Tim McQuay and Mega Watt Shine (Shannon Brinkman)
Lexington, KY – The reining world descends on the Kentucky Horse Park this weekend as many of the best in the sport have come to Lexington to compete in the 2013 Kentucky Reining Cup. Held in conjunction with the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover, competition will be held April 26-27 in the Alltech Arena. On Friday, CRI3* Open FEI Reining competition will begin at 6:00 pm ET, while Saturday’s Reining World Freestyle Championship is always one of the most celebrated features of the weekend.
CRI3* Open FEI Reining
At Thursday’s Horse Inspection, 25 CRI3* horses were presented to the Ground Jury. Only Sam Schaffhauser’s Magnums Pretty Patti was not accepted.
In the CRI3* Shawn Flarida (Springfield, OH) looks to secure his third consecutive victory in the Kentucky Reining Cup. Since the competition’s inception in 2011, the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Team Gold medalist has proven unbeatable.
However, Flarida will face stiff competition in 2013. He will go head-to-head with his U.S. teammates from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games: Tom McCutcheon (Aubrey, TX) and Tim McQuay. At those Games, McCutcheon became a double Gold medalist after also securing top Individual honors. In addition to his 2010 Gold medal, McQuay (Tioga, TX) also won Team Gold and Individual Silver medals at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany.
U.S. team veteran and 2008 FEI World Reining Championships Team Silver medalist Pete Kyle (Whitesboro, TX) has entries in both the CRI and Freestyle divisions. Kyle is competing for the third year at the Kentucky Reining Cup.
“I really look forward to coming to this event in Lexington every year,” said Pete Kyle. “It’s a great atmosphere and beautiful facility. It’s great to be able to mingle with the best Reiners and Eventers from around the world. I look forward to coming more and more each year.”
Also competing in the CRI3* Open FEI Reining division is four-time Grammy award winner Lyle Lovett (Spring, TX).
Reining World Freestyle Championship
The champions from the 2011 and 2012 vie for top honors among a field of 22 that line up in the Reining World Freestyle Championship. Shane Brown (Elbert, CO) claimed the title in the competition’s inaugural year but was relegated to runner-up in 2012 by Kyle. Brown and Kyle will be must-sees on a night of lively performances.
In 2013, eventers will once again take part in the Reining World Freestyle Championship. They include the 2011 and 2012 Rolex/USEF National CCI4* Eventing Champions, Sinead Halpin (Oldwick, NJ) and Allison Springer (Upperville, VA). Additionally, 2000 Olympic Gold medalist and USEF Eventing Team Coach David O’Connor (The Plains, VA) and 2003 Pan American Games Gold medalist Bobby Costello (Southern Pines, NC) will compete.
Both the CRI3* Open FEI Reining and Reining World Freestyle Championship will be live streamed free of charge on USEFNetwork.com presented by Smartpak. Coverage of the CRI3* Open FEI Reining will begin at 6 pm ET on Friday, April 26, with the Reining World Freestyle Championship beginning at 5:30 pm ET on Saturday, April 27.
Find video, photos, news and more here: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2013KentuckyReiningCup/.
Follow the 2013 U.S. Reining Team at: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/2013Reining.
For details about the 2013 Kentucky Reining Cup, visit: http://www.kentuckyreining.com/.