rey (Dual Rey x Sonita Lena Chick x Smart Chic Olena). With a composite score of 664 (223 herd/ 216 rein/ 225 cow), the 4-year-old stallion was just 1.5 points behind the winner. Sonita Lena Rey, who had the highest score in the herd work and the fence work in the finals, picked up a check for $29,686 for the effort.

Bred by Jim Holmes of Colorado, Jamieson purchased the stallion as a late yearling from Cottonwood Springs Ranch’s dispersal sale.

“As soon as we got him out, we knew that we had something there,” Barthelemy said. “We knew that was a horse that we wanted to get. Thankfully we have such a great client in Sheri Jamieson, and she got him. Since then it’s been a blast training him. We’re looking forward to more.”

Limited Open

Sons-in-law often get a bad rap, but Chris Dawson found a way to get brownie points with his future father-in-law, Richard Winters. Dawson sold Winters Bugs Boony (Peptoboonsmal x Shiney Tari x Shining Spark), who Winters rode to the Limited Open Championship after earning a composite score of 647.5 (210 herd/ 218 rein/ 219.5 cow). They took home a check for $5,510.

Winters has a long list of equestrian accomplishments to his credit such as being the 2009 Road to the Horse – Colt Starting Challenge Champion, but he was quick to thank Dawson for his help with the 5-year-old gelding leading up to the NRCHA Derby.

“[Chris] showed this horse very successfully at the Futurity,” said Winters, whose daughter, Sarah, married Dawson last year. “We were looking for an aged event horse, and purchased the horse from him. We’ve been showing him this last year and trying to get to know him. I had some good success at the Hackamore Classic with him a few weeks ago.

“To come here and get a little piece of it in the Limited Open is exciting,” Winters added. “I certainly want to thank Chris and Sarah for not only all the hard work that they’ve done with that horse, but coaching me with the horse since I’ve had him. The tables have been turned.”

Non-Pro

elizabeth-kaniaElizabeth Kania and Uno What Time It FloElizabeth Kania is making the most of her last months in the show pen before heading to graduate school this fall. Kania and Uno What Time It Flo (Uno What Time It Is x Dew It Flo x Mr Peponita Flo) made it a triple at the National Reined Cow Horse Derby, picking up the Non-Pro, Intermediate Non-Pro and the Novice Non-Pro titles. The wins came on the heels of their reserve championship in the Non-Pro and Intermediate and Novice championships at the NRCHA Stakes in Las Vegas at the end of March.

“The finals herd work was better than the prelims,” Kania said with a laugh when running through her finals classes. “I had a disaster in the prelims so I’m lucky that I even made the finals.”

Kania and Uno What Time It Flo marked a 187 in the herd work in the prelims and were ninth after the prelims. The clean-slate finals allowed the duo to make a fresh start, and they made the most of it. The 5-year-old mare had a composite score of 645.5 (214.5 herd/ 217 rein/ 214 cow), and her combined checks totaled $12,451.51.

“I’m going back to school at the end of August,” Kania said. “I’m going to grad school for physical therapy so that’s going to be my life for the next three years.”

While she plans to give Uno What Time It Flo a break and perhaps breed the mare, Kania has plans for the future.

“I want to ride her in the bridle when I get done with school,” Kania said.