laraoles anniesweet bella

Strong Finish For Utah Para Rider

laraoles anniesweet bellaLara Oles, Annie Sweet and Bella • photo by Dan OlesAspiring Paralympian Lara Oles and her mare, Bella, closed out the summer show season with their highest score to date. The team earned a score of 76.4 percent while showing at the Utah Dressage Society - Dressage Days Show in August. 

RedRiverRivalry SHays

NRCHA Hackamore Classic and NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity To Be Held Together In 2016

RedRiverRivalry SHays2015 NRCHA Hackamore Classic Derby Open Champions Red River Rivalry and Shawn Hays • photo by Stephanie DuquetteTwo National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Premier Events will be held simultaneously next year, as the NRCHA board of directors voted to schedule the 2016 Hackamore Classic in conjunction with the reined cow horse industry's largest and most prestigious event, the 2016 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity.

IF SpecialNuBaby MGaines 15KBP

Special Nu Baby Lands Idaho Mercuria Championship

IF SpecialNuBaby MGaines 15KBPSpecial Nu Baby & Matt GainesThe race for National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) World titles continued at the Mercuria/NCHA World Series of Cutting, held in conjunction with the Idaho Cutting Horse Association (ICHA) Futurity and Aged Event, in Nampa, Idaho. And it was Special Nu Baby who continued her winning streak, taking the Mercuria Open Championship by a landslide.

buena-spook

NRHA/Markel Insurance Futurity Sales Consignment Deadline Sept. 1

buena-spook2014 NRHA/Markel Insurance Futurity Sales highest seller Buena Spook • QHN photoThe National Reining Horse Association (NRHA)/Markel Insurance Futurity Sale consignment deadline is Tuesday, Sept. 1. The NRHA/Markel Insurance Futurity Sales are held with the largest reining event in the world – the NRHA Futurity. New for 2015, NRHA is adding a Production section to the Marketplace Sale on Thursday, Dec. 3.

LC06 MorganCromer 15CG

Co-Champions Crowned at ICHA Futurity & Aged Event

LC06 MorganCromer 15CGMorgan Cromer • Photo by Charlotte GortonThe Idaho Cutting Horse Association (ICHA) Futurity and Aged Event, held Aug. 26 – Sept. 3, in Nampa, Idaho, draws competitors from all over. The competition is fierce, a fact that was illustrated on Friday, Aug. 28, in the Classic/Challenge Open when two exhibitors scored a 222, resulting in a Co-Championship.

BonnieWheatley

How Hard Could It Be?

BonnieWheatleyBarrel Horse News Editor Bonnie Wheatley goes down the fence for the first time • Photo by Rich Goddard / High Desert ImagingBlank. It’s not what you want your mind to be when asked to write a blog. In my line of work, I get a barrage of ideas about riding and training coming my way, and I confess my mind gets a little overloaded at times and goes a little blank. The same thing can be said for showing horses. There are so many little details to learn and remember; it takes a great deal of focus.

Several weeks ago I entered my first National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Non-Pro Bridle class, where I went down the fence for the first time. Blank is not what I wanted to be when I rode in there – mind you, this coming from a person who, in my first two NRCHA outs, missed the markers and got my circles backward. Going down the fence was not something I planned to tackle until I got the circles sorted out. But at the urging of my dad, Jack McComber, who has a lot more show pen experience than I do, I entered the Bridle rather than the Limited. He told me it was a waste of my horse to keep entering the boxing classes because this horse is exceptional down the fence. So I entered up – and he was right.

Nievas B14

Goodbye to Nievas

Nievas B14Nievas carried Brandon Dufurrena to the 2013 NCHA Summer Spectacular Classic/Challenge Non-Pro Championship. • Photo by Hart PhotosAfter a nearly three-month battle with complications from founder in both front feet, cutting performer Nievas was laid to rest on Saturday, Aug. 22. The 8-year-old mare left behind an impressive $361,877 Equi-Stat record, but the void she left in the Dufurrena family’s barn in Gainesville, Texas, is much bigger.

whiz-electric-spark

Austrian 3-Year-Old Futurity Open Goes To Whiz Electric Spark And Cody Sapergia

whiz-electric-sparkWhiz Electric Spark and Cody SapergiaHe did it again; scoring a 218.5, National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Million Dollar Rider and former NRHA World Champion Cody Sapergia claimed the Austrian Reining Horse Association Futurity Level 4 Open Championship. This was Sapergia’s second straight win in the event, winning this year aboard Whiz Electric Spark (Jacs Electric Spark x Remmicks Whiz). The stallion was bred by Matthias Koch and is owned by Franz Josef Braidt.

AQHA Select World Show

The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Select World Show takes place Aug. 28 – Sept. 5 in Amarillo, Texas. The show will feature a full slate of classes including working […]
Turn-back-dog

Turnback Sue

Photo by Ross Hecox Meet “Sue”, Matt Koch’s most reliable ranch hand. Matt Koch, the head trainer for Wagonhound Land and Livestock, likes to occasionally work his 3-year-old cow horse prospects […]