BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

Jesse showed the last of his three horses on Sunday – Ten Reasons. He was really looking forward to showing Ten – he’s been really good all year and is fun to show.

There are so many reasons to love Ten.

1. He’s a cute little bugger.

2. He may be little but he sure is mighty. He has a huge heart and a whole lot of try.

3. He’s dependable. He’s the same in the warm-up pen as he is in the show pen – he’ll never let you down.

4. He’s just one of those horses that catches everyone’s eye, one that everyone wants to take home.

5. He’s never moody, doesn’t hold a grudge and loves his job.

6. He’s a huge stopper, big turner and pretty mover.

7. He marks big and is easy to show.

8. He’s a stud that doesn’t know he’s a stud.

9. As gritty as they come.

10. He marked a 217.5 in the first go of the Open Futurity.

What more could you ask for in a horse!

Jesse worked Ten lightly the night before showing. Ten doesn’t take much prep.

Putting skid boots on to stop.

He worked the stop up and down center.

Jesse was very happy with how Ten showed. With a 217.5 going into the second go, that puts him in good contention for the finals. Looking forward to Wednesday for his second run. I’ll be a nervous wreck, but cheering as loud as I can!

BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

Jesse showed one more of the boys on Saturday, this time it was CJ.

The night before show day, Jesse was working his stop when CJ pulled a shoe off. I’ve never seen a shoe fly so far – I had to go searching for it in the back stands of the coliseum!

Which meant it had to be put back on.

Luckily friend and farrier, Roger Wigen arrived just in time. Roger is a great farrier. Jeff was very capable of putting CJ’s shoe back on, but he didn’t bring his farrier tools with him.

Unfortunately, the shoe took some hoof wall with it so it took a little time to get it put back on and the hoof in good shape.

But CJ was back in working order for the next day. We got his all prettied up for his debut in the NRHA show arena.

And Jesse made sure to duct tape and electrical tape CJ’s feet so as not to pull a shoe off again.

Jesse was a little unsure how CJ would perform because he hadn’t been shown much. He worked his turn, loped some circles and stopped him a couple times before heading over to the show arena.

Jesse and CJ getting ready to run through the gate into the large daunting arena.

The ground was better this time around and CJ got stopped really good at the far end. He got a little stuck in the rollback, but ran down nicely to his second stop. Rolled back better and got stopped a third time. He turned big to the right, but Jesse couldn’t quite get him shut off in time with CJ’s big swooping step and the pair incurred a big over-turn penalty.

CJ was a bit sluggish in his left turn. He circled really pretty and had a nice final stop. The pair had a really nice run, but CJ looked a bit tired in the pen. They marked a 212 for their efforts.

Onto the Non-Pro, Jeff showed his horse Buddy.

Jeff usually doesn’t get nervous when it comes to showing, but we could tell he was nervous here. When offered food and a drink he refused and couldn’t stand to sit for more than 10 minutes. Can’t blame him, there is a lot of pressure here and a lot of horses.

Jeff getting his pre-check done.

April and I headed up to the stands to cheer while Jesse stayed back at the gate to encourage Jeff on.

Jeff and Buddy started pattern eight off with a big turn to the left. Great start. Next came the right turn. Jeff asked Buddy to take a step forward because Buddy has a tendency to suck back a lot in his turns. Buddy however, was thinking lope and took a couple trot steps forward before Jeff got him settled into his right turn.

Although a little rattled from the turn, Jeff proceeded into his circles. Buddy circled very nice with his head low. They had a little trouble through their lead changes and Jeff had to pull Buddy through them.

On the rundowns, Buddy pushed to the wall and didn’t get stopped like he could. Unfortunately for Jeff and Buddy, it just was not their day. The pair did not have an ideal score and more than likely they will not be showing in the finals. This will be the end of the futurity road for this young stallion and his rider. But, looking on the bright side, these two had a very successful year, placing in the top three everywhere they showed leading up to the NRHA Futurity.

