2010: A World Win Year

Deltas Foxy Flyer, my 8 year old American Paint Horse gelding, is the reason why I created my blog. I wanted a way to connect with other horse show enthusiasts. I have failed to become a successful blogger due to time restraints (excuses, I know.) But, I fully intend to try to find and connect to other horse enthusiast bloggers this summer (when I have a break from grad school.)

In the interim, I wanted to highlight "Scout's" accomplishments in 2010.

In the Pinto Horse Association of America:

-World Champion Amateur Jr. Reining

-3rd in the World in Open Reining with Johnny Morton





On top of these accolades, I just received a beautiful crystal trophy from the Pinto Association naming Scout the 2010 PINTO OF THE YEAR in Reining. He was featured on the cover of the Pinto Magazine (small photo in a montage of winners.)

In the American Paint Horse Association:

-Reserve World Champion Amateur Limited Working Cow Horse




-8th in the World in Novice Amateur Reining (I learned a valuable lesson, sadly at the World Championship show). I had money in my back pocket, which I did not realize, and when I did my last sliding stop it went flying out of my pocket. Apparently, there is a hefty penalty for littering in the arena....




-Northeast Texas Paint Horse Club:

State Champion in Sr. Reining and Novice Amateur Reining and Reserve State club champion in Novice Amateur Trail (a new event added to our repertoire)

And lastly, we ended the show year in 2010 at the Thanksgiving Classic were I opted to compete in 21 classes across divisions and we ended up winning A SADDLE as the all around amateur high point! This was incredibly exciting for a horse that has never been shown English and managed to win the Hunt Seat Equitation, and also place well in Horsemanship and Trail.




None of these accomplishments would have been possibly without my patient husband, Derek, who hauled us to multiple shows, unloaded, loaded, groomed, carried, cleaned, and lived and breathed horses with me for these events. And lastly, to Johnny Morton who is the best 'up and coming' trainer. I hope that Scout and Johnny continue to excel in the 'pro' level competition at the 2011 World Shows.

2009 Recap

My blog was named after my ever entertaining and lovable horse, Scout. When I purchased Scout, the only event I competed in for 1 year was Reining. Here's the text book definition:

Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope (a slow, relaxed version of the horse gait more commonly known worldwide as the canter) and gallop; the fastest of the horse gaits. Reining is often described as a Western form of dressage riding, as it requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider, whose aids should not be easily seen, and judges the horse on its ability to perform a set pattern of movements.

In 2009, I ventured to compete in several new events which included Working Cow Horse, Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Stakes Race, and Working Ranch Horse. Between these 5 events and reining, Scout completed the 2009 show year as #12 in our region in all around competition.

I am the most proud of the following accomplishments:
#1 in the Nation: APHA Novice Amateur Pole Bending
#1 in the Nation: APHA Novice Amateur Stakes Race

#1 in Texas (PPHSS): Novice Amateur Reining
#1 in Texas (PPHSS): Novice Amateur Stakes Races
#2 in Texas (PPHSS): Novice Amateur Pole Bending
#2 in Texas(PPHSS): Novice Amateur Barrel Racing
#2 in Texas (PPHSS): Novice Amateur Limited Working Cow Horse
#2 in Texas (PPHSS): Novice Amateur Stock Horse Reining

APHA 2009 World Championship: Finalist Novice Amateur Reining (#14 in the World)

APHA 2009 World Championship: 5th Place Amateur Limited Working Cow Horse



It was a great year, and I feel so fortunate to have a horse as willing and versatile as Scout.

Our goals for 2010 include the hope for a World or Reserve title between the Pinto World Championship in Tulsa or Paint World Championship in Fort Worth this summer (both are held in June). I am also venturing out to compete in Trail, and we finished 4th out of 14 in our first trail class last night! Thanks to Derek for hauling us to all of our competitions (if you know horse shows, they take a lot of patience if you aren't the one riding!) :)

2008 Recap

The horse show season in most breed organizations runs Jan 1 - Dec 31. With that said, the APHA is still in progress of tabulating all final points for 2009, so my plan is to wait until all results are official before I post our 2009 achievements.

I purchased Scout in 2007, so 2008 was our first full show year. For 2008 we accomplished the following as a new team:

Texas Reserve State Champion – Novice Amateur Reining
TPHC (Texas Paint Horse Club) – Reserve Champion Novice Amateur Reining
APHA Honor Roll #7 in Nation: Novice Amateur Reining
APHA World Show Novice Amateur Reining Finalist

I am working on setting a schedule and game plan for 2010. I've been practicing new events, such as trail and want to improve our working cow work this year. My goal is to move from the Limited event, where you only box the cow, to the full up working cow horse where you run down the fence. Our goal is to return to the Pinto World Show in June. We disqualified in the reining in 2008 due to 1 extra step in a back up between spins (big disappointment - but we've since moved on from that issue!) :)

Here's a picture from the 2008 Pinto World Championship.