*compiled from Alden Corrigan
The fifth annual Kentucky Reining Cup, held in conjunction with the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park, was held April 24-25, 2015.
Laura Sumrall’s ride on Wimpys Top Model, using music, “Let it go,” from Disney’s Frozen, won the 2015 World Freestyle Reining title at the 2015 Kentucky Reining Cup. Watch the video of her ride, courtesy of the USEF Network, on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgzuyvFOLik
Laura, of Summit Mississippi, is Miss Rodeo Mississippi
The two-day competition kicked off on Friday night, April 24, with the Kentucky Reining Cup Concours de Reining International CRI 3*, the $10,000 Added Spooks Gotta Whiz Open, $5,000 Added Baby Spooks Non Pro, and the Kentucky Reining Cup Team Challenge.
Dana Cohen from Denver, Colorado took top honors in the Kentucky Reining Cup Concours de Reining International CRI 3* with Magnum Refund (Magnum Chic Dream x Alaythia). Through a chain of events, the 2003 gelding remained unshown until the age of 10. “He won his first NRHA money when he was 10. We were challenged to find events to take an older horse to that really paid well. We talked to Brad (Ettleman) about it and he said you should get that horse an FEI passport. I though, ‘I’m just a non pro from Denver.’ It was not on my radar, but we took a chance. We brought him here when he was 10 and got in the money in the Team Challenge. It was really exciting to show here, and now this show has put him over $25,000 in earnings – all after the age of 10. He’s really anFEI story. There is life for older reining horses. You don’t have to push every horse to be a 3-year old Futurity horse, and there is opportunity, thanks to USA Reining and the FEI, for horses like this.”
The $10,000 Added Spooks Gotta Whiz Open and the Kentucky Reining Cup Team Challenge had one name in common and it was NRHA’s $5 million man Shawn Flarida on Magnum Chic Dunit (Magnum Chic Dream x Sheets Red Dunit) who led the victory gallop in both events.
“That little mare is one that I made the [NRHA Futurity] Finals on last year. She’s just 4 years old and has only been shown a few times. She’s so pretty when she does her circles, and that was a huge point getter for her. Her stops got better and better, and that’s pretty cool for a mare to get stronger as they go show like that. She always nickers when she’s done; I don’t know why she does that. It’s kind of cool. I’d love to know what she’s thinking right there. She’s young and has her whole career ahead of her.”
Flarida, a veteran of numerous World Equestrian Games, is no stranger to the team concept. “This is the only horse show where we actually have a team competition, and it’s really cool. Rick Clark and Steve Borgia got to pushing each other, seeing where the points are, where the scores are. It makes it a lot of fun.”
The final event of the two-day competition featured the crowd favorite Kentucky Reining Cup Freestyle World Championship. All of the exhibitors brought their A-game to the show pen, as the bar had been raised in 2014 by Dan James’ winning performance of his Lone Ranger routine on Smart Little Elan. Sidelined by an injury, it appeared that James would not be able to defend his title. But to the near-capacity crowd’s pleasure, James entered the pen with a bandaged leg and supported by one crutch to perform a soul-bearing My Story routine, riding IRA Top Gunner (Playgun x Little Peppys Vet) bareback and bridleless.
“I had pretty much written off being able to compete. When I left the hospital, I thought I would be lucky to walk again, let alone do anything with the horses in the next couple of months. About two weeks ago, I thought maybe I could take that stud horse out there, tip my hat, and be grateful to be walking. Then, I thought if I could do that much, maybe I could get on..That was my fourth ride back.”
When the spotlights went out, it was James who garnered the people’s hearts and the People’s Choice Award, while 22-year old scholarship athlete and senior captain of the Women’s National Equestrian Team at Texas A&M University, Laura Sumrall, clinched the 2015 World Championship Freestyle title with her Frozen inspired performance on Wimpys Top Model (Wimpys Little Step x Sailin Bueno).
Laura Sumrall’s World Championship performance to “Let it Go” gave the audience, both in the Alltech Arena and online, chills. “This was the first time I had done this routine. We came up with it pretty quickly after we got the invitation to compete at the Kentucky Reining Cup. Frozen came together pretty quickly. I’m at school at Texas A & M, and I wasn’t in the same place as my horse, so practicing was a little challenging. I set out a pattern and ran it on a couple of different horses. It was really fun to put together. It was definitely a group effort. My mom came up with the concept and did all the handiwork on my costume.”