Jesse also showed Ten on Sunday, but I think I’m going to save that post for Monday. I’m hoping to have some video for that run. You’ll just have to tune in Monday for the remaining results :)

Jesse and Jeff weren’t the only Canadians to have shown on the weekend. Shayla Malmberg of Grand Prairie, kicked some butt in the Adequan Arena. She showed Whizzen In The Rein to the NAAC Rookie Professional Championship and the NAAC Limited Open Championship with a score of 218.5.

What an awesome run for this young pair!

And they took home a pile of loot!

BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

Thursday was day one of the first go at the NRHA Futurity.

Jesse was set to show Cooper and they drew up 85^th in the first go of the first day. He was able to ride Cooper in the Coliseum a few times leading up to show day, getting him comfortable with the ground and acquainted with his surroundings.

Getting ready for the first ride.

 Jesse was eager to get in the pen and felt like he had done everything he could to prepare his horse to show. He wasn’t nervous. I was.

Working the rundown.

Circling in the Coliseum.

 I am a nervous wreck when it comes to Jesse showing and I try my best to not let it show so I can help him get ready.

My favorite show shirt color – turquoise, shows up so nice in the ring. This shirt happens to also be the shirt Jesse wore for our wedding this past September.

Warming up.

At the Futurity they do a pre-check where they check the bit to make sure it is legal and there are no marks on the horse.

Jesse checking in with the bit judge.

Ready to show.

Cooper and Jesse were first after the drag giving them fresh ground. The ground at the far end, and where they complete their first stop (NRHA pattern #1) was not great. It had some holes and competitors were having a hard time getting their horses stopped in it.

Cooper was no exception. He ran in great to his first stop and tried hard, but couldn’t quite hold it. Four of the five judges scored the maneuver a 0, one judged marked it a  -1/2.

Jesse rolled him back and headed for his next stop – much better, but Cooper walked out of it slightly at the end. Maneuver score 0.

Roll back to the right and stop past center – nice stop. All but one judge were in agreement marking it a 0.

Turned to the right four times. Nice turn, half point over turn.

Turned to the left four and a quarter. Good.

Cooper was a little funny going into his lead departure, but once loping into his large fast he settled in nicely, dropped his neck and loped beautifully. Down to a small slow and then back into a large fast and change leads. His next set of circles were even nicer. Most of the judges scored the first set of circles a +1/2 – all five judges marked the second set +1/2.

Jesse guided Cooper around the end and into his last stop. Awesome! Plus ½ on all five scorecards.

With the high and the low score dropped, the pair marked a very respectable 213.

Scoreboard

It was day one of showing and its been a known fact that the first dayof showing the judges are pretty tight on their marking, but as long as they are consistent throughout it’s not a problem. They seemed to be marking fair and that is all we can ask for. I was hoping to have a video of his run to share with you, but I am waiting on the videographer to work out some kinks with the marketing department. I am hoping to have videos for the rest of the runs.

Coming out of the arena after showing Cooper.

Jesse was happy with his horse and looks forward to showing him again in the second go. I’m happy my heart rate has returned to normal, until Friday anyway when he shows CJ.

 The high score of the day was a 222.5 from entry #182 Jay McLaughlin riding Guapo Lena for Carol Rose. Check out their run below.

Guapo Lena – Jay McLaughlin – Carol Rose – 222.5 from NRHA on Vimeo.

Thursday was also Thanksgiving down here, which meant everything was closed. IHOP had to suffice for supper, but it was better than Burger King as those were our only two options. No turkey with all the trimmings for these Canadians. But if Thursday was Thanksgiving that means Friday is Black Friday which means I’ll be putting my shopping shoes on and head out to closest western store :)

BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

It’s been a busy couple days here at the Futurity. Move in was a couple days ago so we packed everything up at Todd Arvidson’s and made the move early Tuesday morning.

This year the show organizers had trailers line-up and competitors were required to show their horse’s coggins papers and drop the windows on the trailer to match the horses to the papers.

