Shane Brown and Houston Shine won the inaugural Freestyle Reining World Championship. Photo: Leslie Potter

The Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park was packed on Saturday night for the inaugural Freestyle Reining World Championship.

The event was held in conjunction with the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and drew many eventing fans to come and check out reining for the first time. Part of the draw was that four eventers would be competing on borrowed reining horses. Gina Miles, Hamish Cargill, and Karen and David O’Connor each had a go before the very enthusiastic crowd. While David O’Connor said he’d ridden reiners before, the other three were brand new to the sport.

“I didn’t even know we were going to be doing a pattern and really be competing,” said Miles. “I thought we were going to be the pre-show entertainment!”

The top prize in the competition went to Shane Brown of Colorado who rode his stallion Houston Shine in a nearly flawless performance to Jamey Johnson’s song, “In Color.” The pair drew thunderous cheers from the audience for their perfectly choreographed routine.

“The crowd involvement is great,” said Brown. “The crowd here is really, really great.”

Pete Kyle of Texas won second place with an entertaining routine to Toby Keith’s “Go to Mexico” that included a costume change and hands-free riding that won the crowd over.

“[Freestyle reining] is a very entertaining event for spectators, and so we get a lot of new people to come watch it,” said Kyle, “It’s good for our sport because more people watch it, enjoy it, and think, ‘That looks like fun. I want to go try it,’ and that’s what it’s all about”

“I think the biggest thing you can say about freestyle is that it’s a spectator sport,” said Heather Johnson, who finished third with her horse Doublenotyourreeboks “There’s actual involvement from the spectators. I think that’s the best thing about it is that people get to go out and hoot and holler. It’s just a lot of fun. It’s a really good introduction to [reining].”

David O’Connor, who came in sixth overall, enjoyed the atmosphere of freestyle competition.

“The thing about it is, we all need to learn that this is a real spectator-friendly sport,” said O’Connor. “In our sport, we need to be willing to go there and really get the crowd involved.”

With the success of the inaugural Freestyle Reining World Championship, organizers plan to continue the event alongside next year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. To learn more and see full results, visit www.kentuckyreining.com

Karen O’Connor	David O’Connor
Pete Kyle	Heather Johnson

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American Tiana Coudray and Ringwood Magister are in the lead after the dressage phase of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Photo: Lesley Ward

It was the “day of the grays” on Friday as the second half of dressage unfolded at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Thursday’s leader, Allison Springer, moved down to third as Tiana Coudray and her stunning dapple gray Irish Sport Horse, Ringwood Magister, topped Friday’s dressage with a score of 40.8.

Another flashy dapple gray, Fernhill Uroco, moved into second place later in the day with a score of 41.7. The Portugese-bred warmblood was British rider Mary King’s second mount, putting her into second and forth place after dressage.

Coudray was a bit worried about how her test would go when she came down the ramp in front of the grandstand. “[Ringwood Magister] had been really good in warmup, but when I came in, there was a big round of applause for the previous pair. He started bucking and cantering on the spot–I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go, but he got it together and went to work when we went in the ring. Coming down the centerline at the end, it hit me that he had a very good test.”

The competitors are not content to relax now that dressage is over, however. “I’m really excited about cross-country at this point,” said Coudray. “But [course designer] Derek di Grazia catches you out for not respecting things enough, and the [rain-soaked] footing is going to be a question, especially for the horses later on. I just need to treat it like it’s not as nice as it looks.”

Mary King of Great Britain and her second mount, Fernhill Uroco, are in second place heading into cross-country. Photo: Leslie Potter

King, although a veteran rider, seemed a bit surprised but very pleased with Fernhill Uroco for his standout performance on Friday. “I wasn’t quite expecting such a good test, although he’s really improved in the last month or so. He’s a positive-thinking horse but strong; whether you’re leading him or riding him, he’s on a mission. But he’s got a calm temperament despite being forward-thinking. My dressage trainer lent me a double bridle recently, and suddenly he respected the bit, and I could ride him forward and work on his engagement.”

