We are joined this week by Host of the Animal Planet Show Faithful Friends and her partner Tricia Meteer of Equinox Photo to talk about their amazing new venture called Cowgirls for a Cause. What fun we had talking horses, photos, hit TV shows, stunt riding and sooo much more. Listen in…
Florida rider Leslie Ann Weiler put her eight years of Parelli Natural Horsemanship training to good use in 2010 when she rode her Andalusian mare, Lucea BR, to the US National Grand Champion Andalusian Mare title in the Amateur division. Weiler is a Parelli Level 2 graduate and recommends the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program for riders of all disciplines and levels. (Photo courtesy of Cheri Prill)
Ocala, FL (January 19, 2011) – Florida rider Leslie Ann Weiler put her eight years of Parelli Natural Horsemanship training to good use in 2010 when she showed her Andalusian mare, Lucea BR, to the US National Grand Champion Andalusian Mare Amateur title. Weiler and Lucea didn’t stop there, but dominated the show ring throughout the year to ride away with as the US National Grand Champion Western Amateur, the US National Grand Champion Western Pleasure Vintage Rider, the US National Grand Champion Hunt Seat Pleasure Amateur and the USEF National Reserve Champion Amateur Horse of the Year.
Weiler, who rides with trainer Gareth Selwood in Newberry, Florida, praises Selwood for helping her throughout the show year but also acknowledges she couldn’t have done it without her Parelli background. “My success with Lucea shows what a Parelli rider can do with a solid foundation of natural horsemanship, a great horse and a dedicated trainer,” Weiler said. “For riders who aren’t familiar with Parelli, they will find that natural horsemanship helps the rider and horse develop a great relationship. I think everyone should try it and they will find out that it is addicting to have a relationship with your horse!”
Parelli Natural Horsemanship, Inc., was founded by Pat and Linda Parelli with the goal of helping all horse owners achieve success without force while developing a natural and harmonious relationship with their horse. “Parelli gives riders a necessary foundation from which they can move confidently into the competitive horse show world,” Selwood said, when asked about Weiler’s success and how natural horsemanship affected it. “The Parelli system prepares riders so they can excel in all disciplines. It certainly makes my life as a coach much easier if my students have a good start in natural horsemanship.”
With every eye on the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, 2010 was the Year of the Horse in the United States as the world arrived on our doorstep in Lexington, KY, for 16 days of competition, demonstration and fun. It took years of planning and didn’t kick off until the end of the ninth month of the year.
Here is how 2010 unfolded before, during and after the Equestrian Event that stopped the American Equestrian community in its tracks. Anyone who makes a life with horses knows it’s not only about the few days a year when the world is watching – it is about every day of every year.
January: 2010 began with honoring the champions from the previous year at the 2010 USEF Annual Meeting. Dressage superstar Steffen Peters repeated as Equestrian of the Year. It was a monumental task to get him from a horse show in California to Louisville, but it was all worth it when he was there, in person, to accept his Dressage award. The night before, his beloved horse, Ravel, was honored as the Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year after storming through 2009 winning on both sides of this country (including the Rolex/FEI World Cup Final) and sweeping the CHIO Aachen in Germany – a first for an American combination. Owner Akiko Yamazaki was on hand to collect the award honoring America’s champion of 2009. Find the details here: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/newsdisplay/viewPR.aspx?id=5264&star=true and http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/newsdisplay/viewPR.aspx?id=5265&star=true. There would be even bigger plans for this pair in 2010.
Shawn Flarida riding Wimpys Little Chic in the $100,000 added NRHA World Championship Shootout. NRHA/Waltenberry
Oklahoma City, OK – December 16, 2010 – Just two short years ago, Shawn Flarida became the National Reining Horse Association’s first Three Million Dollar Rider with earnings accumulated at the 2008 NRHA Futurity. History repeated itself when the gates closed on the 2010 NRHA Futurity and the results were announced. With rides in the finals aboard Quistador (owned by Augustine and Gaynia Revenberg) and Shine Chic Shine (owned by Amabile & Strusiner), plus a tie for third in the $100,000 added NRHA World Championship Shootout on Wimpys Little Chic (owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA), Flarida scooped up more than $100,000 to become NRHA’s first Four Million Dollar Rider. Flarida’s official NRHA earnings are $4,023,885.
Flarida, of Springfield, OH, became the second rider in history to break the $2 million mark in 2006 at the FEI World Reining Masters in Denver, CO. Bill Horn was the first rider to earn in excess of $1 million. Tim McQuay, Craig Schmersal and Andrea Fappani are the only other riders to cross the $2 million earnings level. Only thirteen other riders have crossed the $1 million earnings plateau in addition to Flarida.