There was quite a line-up when we arrived, but it moved fairly quickly. Our move-in this year was rather painless. We are stalled in barn 6 and we were able to drive right up to the door and unload.

We got the stalls bedded and moved the horses in first. They were very grateful to be in a stall full of fluffy bedding and made themselves at home.

Then it was onto the tack and feed rooms. We purchased some craft paper for our “roof”. If you don’t put a roof on here, you can expect your tack and equipment to be covered in a film of dust and some unwelcoming pigeon poop.

Organized chaos – our tack room is plump full with four people’s horse show treasures and necessities.

My workstation.
 Right next to the cross-ties. That’s Ten getting unsaddled.

Everyone at the show was busy building their stall fronts. When I say building it’s no joke. Barns literally build a home away from home, complete with living rooms and big screen tv’s and some even stuccoed!

Ours were rather simple.

And most of barn 6 was decorated rather modestly.

The Super Barn however…

They went all out!

 Last year we were stalled right across from Sterling Ranch - it took three entire days (late into the night) to complete this stall front.

Sterling Ranch

At last year’s NRHA Futurity a few fellow reiners (may have been some Canadians involved) played a prank on NRHA’s youngest 2 Million Dollar Rider, Andrea Fappani. Goes to show even the big guns and futurity champions get pranked.

There was talk about putting the “chalking” all the way down the alley way, but thankfully they opted for just one as instead of using chalk, (and in horse competitor fashion) the pranksters decided to use horse spray paint in black, palomino and I think a little sorrel.

The pranksters of course got Andrea’s wife, Tish Fappani’s permission to do the prank (after unsuccessfully trying to do it without being seen). She went along with the plan in good nature. They felt Andrea needed just one more life-sized cutout of himself and in case anyone may miss his stalls, there were arrows added to direct the way.

After many sweepings and a little water, the image was still there by the end of the show. I’m happy to say that the “chaulking” is no longer visible – or at least you can no longer make out what it is ;)

I’m not sure how they managed it, but the Fappani barn’s stall fronts this year are even bigger! They went above and beyond. Although I did notice there were no life sized cutouts of Mr.Fappani.

Instead it was a giant billboard.

When it comes to horse showing – the competition isn’t just in the arena.

BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

NRHA has an array of activities for spectators and competitors enjoyment over the two week event.

For starters, there’s One Stop Shopping!

If you are in search of the perfect holiday gift or some new gear for your reining horse the gift market in the Coliseum, Super Barn and outdoor locations is where you want to be. Nearly 100 vendors offer an array of goods like western décor, tack, clothing, jewelry and more.

Sire & Dam Auction

Wimpy's Little Step

Opens on Nov. 15 – Closes on Dec. 31 at Midnight CST
Visit the online auction and bid on breeding’s to reining’s top stallions. Sire & Dam breedings receive exceptional benefits including reduced NRHA North American Futurity and Derby entry fees, plus automatic eligibility to the NRHA North American Futurity and Derby. Start your bidding at the NRHA Futurity and follow until the end of the auction at year-end.

NRHyA Raffle Horse

 This year Steve Simon Reining Horses is donating the NRHyA Raffle Horse – a 2010 filly – Legendary Mama (Custom Legend x Doc Quixote). Tickets are just $10! Drawing takes place during the NRHA Futurity Finals on Dec 3^rd. You don’t need to be present to claim your prized filly.

NRHA World Championship Shootout

Yellow Jersey & Andrea Fappani, last year's Shootout Champions.

 Top reining professionals, both human and horse, will compete for the estimated paycheck of $30,000 and a shot at the title of NRHA Open World Champion. Some competitors and horses you can expect to see at this year’s Shootout are;

Shawn Flarida (NRHA Four Million Dollar Rider) expects to enter Whizkey N Diamonds ($187,000 NRHA LTE)

Whizkey n Diamonds & Shawn Flarida

Andrea Fappani (NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider) anticipates showing Taris Designer Genes ($244,000 NRHA LTE) and Whiz Jewels ($92,000 NRHA LTE)

Craig Schmersal (NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider) plans to bring Boom Shernic ($280,000 NRHA LTE) and Missy Lil Addy Tude ($83,000 NRHA LTE)

Boom Shernic

 Jordan Larson ($930,000 NRHA LTE) intends to bring Custom Harley ($125,000 NRHA LTE and this year’s AQHA Senior Reining World Champion) and Stop Like A Dream (National Reining Breeders’ Classic Level 4 Open Reserve Champion).