*information courtesy of The Equine Chronicle
Results
USAR WCFR World Championship Freestyle Reining (Judges John Snobelen, Rick Weaver, Brett Walters)
1st: Wimpys Top Model, Laura Sumrall
2nd: Magnum Refund, Jessica Dooley
3rd: Cinnabars Lil Whiz, Randall Dooley
4th: Caliente Wimpy, Cappy Dryden
5th: Walla Walla Knockout, Joe Wolf
6th: Whiz Bye Gollie, Emily Fisher
7th: Wimps Chocolate Chip, Michell Kimball
8th: Wimpys Lil Survivor, Emma Cohen
9th: IRA Top Gunner, Dan James
NRHA 1100 Open (Judges John Snobelen, Rick Weaver, Brett Walters)
1st: Magnum Chic Dunit, Shawn Flarida
2nd: Shiner Side Winder, Jose Vazquez
3rd: Gunnin By The Bay, Shawn Flarida
4th: Cinnabars Lil Whiz, Randall Dooley
5th: Gunners Star, Fernando Salgado
6th: JSE Smart Gun, Randy Schaffhauser
NRHA 1400 Non Pro (Judges John Snobelen, Rick Weaver, Brett Walters)
1st: Shiner Side Winder, Jose Vazquez
2nd: Colonel G, Gloria Bradley
3rd: Electric Starlight, Steven Borgia
4th: Vella Juice, Jose Vazquez
5th: Magnum Refund, Dana Cohen
<6th: Caliente Wimpy, Cappy Dryden
<6th: Wimps Chocolate Chip, Rick Clark
8th: Ju Juzz Gunslinger, William Bill Bradley
<9th: Walla Walla Knockout, Rick Clark
<9th: Wimpys Lil Survivor, Joe Wolf
11th: WF Celebrity Cruise, Emily Wolf
12th: Starbucks Summer, Cappy Dryden
13th: Bravehearted Steps, Betsy Brown
Watch videos of the rides at the USEF Network: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2015KRC/
The fifth annual Kentucky Reining Cup, held in conjunction with the Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park, was held April 24-25, 2015.
Laura Sumrall’s ride on Wimpys Top Model, using music, “Let it go,” from Disney’s Frozen, won the 2015 World Freestyle Reining title at the 2015 Kentucky Reining Cup. Watch the video of her ride, courtesy of the USEF Network, on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgzuyvFOLik
Laura, of Summit Mississippi, is Miss Rodeo Mississippi
The two-day competition kicked off on Friday night, April 24, with the Kentucky Reining Cup Concours de Reining International CRI 3*, the $10,000 Added Spooks Gotta Whiz Open, $5,000 Added Baby Spooks Non Pro, and the Kentucky Reining Cup Team Challenge.
Dana Cohen from Denver, Colorado took top honors in the Kentucky Reining Cup Concours de Reining International CRI 3* with Magnum Refund (Magnum Chic Dream x Alaythia). Through a chain of events, the 2003 gelding remained unshown until the age of 10. “He won his first NRHA money when he was 10. We were challenged to find events to take an older horse to that really paid well. We talked to Brad (Ettleman) about it and he said you should get that horse an FEI passport. I though, ‘I’m just a non pro from Denver.’ It was not on my radar, but we took a chance. We brought him here when he was 10 and got in the money in the Team Challenge. It was really exciting to show here, and now this show has put him over $25,000 in earnings – all after the age of 10. He’s really anFEI story. There is life for older reining horses. You don’t have to push every horse to be a 3-year old Futurity horse, and there is opportunity, thanks to USA Reining and the FEI, for horses like this.”
The $10,000 Added Spooks Gotta Whiz Open and the Kentucky Reining Cup Team Challenge had one name in common and it was NRHA’s $5 million man Shawn Flarida on Magnum Chic Dunit (Magnum Chic Dream x Sheets Red Dunit) who led the victory gallop in both events.
“That little mare is one that I made the [NRHA Futurity] Finals on last year. She’s just 4 years old and has only been shown a few times. She’s so pretty when she does her circles, and that was a huge point getter for her. Her stops got better and better, and that’s pretty cool for a mare to get stronger as they go show like that. She always nickers when she’s done; I don’t know why she does that. It’s kind of cool. I’d love to know what she’s thinking right there. She’s young and has her whole career ahead of her.”
