Arizona Reining Horse Association News

"Circling". Guy DeDonna and Trouble In Command,

practicing the large circles in preparation for their reining class

reported by Shaunda Ruckman

Membership Directories will be completed in March, and available at our April Jackpot. All members that are paid up by the March 1st deadline will be included. The directory will include members name, address, phone numbers, and email addresses. Business card ads are available for $10 each.

The ARHA Website (www.azreining.com) is under reconstruction; please excuse our delay in updating the site. We hope to keep it updated as to Jackpot dates and patterns, as well as results and standings. We have some new ideas that we are working on as well. Again, please accept our apologies on the delays.

· The Second Annual ARHA Judges Seminar has been officially scheduled for September 14-15 in Scottsdale. This is wonderful chance to learn how the judges score your runs, how your score is recorded and what the numbers mean. If you are interested in becoming a judge this is the first step to achieving your goal. Testing for acceptance into the NRHA Judging School will be available. More information will be available as soon as the details are worked out. You can also find out more about Judging Seminars and the NRHA Judging School in the back of the NRHA Reiner magazine.

· Correction - My apologies to Kristina Ricca for omitting your outstanding performances at the NRHA Futurity Show. Kristina won the Novice Horse Non-Pro after a 3-way run off with Bonnie Hippensteel and Mark Buckley. And she also won the Intermediate Non-Pro class. Way to go on your successes Kristina!

· The Largest Arizona Nationals EVER! Thank you to all of you who supported the reining at the Arizona Nationals. The reining classes on Saturday lasted well into the evening due to the tremendous turn out.

· New Arrivals - That time of the year is here again. The time when dreams and hopes for future champions arise. Send me pictures and information on your new foals so we can share the good news. Also let me know about any new horses you may have purchased to show, new teams are always of interest to our readers.

Show schedule... The Classic is from March 6th to the 10th .

ARHA Reiners,

The Reining season is off to a great start. The Arizona National Horse Show at WestWorld January 9- 13, proved to be the biggest show ever for the Nationals. The show had over 2100 entries, 100 reining runs and more than 300 horses participated. Helping out greatly, the weather was fantastic. Complete lists of results are included within our reining pages, but I was particularly pleased to see the scores of our Youth Riders. In the Youth 13 and Under, Kiley Knight won the class on Genuine Golden Girl, with a 140! Not far behind, Kelsey Duede, on Malibu Rum, scored a 134 to take second! Blake Johns won the Youth 14 and Over Class on Tuff Sliding Peppy with a 146 and Harrison Tobin scored a 144.5 on Smart Sliden Lena. Blake's 146 was the second highest score of the show (Al Dunning scored a 147 on Hey Houston to win the Open). We clearly have some great talent in the works. Congratulations Youth Riders!!

Its Sponsor time again and we have a great committee working on this year's program. Chaired by Carol Dreager the committee is trying hard to increase our sponsor base and make it more Fun. We will have the new program in place by the middle of February. Please consider giving generously when asked.

I have received many good comments on our new association with the Bridle and Bit. Many of you have told me that you appreciate receiving the paper in the mail and are looking forward to reading it each month. Remember that beginning with the March issue of the Bridle and Bit, we will mail only to paid members, so if you have not renewed your membership, please do so today.

The February Jackpot will be held at Horse Lovers Park, north of the CAP canal and south Hwy 101, February 23rd. It will start at 10 am. Watch for a reminder in the mail. This Jackpot will count toward year end awards. I am looking forward to the Arizona Reining Horse Classic March 6th-10th at WestWorld this year. Not only is the show a United States Equestrian Team Qualifier and a double Arizona Reining Horse Affiliate Show, but I have it on good authority that this year there will be a $1,000 Invitational Freestyle class and a $1,000 Pro-Amateur event.