Courtesy of NRCHA & Pro Management, Inc.

The National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) World’s Greatest Horseman championship held in San Angelo, Texas, came down to the very last run. The four-event competition ended with Randy Paul being crowned as the World’s Greatest Horseman. Paul rode Smokeelan, owned by Jill Smiekel George, to the title.

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The NRHA Futurity was recently named one of the “101 Best of the West� by American Cowboy magazine. The “Best of the West� is designed to recognize events that celebrate the western way of life. Each year American Cowboy editors select events, like the Futurity, that inspire folks to get out and enjoy cowboy culture. This year’s edition features everything cowboy – from art and music, to food and poetry, to rodeos and stock shows.  

For more, check out the February/March issue of American Cowboy and www.americancowboy.com. 2009 Futurity coverage is still online at http://nrhafuturity.com. 

 

The 2010 Southwest Reining Horse Association (SWRHA) Silent Stallion Auction will be ending soon! The Stallion Auction features 64 of the hottest reining sires around, and is a great opportunity to purchase a breeding for much less than the advertised price. The SWRHA Stallion Auction is the main contributor to the large amount of added money paid out during the SWRHA Futurity in late October. Bid often for a chance to win.  

Don’t wait too long –  the Southwest Stallion Auction ends on February 1^st, 2010. To bid, visit www.swrha.com.

 The National Reining Horse Association is not responsible for information contained in this press release.  Please contact the author or submitting organization for further information, requests, or questions.

Our sympathies go out to the family and friends of NRHA member and reining enthusiast, Michelle Halliwell of Tatura, Australia, who passed away last week after a brave battle with cancer. 

Michelle was diagnosed with cancer only two months prior to the 2009 Australian Affiliate Championships. Although she was undergoing chemotherapy, Michelle was determined to compete at the championships. She not only competed, but bested one of the largest classes at the show to take the 2009 Australian Affiliate Limited Non Pro Championship title on her mare, OP Finally Dunit. 

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Montana Reining Horse Association (MRHA) said goodbye to a dear stallion, Shiners Chex Olena. “Chexo” was humanely euthanized after a battle with kidney failure. Chexo, a 1999 buckskin stallion, was sired by NRHA Three Million Dollar Sire Shining Spark and out of Lady Badger Chex by Peppy San Badger.

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Event:

The Cactus Reining Classic, March 3-7, 2010

 What:

Top National and International horses and riders will compete for over $100,000 in cash and prizes over the five days of competition.  This NRHA “A” rated event once again boasts its $70,000 added one-run Derby, and two full slates of ancillary classes.

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The $150,000-added Bluegrass Reining Stakes, a new spring-time show offering the Gordyville Breeders Cup and the Wimpys Little Step events at one venue, has announced they are moving locations.  The show, put on by the Ohio Valley Reining Horse Association and the Gordyville Breeders Cup, was originally scheduled to take place at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, but is now moving to Crossroads Arena USA in Cloverdale, Indiana.

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The reining world lost one of its own when the great Topsail Whiz had to be humanely put down on Dec. 23, after complications from surgery to repair damaged vertebrae in his spine. The sport’s first and only Six Million Dollar Sire transformed the industry and helped to define the modern reining horse.

Owner/breeder and Hall of Famer Bob Loomis said of his Hall of Fame stallion: “He wasn’t just any horse; he was a member of the family. There will never be another one like him.�

Tragically for Bob and his wife Pam, they had just put down their Whiz son and junior stallion, West Coast Whiz, a few weeks earlier, due to founder. December has not been kind to the Loomises.

Loomis said he noticed problems with Whiz last spring, but the stallion made it through breeding season just fine. Then, in late summer/early fall Loomis realized Whiz was having difficulties with his balance. It wasn’t until the day after the NRHA Futurity, Dec. 6, when Bob really saw some changes in Whiz and immediately took him to Weems and Stephens Equine Hospital in Aubrey, Texas. There, veterinarians diagnosed him with a rare condition affecting the C6 and C7 vertebrae in the horse’s lower neck, which were pinching on his spine. Surgery was the only option to relieve the problem.

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NRHA Inside Reining will have a new home – In Country Television – starting January 4, 2010. The show’s schedule will double and bring the best of Reining to viewers 52 weeks each year! You can find In Country on DISH and DIRECTV. The show will air each Monday night at 8:30 and 11:30  EST and Saturday at 6:30 pm! Go to www.insidereining.com for more information.

West Coast Whiz was humanely put down the evening of December 8^th due to founder complications arising from a white line disease problem in the stallion’s hoofs. He was a champion-siring son of NRHA Six Million Dollar Sire and Hall of Fame inductee Topsail Whiz, and was bred and owned by Hall of Fame member Bob Loomis. The 13-year-old stallion stood, along with his sire, at Bob Loomis Quarter Horses in Marietta, Oklahoma.

 In the Reining arena, he was a two-time reserve NRHA Derby champion ridden by NRHA Million Dollar Rider Duane Latimer and accumulated over $126,000 in NRHA earnings. His get have earned over $700,000 and include the 2009 NRHA Cinch Non Pro Futurity Champion West Coast Mizzen, ridden by Million Dollar Rider Mandy McCutcheon. Other notable get include Western Whiz, Whizs Chic A Dee, and Im A Classy Whiz.

Loomis bred and raised West Coast Whiz. “I dearly loved him. I raised all the colts by Topsail Whiz and this is the one I kept.”

Breeding  is still a possibility as Loomis is offering shipped frozen semen to approved breeding facilities.

NRHA extends its greatest sympathies to the Loomis family.

Photo ©JohnBrasseaux