Flarida, a veteran of numerous World Equestrian Games, is no stranger to the team concept. “This is the only horse show where we actually have a team competition, and it’s really cool. Rick Clark and Steve Borgia got to pushing each other, seeing where the points are, where the scores are. It makes it a lot of fun.”
The final event of the two-day competition featured the crowd favorite Kentucky Reining Cup Freestyle World Championship. All of the exhibitors brought their A-game to the show pen, as the bar had been raised in 2014 by Dan James’ winning performance of his Lone Ranger routine on Smart Little Elan. Sidelined by an injury, it appeared that James would not be able to defend his title. But to the near-capacity crowd’s pleasure, James entered the pen with a bandaged leg and supported by one crutch to perform a soul-bearing My Story routine, riding IRA Top Gunner (Playgun x Little Peppys Vet) bareback and bridleless.
“I had pretty much written off being able to compete. When I left the hospital, I thought I would be lucky to walk again, let alone do anything with the horses in the next couple of months. About two weeks ago, I thought maybe I could take that stud horse out there, tip my hat, and be grateful to be walking. Then, I thought if I could do that much, maybe I could get on..That was my fourth ride back.”
When the spotlights went out, it was James who garnered the people’s hearts and the People’s Choice Award, while 22-year old scholarship athlete and senior captain of the Women’s National Equestrian Team at Texas A&M University, Laura Sumrall, clinched the 2015 World Championship Freestyle title with her Frozen inspired performance on Wimpys Top Model (Wimpys Little Step x Sailin Bueno).
Laura Sumrall’s World Championship performance to “Let it Go” gave the audience, both in the Alltech Arena and online, chills. “This was the first time I had done this routine. We came up with it pretty quickly after we got the invitation to compete at the Kentucky Reining Cup. Frozen came together pretty quickly. I’m at school at Texas A & M, and I wasn’t in the same place as my horse, so practicing was a little challenging. I set out a pattern and ran it on a couple of different horses. It was really fun to put together. It was definitely a group effort. My mom came up with the concept and did all the handiwork on my costume.”
*information courtesy of The Equine Chronicle
Results
USAR WCFR World Championship Freestyle Reining (Judges John Snobelen, Rick Weaver, Brett Walters)
1st: Wimpys Top Model, Laura Sumrall
2nd: Magnum Refund, Jessica Dooley
3rd: Cinnabars Lil Whiz, Randall Dooley
4th: Caliente Wimpy, Cappy Dryden
5th: Walla Walla Knockout, Joe Wolf
6th: Whiz Bye Gollie, Emily Fisher
7th: Wimps Chocolate Chip, Michell Kimball
8th: Wimpys Lil Survivor, Emma Cohen
9th: IRA Top Gunner, Dan James
NRHA 1100 Open (Judges John Snobelen, Rick Weaver, Brett Walters)
1st: Magnum Chic Dunit, Shawn Flarida
2nd: Shiner Side Winder, Jose Vazquez
3rd: Gunnin By The Bay, Shawn Flarida
4th: Cinnabars Lil Whiz, Randall Dooley
5th: Gunners Star, Fernando Salgado
6th: JSE Smart Gun, Randy Schaffhauser
NRHA 1400 Non Pro (Judges John Snobelen, Rick Weaver, Brett Walters)
1st: Shiner Side Winder, Jose Vazquez
2nd: Colonel G, Gloria Bradley
3rd: Electric Starlight, Steven Borgia
4th: Vella Juice, Jose Vazquez
5th: Magnum Refund, Dana Cohen
<6th: Caliente Wimpy, Cappy Dryden
<6th: Wimps Chocolate Chip, Rick Clark
8th: Ju Juzz Gunslinger, William Bill Bradley
<9th: Walla Walla Knockout, Rick Clark
<9th: Wimpys Lil Survivor, Joe Wolf
11th: WF Celebrity Cruise, Emily Wolf
12th: Starbucks Summer, Cappy Dryden
13th: Bravehearted Steps, Betsy Brown
Watch videos of the rides at the USEF Network: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2015KRC/
