Wimpys Littlecolonel took home big wins from Friday night’s National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) Open Reining Night, presented by Kimmel Reining Horses. He was first in the draw and scored a whopping 226, which held up through 30 horses and won the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) $25,000-added Open, the NRBC Classic Open Challenge and the CRI3*.
The stallion (Wimpys Little Step x One Right Chic x Smart Chic Olena), owned by George and Chloe Lawrence, was ridden by Franco Bertolani.
“I have a couple of horses that I listed before I started to try to be a part of the Brazilian team, and Wimpys Littlecolonel was on my list. I talked to the owners, and they were pretty excited,” Bertolani said. “I will decide after NRBC which one I will choose for WEG [the World Equestrian Games].
“This is a very big pen, so the judge has a lot of time to look at you, because the pen is so huge, so it’s very important that you stay out of the penalty box,” he continued. “If you want to mark, you need to run. If you go slow or if you go medium speed, it looks too slow because it’s so big. So, I tried to show hard and stay out of the penalty box. He’s a good horse; he has a big heart.”
Although the big $13,398 paycheck was a welcome reward, Bertolani said being able to represent Brazil is always a noble and humbling moment.
“It’s always nice; I like the international competition. It’s like you are giving back to your country,” Bertolani said. “The reining isn’t as big in Brazil as it is here in the U.S., but they follow along and watch on the internet and cheer, so I think the way I represent my country is the way I give back to them, also.”
Jordan Larson, who piloted Wimpys Littlecolonel to much of his $131,253 in prior lifetime earnings, rode 2014 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Co-Champion ARC Gunnabeabigstar (Gunnatrashya x Wimpys Little Chic x Wimpys Little Step) to a score of 225.5 to take the USA Reining Championship, Reserve in the Open Challenge, Reserve in the NRHA Open and tie for second in the CRI3* with Heavy Duty Chex (Nu Chex To Cash x Rondas Tio x Teninolena Badger) and Casey Deary.
“He was good. It was kind of like a dress rehearsal for the WEG trials. He turned awesome,” Larson said of the 7-year-old stallion, who is owned by HDC Quarter Horses. “I have some things I want to work on – I didn’t show him full speed – but I was really happy with him. This will be the last thing I do with this horse. He’s been really special to me and my family, so I’ll just go try to do as good as we can and represent the U.S.”