Custom Harley & Jordan Larson

 4R Performance Horses Hometown Heroes Slide & Freestyle Reining
Dec 2^nd at 5:30 p.m.

Hometown heroes from local police and fire stations will hop on top of some of NRHA’s fastest spinning and smoothest sliding reining horses – all to benefit the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum! Also during that night’s show, you can see an invitational Freestyle Reining, a crowd favorite where riders are free to express their “style” by performing their own reining pattern to music while both horse and rider are dressed to play the part.

NRHyA Carnival
Wed. Nov. 30 at 3:00 p.m. – Sale Arena
Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, you will not want to miss NRHyA under the big top on Wednesday, November 30th! This will be a wonderful opportunity for youth of all ages to play games and win prizes. Get ready for great refreshments and plenty of fun!

NRHA / Markel Insurance Sales
Thurs., Dec. 1 – Sat., Dec. 3 9:30 a.m. Sale Arena

Attend three premier performance horse sales while at the show. Interested buyers can view the sale catalogue online now! The sales feature yearlings, sires and dams of performers, show horses, prospects and three-year-old reining horses. Total sales of horses last year exceeded $3 million! For those of you not attending the Futurity, you can watch the auctions LIVE via webcast.

And you can’t forget about the finals!

NRHA Futurity – Cinch Non Pro Finals
Fri., Dec. 2 10 a.m. – Section 1 starts 2:30 p.m. – Section 2 starts
Come watch the world’s best non-pro riders compete for nearly $280,000 in cash, plus tons of awards. Section 1 of the finals includes Level 1-3 Non Pro and Prime Time Non Pro qualifiers while Section 2 includes Level 4 Non Pro finalists.

NRHA Futurity – Open Finals
Sat., Dec. 3 1 p.m. – Section 1 starts 5:45 p.m. – Section 2 Opening Ceremonies start

The coliseum will be packed Saturday night with fans and spectators excited to watch the best of the best compete for the coveted title and more than $800,000 in cash and prizes. Who will be this year’s NRHA Open Futurity Champion?

 Remember, you don’t have to be at the Futurity to enjoy many of these activities. From what I’ve heard from back home, it is cold and snowing back in Canada – so grab a blanket, curl up on the couch with your computer and watch the action unfold!

BY GUEST BLOGGER DEANNA BECKLEY

Now that we have arrived in Oklahoma, it’s day one of preparation for showing at the “BIG” Futurity.

The four boys had a long ride on the trailer, but they were feeling pretty fresh. Jesse opted to work his three in the round pen while Jeff rode Buddy out on the big track.

First up – CJ

Yawning and he hasn’t even been put to work yet.

Jesse knew he didn’t want to ride his horses the first day, but wanted to get the fresh off and still give them a “job”. Working them in the round pen would do just that.

Jeff decided he would ride his…but maybe lounge him first.

Looking pretty perky!

Buddy was especially fresh!

Still a little fresh…

Now time to get on.

Maybe…

Success!

Fellow Canadians, Jimmy and Andrea Andersen were also riding out on the track. Andrea showed at the Amatuer World Show, placing in the top 10 in the reining. Jimmy has two entered in the Open Futurity.

Next was Ten’s turn for the round pen.

Jesse hard at work.

And then onto Cooper.

The boys got their fresh off and we headed to the Worlds where I got to do a little shopping. Believe it or not Jesse managed to buy more than I did. This year’s Senior Reining Champion went to Jordan Larson and Custom Harley. Congratulations!

Couple more days and we’ll be moving into the fairgrounds and preparing to show on Thursday.