The Arena

Courtesy Western States Horse Expo

Over the last 12 years, Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento, California, has showcased the nation’s most popular trainers and clinicians. The June 11-13, 2010 event will be no exceptions and eager fans can trade their knowledge of clinician related trivia for free tickets to the expo. Each week, the expo will post clues as to the identity of one of the clinicians who will present at the 2010 Expo. The first Facebook fan who guesses the identity of the featured clinician will win two 3-day passes to the expo.

Always presenting an all-star line-up, Western States Horse Expo president Miki Cohen says she is as excited as ever about the 2010 clinician lineup.

“Posting a clue and clinician a week on our Facebook fan page is a fun way for us to stay in touch with Horse Expo fans. As the weeks go by, fans will see for themselves why this year’s clinician lineup promises to be one of our best yet,” said Cohen.

The Western States Horse Expo’s Facebook page is a place where attendees can not only go for up-to-date info and last minute updates, but it’s a forum for fans to give feedback on the latest expo developments. Facebook also offers the opportunity to visit links of presenters and exhibitors and view pictures from the 2009 expo. To become a fan and get your chance to win free tickets to the expo visit facebook.com and search for Western States Horse Expo then click “become a fan.”

For more information visit horsexpo.com or call (800) 352-2411.

Courtesy AQHA

The Fields Family Foundation and Jackson Land & Cattle Company will continue their support of the Youth World Show Assistance Fund. This will be the fifth year that the Youth World Show Assistance Fund will be available to members of AQHYA who need financial support to compete at the 2010 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship show.

In the past four years, 240 AQHYA members have received financial support so they were able to attend and compete at the Built Ford Tough Youth World Show. The fund helps youth pay for travel and lodging expenses after they have qualified to compete at the show.

Richard Fields of the Fields Family Foundation and Jackson Land & Cattle Company is happy to help today’s youth compete. He realizes the benefits from attending the Built Ford Tough Youth World Show are more than just youth accumulating titles and awards.

“It gives me great pleasure to provide scholarships to young, aspiring riders through the AQHYA Youth World Show Assistance Program,” said Fields. “The children of today are our most precious resource, and Jackson Land & Cattle is pleased to continue to fund the Youth World Show Assistance Program.”

To apply for the Jackson Land & Cattle Youth World Show Assistance Fund, youth need only to fill out an application. Applications are now being accepted, and forms must be in the AQHA offices by April 1, 2010. Requests for assistance can be mailed or faxed. Applications for this year’s event are available through youth advisers or can be downloaded from www.aqha.com

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information, visit www.aqha.com.

Todd Bergen qualified four horses for the open finals at the 2009 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity. But he undoubtedly left Reno, Nevada, wondering what might have been. A 221 in the reining left Bergen and Smart Luck with a 2.5-point lead going into the fence work.

Bergen and Smart Luck were first up in the random draw. The two had a great run going when Bergen went to circle his cow. He was mere seconds away from establishing a score that would have left him nearly impossible to beat. But Smart Luck stumbled, went down and sent Bergen crashing to the arena floor–along with his championship dreams. The no-score left the door open for Zane Davis and Reymanator.

Up last in the fence work, Davis and Reymanator turned in a 220-point run and easily edged Todd Crawford on  Shiners Nickle and Boyd Rice on Picka Patcha Pepto. Quarter Horse News Editor Katie Tims described Reymanator as a “cage fighter.” The horse definitely excelled in the cow events. He turned in a 218.5 in the herd work–easily the highest score of the morning competition. And he did it despite being the last horse to work before the cattle change.

Congratulations to Davis and Reymanator owner John Semanik.

Arizona cowgirl Dema Paul won’t be among the contestants at the 2009 Snaffle Bit Futurity after sitting out much of the year following shoulder surgery and hip replacement. But that doesn’t mean reined-cow-horse fans have seen the last of the veteran hand.

“I’ll definitely be back. That event really gets into your blood. So I’m not ready to give up on it just yet. And I have to come back in 2012 when I’m scheduled to win again,” said the non-pro champion from 2004 and 2008.

Sidelined for much of the year, Paul says her young horses are behind schedule and she just won’t be able to show them at the futurity this season. She does have plans, however, to show her bridle horse and possibly compete in the hackamore class in the Snaffle Bit Futurity Horse Show.

“This will be the first time since 1999 that I haven’t shown at the Futurity,” she says. “I’m going to miss being out there, but I’ll still be hanging around.”

Paul told reporters after her 2008 victory that she’s not sure how much longer she’ll continue to show at the futurity. “Every year I keep thinking, ‘I’m going to quit and start colts and sell them for a living,’ and then this happens and I think, ‘Oh, I want to do it again!’”

Sitting out a year will probably nudge her in the direction of continuing to show, Paul says. “I’ve got a feeling I’ll want to be out there as soon as I get to Reno. But we’ll see what happens next year. I’ve got some nice 2-year-olds coming along, so I’m sure I’ll be back. My 3-year-olds are pretty nice too, but they’re a little behind after I had to lay off for six months.”

The Snaffle Bit Futurity runs September 20 through October 4 at the Reno (Nevada) Livestock Events Center. Other defending champions include John Ward in the open division, Ed Robertson in the intermediate open, Tommy Thompson in the limited open, John McCarty in the intermediate non-pro, Karey Franz in the amateur, and Sandra Collier in the ladies class.

For more information, visit nrcha.com.