The change in tack certainly paid off on the big stage, but King is also not content to rest on her laurels going into cross-country. “He’s a chunky horse, and he’s going to find the course quite long. He wasn’t bred to be an event horse, but he’ll give it a go anyway! l hope the footing doesn’t take away from how lovely the fences are; it’s all very jumpable, but still a real four-star course with one question after another. The ground conditions will be one of the main tests, however.”

An interesting point to note at this year’s Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event was the increase in helmets in dressage. Last year Allison Springer was the only rider to forgo the traditional top hat in favor of an approved helmet; this year, the percentage was closer to half of the riders, especially among the Americans.

Cross-country will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday; watch live at USEFNetwork.com

For more information and complete scores, go to www.rk3de.org

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Shawn Flarida won the individual first place in the Kentucky Cup Reining. Photo: Leslie Potter

The atmosphere at the Kentucky Horse Park made a 180 as the dressage phase of the 2011 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event wound down and the noise level was turned up several notches for the Kentucky Reining Cup in the Alltech Arena. As a mix of country music, classic rock and 80s hits reverberated throughout the arena, the audience whooped and hollered for some of the world’s top reining competitors vying for $50,000. In the end, the top four positions were filled by a few familiar faces, rekindling memories of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG).

Shawn Flarida, the National Reining Horse Association’s only Four Million Dollar Rider and all-time leading money earner, took first place with a score of 226.5 on KR Lil Conquistador, a horse he’s been riding since the now 8-year-old gelding was two.

“He’s a great horse,” said Flarida, who attributes his success to the horses he works with. “If he was a human being, he’d be my best friend right behind my wife.”

Flarida’s fellow 2010 WEG gold medal-winning teammates Craig Schmersal and Tom McCutcheon rounded out the top four, with Schmersal claiming second and third places on Miss Lil Addy Tude (225) and Mister Montana Nic (224.5), respectively. While the latter is a veteran in the international reining arena, and was Schmersal’s individual silver medal-winning mount at the WEG last fall, the sorrel mare Miss Lil Addy Tude is a fairly new partner for Schmersal.

“Today was the fifth time I’ve ridden that mare, and I couldn’t be more happy with her,” he said. “I’m thrilled with her. She showed really good. And then Mister Montana Nic is unbelievable. I’m extremely happy with him.”

McCutcheon, who won the individual gold medal at the 2010 WEG on Gunners Special Nite, scored a 222.5 on Chic Olena Starbuck to finish fourth. When asked how it felt to return to the Alltech Arena, the site of the 2010 WEG reining competition, he said, “It feels great. I love this place. I love Lexington. I love Kentucky. This building is awesome. I love coming back here. It’s a big deal for us. For reining in general, it’s great to get into this venue. We’re all glad we got invited and could be part of it.”

The Clark Oil team of Mandy McCutcheon, Sam Smith and Tim McQuay won first place in the team competiton. Photo: Leslie Potter

“It brings back a lot of good memories,” added Schmersal. “I couldn’t be happier to be here. I’m thrilled that Rolex let us come in and do our deal. It’s a great facility, with first-class people all the way around. It’s always a pleasure to come back here.”

Country music singer Lyle Lovett was among the reining celebrities in the five-star event. Lovett grew up in the running Quarter Horse world and has been riding and competing in reining since attending a competition as a spectator 10 years ago and becoming hooked on the sport. In comparing reining competition to the country music industry, Lovett said, “It’s very similar because even though it’s a competition … the team spirit among the competitors is just incredible. To watch them back in the barn and the warm-up pen helping one another, you know they’re all friends and associates. Nobody in reining likes anything better than to see a great run, and when somebody’s having a great run, everybody in the stands and everybody in the barn is cheering for that rider and for that run.”

The CRI5* Kentucky Reining Cup represented the highest level of competition in the sport and is the only five-star event to be held in the western hemisphere this year. Saturday’s freestyle competition will crown its first-ever world champion and award $25,000 in prize money, the largest purse for a reining freestyle anywhere in the world. The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Alltech Arena. For more information and full results from the Kentucky Reining Cup, visit www.kentuckyreining.com.

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