WESTPORT, CT – December 17, 2010 – America’s Favorite Equestrian is an interactive fundraising effort presented jointly in partnership by The EQUUS Foundation and The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) to raise funds to advance the equestrian sport on an annual basis.
Using mobile texting, you can vote to select America’s Favorite Equestrians and support The EQUUS Foundation with a $5 gift. 100% of all donations will be used to support charitable causes. A minimum of $10,000 in “sport welfare” grants will be awarded, with an additional $5,000 grant awarded to the equestrian discipline generating the most votes.
The objective is for the America’s Favorite Equestrians to be an ongoing program with all equestrian disciplines/breeds represented and the winners recognized in a permanent “Hall of Fame”. The original intent was to launch the inaugural program in conjunction with the World Equestrian Games, which is why initially the eight disciplines of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, jumping, para-dressage, reining, and vaulting were selected. The affiliates of the United States Equestrian Federation representing these disciplines selected the equestrians. But, there were some logistics involved in establishing the mobile texting system and developing the website, which delayed the launch until December.
At the 2010 AQHA Convention, many showing rules were voted on that will take effect January 1, 2011. Check out which rules have changed before next year’s show season starts.
More Horses Previously, only two horses could be shown per exhibitor in classes that are worked individually. Beginning January 1, exhibitors can show three horses in individually worked classes.
“If the open classes are combined into an all-ages class at a weekend show, then it goes back to four horses total,” according to Charlie Hemphill, AQHA senior director of shows and new events.
In grouped classes, such as horsemanship, Select exhibitors can show one horse in the amateur class and a different horse in the Select.
Pat Parelli, founder of the Pat Parelli Program, was invited to demonstrate his natural horsemanship techniques at the two-day International Dressage Forum at the Academide de Dressage in Portugal. (Photo courtesy of the Pat Parelli Program)
Arruda dos Vinhos, Portugal (December 6, 2010) – Pat Parelli may be an American cowboy, but that didn’t stop him from wowing the world’s greatest dressage riders and trainers at the two-day International Dressage Forum at the Academide de Dressage in Portugal. Parelli, who has an international following and is considered one of the founders of the natural horsemanship movement, was invited to participate in the Dressage Forum by Mariette Whitages, “O” Judge and former chairman of the FEI Dressage Committee.
Parelli was part of an international list of respected trainers, riders, judges and breeders at the forum, including Edward Gal, Kyra Kyrkland, Sven Rothenberger and Hans Riegler. Whitages invited Parelli so the internationally renowned horseman could share his revealing insights into the horse’s mind and his concepts on keeping equine athletes happy.
Parelli held the elite dressage audience spellbound as he worked with a Lusitano stallion that was afraid of a longe whip. In quick order, Parelli showed how to get the stallion over his fear of the whip and to trust and pay attention using a natural approach that took the stallion’s individual personality into consideration.
Lausanne (SUI), 1 December 2010 – The FEI has announced today that Bökeberg, near Malmö (SWE), will host the inaugural FEI World Reining Finals in May 2011. Qualified riders will compete for the title of World Reining Champion at the Finals in Malmö, where $100,000 in prize money will be on offer.
The FEI World Reining Finals, which are a reworking of the FEI World Reining Masters, will be held on 22 May 2011 at the well-known equestrian facility at Bökeberg, just outside Malmö. This is the first time that the annual individual final has been held outside North America since 2005.
Bökeberg has hosted major FEI championships in the past, including the 2009 European Vaulting Championships. It has also hosted the Swedish National Reining Championship.
The American Quarter Horse Journal – The American Quarter Horse Association crowned 94 world champions in Oklahoma City during the Bank of America Amateur and FedEx Open World Championship Show November 6-20.
AQHA world champions received a prize package that included a Montana Silversmiths sterling-silver buckle with 14-karat gold overlay, a neck wreath, custom-designed gold-tone trophy, specially designed and logoed Cripple Creek jacket, medallion, a pair of smooth ostrich Techno Crepe Justin Boots, Professional’s Choice products, 100 pounds of Nutrena feed as well as a cash prize.
Meet each of our newly crowned AQHA world champions, and learn more about their accomplishments at www.aqha.com/worldshow.
AQHA also recognized some of the top competitors at the World Show, including the Farnam Superhorse, the Oklahoma Leading Owner and the Farnam All-Around Amateur.
