High River Trainer World Champ

BREED & SPORT NEWS February 5, 2011
Clint Swales, of High River, Alberta, is the 2010 National Reined Cow Horse Association Limited Open Hackamore World Champion. He piloted his horse, Twice The Bet, to the win with a 434.5. The NRCHA World Championship Show Presented by John Deere is taking place during the NRCHA Celebration of Champions, held annually in San Angelo, Texas, at the 1st Community Credit Union Spur Arena.

Swales and Twice The Bet won $3,877, a Bob’s Custom Saddle, a Gist Silversmiths buckle sponsored by Kevin and Sydney Knight, Rios of Mercedes boots, a World Finals vest sponsored by Gist Silversmiths, a C.R. Morrison trophy and a C.R. Morrison commemorative medallion.

The Canadian trainer and the 6-year-old mare, by Blessed Twice out of Frost Me Freckles, marked a 215.5 in the rein work and a 219 in the cow work. “The rein work felt pretty good. Even though she was a little wilder than first round we marked higher this time,” he said. That was followed by a 219 in the cow work. “I thought the cow was going to be terrible but my horse paid attention and put it all together.”

He explained that Twice The Bet, nicknamed Two, was very green when he purchased her as a 4-year-old. “She’s been getting stronger and stronger. We didn’t win much until this fall, when we won the Canadian Derby,” said Swales, who earned the Limited Open Hackamore World Championship in 2008. “She’s pretty solid at everything, really. She’s nice out of the herd, stops really hard in the reining, and is super quick and cowy down the fence.”

Swales also showed two other horses, finishing sixth in the Limited Open Hackamore and fourth in the Limited Open Bridle.

Roy Rich won the Limited Open Hackamore Reserve Championship with Half Time Report, owned by Barbara Hastings of Glendale, California. Rich and Half Time Report, by A Chic In Time and out of Hustlin Tips, scored a 428.5, collecting $3,102. They also received a Gist Silversmiths buckle sponsored by Kevin and Sydney Knight, a pair of custom spurs from Tom Balding Bits & Spurs, a pair of Rios of Mercedes boots, an ESP saddle pad from Classic Equine, a commemorative World Finals vest from Gist Silversmiths, and a C.R. Morrison commemorative medallion.

The NRCHA Celebration of Champions, held at the 1st Community Credit Union Spur Arena in San Angelo, Texas, features the Circle Y Ranch Derby, the NRCHA World Championship Show presented by John Deere, and the NRCHA World’s Greatest Horseman. The show in its entirety can be seen free of charge thanks to NRCHA Official Videographer Galloping Video. To view the live webcast, visit the NRCHA website or Galloping Video’s website at www.gallopingvideo.com.