Vol 4 No 8

Letter from the Editor

Happy September Golden State Members & Friends,

Back to School for the kiddos (of course, for us, schooling never ends!) Do you remember the excitement of new school clothes, a new binder, and a tablet with all those fresh, clean pages waiting to be filled? We get to experience some of that excitement when we enter a show and “fill our pages” with training and preparation. There are several more great opportunities to show prior to the Las Vegas Championship Show- the Central Coast Fall Classic in San Luis Obispo and the new Intermountain Ranch Versatility Rendezvous in McArthur. Details in this issue.

This editor just hates penalties that she could fairly easily avoid. Like missing the darn markers. Our friend Sandy Collier offers some words of wisdom regarding those two-point penalties in this issue.

Tack and western apparel stores are disappearing all over the state. It’s becoming such that often one has to go to the Internet to buy supplies/tack/clothing. An enterprising woman in Gilroy is coming to our rescue with a beautiful consignment store (think retail) that features very nice items. You may want to know about her and her store. Read on!

Western States Championship Show in Las Vegas is just around the corner. No qualifying needed, just enter and go! More info in this issue and on the Western States web site wsvrha.org.

Wishing You Happy Trails and Beautiful Sunsets!

Send comments, concerns, & ideas to JumperDawn@aol.com

Two Point Reining Penalties

Sandy Collier

Now, if you are cross cantering down the arena for your rundown, you probably won’t be in a credit situation even if you stop well because the approach to the stop wasn’t great if you were on two different leads.

Failing to run by the marker before initiating your stop is also a 2-point penalty. The rule describes it as “failure to run by the marker before initiating the stop.” If a horse hits the ground a few times while stopping and the first of those skips or bumps is before the marker, then technically it’s a 2-point penalty. Getting past the markers is one of the only things you can control in your run, so make sure you get past the marker before you start to stop.

Freezing up in a spin means that either you or your horse quit spinning before the last quarter. If that were to happen during the last quarter of the spin, it would just be a 1 point or ½ point underspin penalty.

Breaking gait can happen anywhere in the pattern. It most frequently occurs during the lead change or when slowing from the big fast to the small slow circle. It also can happen if the horse lopes off on the wrong lead and breaks while the rider is trying to get changed. Sometimes if a horse slips out of lead behind and the rider doesn’t keep the horse moving as they try to get the hind lead caught up, a break may occur. A break is defined as “the cadence of the lope is disrupted or not maintained and only occurs while loping.”

Jogging beyond 2-3 strides also incurs a 2-point penalty. The steps of the hind feet are usually counted when assessing a jog off. When you count four steps and then there’s a fifth or more, the 2-point penalty is assessed.

By the way, when reviewing if a horse backs too many steps, it’s easiest to count the steps of the front feet, whereas the hind feet are counted if it’s a trotting penalty.

On a trot in pattern, if the horse doesn’t stop before executing the lope off, the 2-point penalty is incurred.

And last but not least, if a horse stops in the first quarter of the circle after a lope departure, it’s considered a break of gait. If it happens anywhere else, it’s considered adding a maneuver and is a zero. This is because sometimes when a rider lopes off on the wrong lead they’ll stop and ask for the correct one. A case of muscle memory. To incur less penalties, if that happens, keep loping and do a lead change. If you do that, it’s only a 1-point penalty as long as you accomplish it in the first quarter of the circle.

That’s it for 2-point penalties and a few miscellaneous ones. When you’re first starting to show or are trying to get together with a new horse, just try to stay out of the penalty box. If you can have a clean run with no penalties, that’s a 70, and a 70 is a good score. As you get more confident, you can work on crediting maneuvers.

Many thanks to our friend Sandy Collier of Be Unstoppable. For more information see web site beunstoppable.us or contact at sandy@sandycollier.com

Saddles & Treasures

Gilroy Consignment Store

Typically, this publication doesn’t do any advertising, but this is different. This is information that many of us need. Amy Boucher has a one-year-old business that may be a lifesaver for many of us. Amy consigns and sells Western and English tack, clothing, barn goods, antiques, collectibles, Beyer horses, art, jewelry, etc. She also does saddle cleaning and blanket/wash & repair. Horse trainer, artist, and jewelry maker she saw a need and moved to meet it.

Western States & Nevada Quarter Horse Association Team Up

Teamwork = Awesome

Clifford Horse Training Show Results

A Summertime Favorite

Car week on the Peninsula and a beautiful weekend in Carmel Valley for versatility competitors. Sarah Clifford created a challenging Ranch Riding pattern that started at the “dressage court” and ended in the “driving ring.” The Ranch Trail was uber “ranchy” and tested the horse/rider teams in a multitude of ways-like tracking and roping a moving roping dummy. As always, awards done by Kelly Saunders are unique and wonderful. After substantial clinics with Mike Lund and Bobby Cotta, Karen Arlin and Mike put their judging skills to work. Skillful and tough competitors in every division.

Central Coast Fall Classic

Plus, A Clinic With A Twist!

It’s always such a nice place and event to welcome the Fall season. Now there is a brand new, beautiful cutting pen for our pleasure. Dawn Meinhold and crew put on a lovely show at Central Coast Boarding & Training just outside of San Luis Obispo proper. Lots of nice restaurants and hotels!

New Show, New Venue

Intermountain Ranch Versatility Rendezvous, Enter Now!

There’s a great outdoor arena and an indoor should the Fall weather take a turn for the worse (not expected though, October is generally temperate). There’s an RV park with full hook ups adjacent to fairgrounds and dry camping is available too. Host hotels are Hills Mannor, Hi-Mont Hotel, and The Fall River Inn. It’s hunting season in the mountains so get your hotel reservations asap. Check the internet, there are a number of fine sounding places to dine. Judges will be Sarah Clifford and Gail Bloxham.

Western States Versatility Championships

What You Need To Know

Quote of the Month

Craig Cameron (b 1949) is an American horse trainer. He won the Road to the Horse colt-starting contest in 2010 and has been inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame.