Category Archives: History

When standout athlete Patriot, ridden by Nathan Piper, claimed the 2022 The Run For A Million Championship, he became the highest money-earning horse in the history of the National Reining Horse Association.

But that’s not all. His win catapulted both his owners, Shannon and Hershel Reid, and his dam, Dunit A Lil Ruf, past the million-dollar mark.

Dunit A Lil Ruf was bred by Sandi Holt and was sold to NRHA Professional Ann Salmon-Anderman during her two-year-old year. With Anderman at the reins, Dunit A Lil Ruf won more than $32,000, including a Level 2 Open Championship at the 2013 Derby.

From the beginning, Dunit A Lil Ruf was a producer. Her first foal, Ruf Lil Magnum (Magnum Chic Dream), won more than $107,000. Ruf Lil Magnum won an American Quarter Horse Association World Championship in Senior Reining, a Level 3 Open Championship at the NRHA Derby, was an NRHA Futurity Finalist, and placed just outside the top 10 at the 2019 The Run For A Million Invitational.

The mare’s next four foals were winners, as well, averaging nearly $20,000 per horse.

Then came Patriot, sired by NRHA Eight Million Dollar Sire Smart Spook. An NRHA Futurity finalist, the colt hit his stride in his first Derby year, tying for the win of the 2019 National Reining Breeders Classic, then finishing third at the NRHA Derby before winning an AQHA Junior Reining World Championship to wrap up the year.

In 2020, Patriot continued to reign, finished second at the NRHA Derby, and placed well at other major events. In 2021, Patriot made his first appearance at TRFAM, finishing sixth. By the time the 2022 TRFAM came around, Patriot had already become one of the Association’s biggest money earners at more than $330,000. As the year nears its end, the 7-year-old stallion boasts earnings of $834,632, becoming not only Dun It A Lil Ruf’s highest earner but also the highest money-earning horse in NRHA history.

In November, NRHA Corporate Partner Teton Ridge purchased the blue-hen mare, who has continued to produce winners. In fact, Dunit A Lil Ruf’s first nine foals have all won money in NRHA events. The mare was honored for her achievement during the MS Diamonds TX L4 Open Finals at the NRHA Futurity.

Dunit A Lil Ruf’s top earners include:

• Patriot (Smart Spook) $834,632
• Ruf Lil Magnum (Magnum Chic Dream) $107,276
• Maximum Mag (Magnum Chic Dream) $54,031
• Dunit At Nite (Gunners Special Nite) $28,018
• Ruf Nite (Gunners Special Nite) $22,814
• Ruf Lil Joe (Lil Joe Cash) $21,665
• Ruf Up My Jersey (Yellow Jersey) $14,654
• Shine Ruf Shine (Shine Chic Shine) $5,529
• Ruf Lil Sixty Six (Inferno Sixty Six) $2,728

While in Oklahoma City for the NRHA Futurity, one of the Association’s most accomplished riders, Kelle Smith, passed away.

Kelle was fierce in everything she did, and that tenacity helped her win countless titles, including two NRHA Futurity Non Pro Championships. On Sunday, she competed on her horse, See Ya Seven, and advanced to yet another NRHA Futurity Finals.

“On behalf of NRHA Board of Directors and Staff, I extend our most sincere condolences to Kelle’s husband Sam, her loved ones, the members of their team, and her friends throughout the reining industry. This is a loss that has hit so many of us hard,” shared NRHA President Rick Clark, who’s known Sam and Kelle for nearly 30 years. “Kelle was a tremendous competitor, and I always thought a lot of her.”

He added, “We plan to recognize Kelle this weekend during one of the Finals, and we will share details once they are finalized.” Arrangements for a memorial service will be made in the coming days, and a memorial will be planned for mid-December so that her family and friends can attend.

Sam Smith designated the Reining Horse Foundation for gifts in Kelle’s memory. Donations can be made at reiningfoundation.com/kellesmith

We’ll share memorial information when we have details.

On Nov. 19, a pillar in the history of the National Reining Horse Association passed away. Richie Greenberg, 86, passed away peacefully in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Greenberg first became involved with reining in the 1970s, in the early years of the association, and boasted membership number 59. His accomplishments as a non pro were impressive, but his legacy truly lies with a breeding program that is still influencing the sport of reining a half-century later. He was recognized for his impact with induction to the Association’s Hall of Fame in 2000.

As an entrepreneur, Partner in Wexner-Greenberg Associates, and Owner of Mid-North Realty, Inc., he pursued his interests in real estate development, management, and design, Native American Indian History, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera, downhill skiing, and was also a proponent of equine therapy programs for children with special needs.

Greenberg’s love of horses developed in his youth, and he got his first horse at only 12 years old. In 1972, he discovered Hollywood Jac 86, and the pair would make history together.

With “Jac,” Greenberg won his first bronze and his first saddle in 1974 at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, and that year won NRHA’s first Non Pro World Championship. They repeated both feats the following year, and it was the start of a run of six consecutive Non Pro World Championships, with 1976 won on Mr Nifty Bee, 177 Mr Ditto String, 1978 on Miss Doll Pine, and 1979 on Boggies Last.

He also won Non Pro World Championships in 1984 on Miss Yellow Jac and in 1992 on Darlene Dillon. In 1986 he took the Novice Horse Non Pro World Championship in 1986 with Hollywood Bandito.

In total, Richie won nine world championships, one reserve world title, three Non Pro Futurity championships, one reserve world title, three Non Pro Futurity reserve championships, two Non Pro Derby wins, two Superstakes Championships in the Non Pro and Limited Open, and one Superstakes Reserve Championship. At the time of his passing, Greenberg’s lifetime earnings finished just short of $200,000.

An avid businessman, he quickly became involved in the management side of the NRHA, serving on the Executive Board from 1975 to 1977, including a term as President. He was a staunch supporter of opening the NRHA to all breeds and is credited with helping establish the Non Pro divisions.

In the May 2000 Reiner, NRHA Hall of Famer and Three Million Dollar Rider Time McQuay shared, “Richie Greenberg can be credited with making the Non Pro division what it is today. He stayed involved throughout the ups and downs and had a large part in ensuring it was a solid organization.”

While Greenberg and Hollywood Jac 86 made their mark in the show pen, it was the stallion’s prepotency as a sire that ensured his name is still found in the lineage of top horses competing today.

In 1984, Greenberg and Sally Brown created The Jac Pac, centered around Hollywood Jac 86 and his son Mr Boggie Jac. In 1993, Hollywood Jac 86 became the first stallion to sire the earners of more than a million dollars in NRHA money alone, and that same year was inducted into the NRHA Hall of Fame.

No doubt his most well-known son is Six Million Dollar Sire and fellow Hall of Famer Hollywood Dun It. Hollywood Dun It is also the sire of NRHA Three Million Dollar Hollywoodstinseltown.

While both Greenberg and Jac are gone, the legacy they left in the reining industry will remain in perpetuity.

Memorial donations may be gifted to: “Equestrian Connection,” Equine Assisted Therapy, Not-for-Profit, 501(c)(3). equestrianconnection.org/donate.

A Memorial Service will be held Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022, at 11 a.m. at the Congregation Sukkat Shalom, 1001 Central Avenue, Wilmette, IL. 60091.

Fifteen years ago, NRHA Professional Jared Leclair accepted a raw-boned 2-year-old into training. With a royal pedigree and phenomenal confirmation, the colt showed outstanding promise as a performance prospect, but that is where Leclair’s plans for the colt ended. Even still, Leclair made a deal with the colt’s owner, Danny Dugan, and joined in a partnership for the ownership of Electric Code.

“You could just tell that he was special,’ Leclair explained. “He was a great mover, a huge stopper, and really good-minded. If you ride enough of these horses, the special ones stand out. It was pretty early in my career to show one of my own, but I knew I needed a horse like that to get me on the map.”

As the colt’s training progressed, he continually impressed his owners with his intelligence, athleticism, and willingness. “He was just a really cool horse to train,” Leclair said. “He was really strong and could handle pressure really well. He was obviously a show horse and enjoyed doing his job.”

Electric Code, by NRHA Three Million Dollar Sire Jacs Electric Spark out of Hot Coded Candy, went on to claim multiple futurity titles, including winning the 2008 NRHA Level 3 Open Futurity Championship and placing 3^rd in the level 4 with Leclair in the saddle. He was the #1 Reining Horse All Ages/All Divisions in 2008 and the highest-scoring stallion at the NRHA Open Futurity! The horse and rider team went on to win multiple major event championships during the stallion’s derby years, bolstering his lifetime earnings to more than $204,000.

Through an unfortunate turn of events, the L & D Partnership was dissolved, and Leclair retained ownership. He found himself deciding on the future of the promising young stallion alone. “A horse has to prove himself to be a stallion. There are a lot of them out there that shouldn’t be studs. Cody had to prove to us that he was capable to produce babies that people are going to want to go horse show, and he did that,” Leclair said.

Once Electric Code had done his part, Leclair felt the pressure to do the horse justice as a stallion. “I tried to pair him with really good mares and actively invited people to breed to him. I stood him with the McCutcheons because I believe they are the best at what they do. I put my customers on his offspring, and they would breed mares to him, too. I just tried to be as involved as I could possibly be,” he said.

Electric Code’s first foals became performers in 2011 and quickly made a name for their sire. The stallion produced 195 NRHA money earners that carried the stallion to the elite rank of NRHA Million Dollar Sire in 2022. His top five money earners are:

Coded N Karma out of Whiz N Snap – $78,347.44

Electro Star out of RG Miss Starlight – $70,011.09

Fille Code out of Smartest Sister – $56,641.55

Codalicious out of Custom Easy Breezy – $54,034.32

Darlins Cody Boy out of Darlins Not Painted – $47,219.34

Leclair thanked everyone who has supported him and Electric Code on this journey, including the McCutcheons, the owners, customers, and his friends. He also thanked his wife, Karla, for helping him get Cody to where he needed to be. Then he added, “I’m glad to be a part of it because I don’t think there are very many horse trainers who own Million Dollar Sires, so it’s pretty cool.”

In the fall of 2022, Arno Honstetter rode the talented mare Ms Dreamy, owned by Frederick Christen, to finish fifth place at The Run For A Million presented by Teton Ridge. The $60,000 prize – the second largest in the German native’s career, was enough to push him to the precipice of a major milestone – a million dollars in earnings.

Just two months later, the talented professional passed that marker and joined an elite group of million-dollar earners in the National Reining Horse Association.

“Reaching a million dollars in earnings hasn’t always been the goal. When I came over here in the beginning, I never thought I could be a million-dollar rider,” Honstetter admitted. “But when I started getting closer, maybe to a half-million in earnings, I thought maybe I could do it.”

He added, “So this accomplishment means a lot. It’s what I do all day long. I love to ride, train, and raise horses. I gave up everything in my home country to come over here to try to be a horse trainer, so it’s pretty special.”

Honstetter grew up in Liggeringen, Germany, in the southern part of the country in the Bodensee on the Lake of Konstanz. His family didn’t have horses, but he’d always wanted to ride one. His parents purchased his first horse when he was eight years old, and while he tried his legs in an English saddle at first, he soon set his sights on western disciplines.

He was introduced to cutting, and when he was 16 years old, his father began asking where he could send his son to learn more about training horses. That’s when he met National Reined Cow Horse Association Hall of Famer Ken Wold and spent several years working with Wold in the United States, honing his skills in multiple disciplines, including cutting, cow horse, and reining.

“I learned everything about training, showing, and breeding horses there. We did everything on that ranch,” Honstetter recalled. “Kenny, his wife Ramona, and his mom were like family. It was probably the best time of my life.”

After spending four years with the Wolds, Honstetter moved back to Germany. “I started showing, and Andrea Fappani saw me show. I can’t remember what year it was – maybe 2004. We had a big show over there, and all these guys from the United States came over. Andrea asked me if I wanted to come work for him, and long story short, I ended up being there for several years.”

Honstetter spent eight years total with Fappani, the NRHA’s All-Time Leading Rider, but he also took a year to ride with NRHA Million Dollar Rider Randy Paul, as well.

Eventually, he went out on his own for several years before accepting the position of head trainer for Brenda Joyce and Rick Christen’s Story Book Stables, located in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2020.

“I thank Brenda and Rick for the opportunity they have given me, as well as all the owners over the years who have trusted me to ride such nice horses,” he said. “I thank Andrea Fappani, Randy Paul, and Ken Wold for what they’ve done for me, as well.”

Arno and his wife, Laura, welcomed daughter Tatum nine months ago. He added that he hopes to help Story Book Stables become even more successful in the future.

“My biggest goal is to train and raise nice horses and do a good job running the ranch. I want us to produce really nice horses here at the ranch more than just buying and training them,” he said.

Honstetter’s Top 10 Wins:

• 2011 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Reserve Champion – $113,176 – Show Me The Buckles
• 2022 The Run For A Million 5^th Place – $60,000 – Msdreamy
• 2013 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open 5^th Place – $50,947 – Holier Then Thou
• 2010 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open 5^th Place – $47,642 – Chicsdundreamin
• 2016 NRHA Futurity Level 3 Open Champion – $28,061 – Whizkey Chaser
• 2010 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Champion – $23,789 – Chicsdundreamin
• 2014 NRHA Derby Level 3 Open Champion – $22,302 – Colonels Splashy Gun
• 2021 High Roller Reining Classic 4-Year-Old States Reserve Champion – $18,534 – Electric Whizkey
• 2016 NRBC Level 4 Open 8^th Place – $16,625 – Gunners Special Glo
• 2015 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open 14^th Place – $15,873 – See U Saturday Night

For more information about Arno Honstetter, visit ArnoHonstetter.com or StoryBookStables.com

The late Wind Her Up Shiner posthumously joined the short but elite list of National Reining Horse Association Million Dollar Dams in 2022. The 1998 mare by Shining Spark out of Wind Her Up Doc was purchased by NRHA Million Dollar Rider José Vazquez as a 3-year-old through a series of events that look a lot like fate.

Wind Her Up Shiner lived in NRHA Professional Ed Fear’s barn, where Vazquez rode as a non pro. The mare was offered to him as a 2-year-old, but he passed her up because he already had all of the coming 3-year-olds that he wanted. A tragic incident changed that when one of Vazquez’s futurity prospects died suddenly. With a spot open for another youngster and the mare up for sale again, Vazquez sealed the deal.

“I ended up lucky one more time,” Vazquez said with a laugh. “When the spot for another 3-year-old opened up, I was lucky that she was the right one.”

As far as the mare’s show career goes, Vazquez says that she was great but laments that he didn’t do her justice as her showman. “Unfortunately, I was too green, myself, showing. I was a rookie. I had a guy come to me and say that I should send her to him to show, and she could win $100,000 or more. I joked with him that if I gave him my best horse, how could I be as good as I wanted to be? I wanted to beat Mandy [McCutcheon], you know?

“We were always joking around about her, and he said one day, ‘You know, with more earnings, her babies will be worth a lot of money, too.’ I said, ‘Will they ride different?’ He said, ‘No.’ I said, well then, I’ll keep the babies, too!”

This, he staunchly held true to, only selling the geldings and keeping and showing all of the mares. “I probably let her down as a producer, also,” Vazquez mused. “If I had put those horses in the right hands, we would probably be celebrating two million right now instead of one!

“I do feel bad for the mare, though,” He continued. “She had potential to win way more money than she did, but she put me on the right track to show. She taught me what it takes to win. I think it was bad for her that I kept her to show myself, but it was very good for me. She taught me a lot. She was an amazing mare.”

Despite Vazquez’s perceived shortcomings, Wind Her Up Shiner earned nearly $34,000 in her own show career, and as a producer, she certainly shined. Interestingly, the mare has only been bred to the late Smart Like Juice, an NRHA $4 Million Sire that was also owned by Vazquez. The magic pairing produced 25 living foals, and 24 of them are NRHA money earners thanks to Vazquez’s faith in the breeding. There is no doubt that Wind Her Up Shiner’s prepotency contributed much to Vazquez’s achievements as a $2 Million Owner (under Smart Like Juice, Inc.)

The first foal of the magic cross, SLJ Smartlikewhinny, suffered a major injury when her leg got caught in the round pen fence. A veterinarian said that she would never be shown; however, Vazquez saw to the filly’s rehabilitation and earned more than $53,000 on her. The twenty-fifth foal is currently two years old, and Vazquez looks forward to making the most of her show career when she comes of age to ensure the offspring of Smart Like Juice and Wind Her Up Shiner are 100% money earners.

Wind Her Up Shiner’s top five earners are:

Like Shiner – $187,483

Moonshine Juice – $122,366

Moonshine N Juice – $$113,776

Wound By Juice – $112,369

SLJ Corazon Valiente – $108,216

Vazquez thanked all of the trainers who have helped him over the years so that he and his horses could reach such notoriety, along with his NRHA family with whom, over the course of his 25 years in reining, he has had the opportunity to have a lot of fun and secure many friendships.

The Board and Staff of the National Reining Horse Association extend condolences to the connections of Million Dollar Sire Rowdy Yankee, who passed away on Friday, October 7, 2022. He was a horse of great charisma and talent, and, as NRHA Hall of Famer Dick Pieper was quoted as saying, “If he was a person, he’d be the kind of guy that you’d like to sit down and have a drink with.”

Rowdy Yankee was bred, born, raised, trained, and promoted by Non Pro Keith Crawford, now of Circleville, Ohio. By all odds, the circumstances before his birth shouldn’t have produced such a great animal.

It all started when Crawford’s wife returned home from a horse show and handed him a torn piece of a brown paper sack with a phone number and the following words scribbled on it:

Two-year-old filly by Ready Chex eligible for the NRHA Futurity for sale. Cheap.

Crawford was pretty sure that it wasn’t any filly that he would be interested in, but after some encouragement from his wife, he called the number.

After he asked the man selling the filly about her, the man answered, “My wife and I show barrel horses, and we bought the mare in foal in a packaged deal. The filly is eligible for the Futurity, and we don’t show NRHA, so we thought we’d sell her.”

Crawford already had a trip scheduled that would take him near the man’s place, so he agreed to stop by and look at her. “She was a real pretty bay mare, and I was surprised,” Crawford said. “He threw a saddle on her and rode off across the pasture; there was just an open area there with three barrels sitting in it. She rode off quiet and calm, so I asked how much he’d have to have for her, and he said that he’s been asking fifteen. I was thinking $15,000, but then he said, ‘But nobody has really been calling about her, so I guess I’d take $1,200.’”

Crawford bought the mare registered as Nita Chex (out of Pinenita) and began training her for the futurities before disaster struck, or perhaps, it was fate. The filly chipped a bone in her knee, and her show career ended early. Crawford gave her a year off, but she didn’t improve.

After watching the stallion that would become an NRHA Seven Million Dollar Sire and NRHA Hall of Fame Inductee, Smart Chic Olena, show at the NRHA Futurity one year, Crawford decided to breed his mare to the proven cutting champion turned successful reiner, and the resulting foal was Rowdy Yankee, named for a member of Crawford’s other passion: Standardbred Racing.

“I raced out in California four winters, and there was a horse out there that I liked. He actually raced in New York and Chicago, some, but he was owned in California, and he was out there when I was. He was a beautiful Standardbred, and he raced on the trot and the pace, both gaits. He was just a really good horse. He was an open pacer, and his name was Rowdy Yankee. I always liked the name, too, so that’s what I named the colt,” Crawford explained.

As he grew, Rowdy Yankee would go through stages of extreme beauty intermixed with “ugly” stages. “I went in the house one day and told my wife that we needed to sell him. I didn’t think he was going to make anything. He looked long-backed and ewe-necked, then in about a month, he looked gorgeous again. So, I ended up starting him and training him, and he was probably the nicest horse I’ve ever put a leg over.”

Crawford went on to describe Rowdy Yankee as smart, willing, very trainable, and naturally talented. He said, “He almost learned it by himself. I trained him all that winter and started showing him as a three-year-old in the pre-futurities, and we won everything. We won them all. He ended up going on to win the NRHA Futurity, and I showed him as a four-year-old, and he won everything but the Derby.”

Rowdy Yankee finished his show career with $84,480 in NRHA Lifetime Earnings, shown almost exclusively by Crawford. Knowing that there were a lot of cow-type horses out west, Crawford sent Rowdy Yankee to stand at Boyle Ranch in Ione, California, but not long after, he was notified of a problem.

Barbi Boyle called him and said, “Keith, you need to come out here and show this horse. People need to see him so we can get some breedings.”

Crawford explained that Rowdy Yankee had been plastered all over the Reiner for the past two years, but Barbi retorted that people out there didn’t get the Reiner. Keith entered both the Open and the Non Pro at the first annual Reining By The Bay horse show.

“They had a $20,000 Open and a $2,000 Non Pro. People had made some comments that he was a nice horse, but he was just a Non Pro horse, so I felt like I needed to show them everything he was. I rode in there and put the hammer down and showed him like he was an open horse, and he marked a 232.5 to win both the Open and the Non Pro,” Crawford said proudly.

After, Crawford, Rowdy’s had a few different owners, but in 2015 when Bob Peterson’s daughter Morgan graduated college, like many young adults, she was unsure of what path to take or what her purpose would be. The father, daughter team discussed the importance of horses in their lives and how they helped create purpose for the family.  So they set out to buy mares to recreate their breeding program like it had been years prior when they had such horses as Reserve World Champion Genuine Hombre.  Once they had fulfilled the goal of finding some high quality mares, the next step was to get a stallion for their program.

Tammye Hutton of Hilldale Farm then led them to Rowdy Yankee.  It was Tammye that helped the father, daughter team select the right mares to cross onto Rowdy and Hilldale Farm stood him at stud for a number of years, until his age and health started to slow him down.

Rowdy Yankee was then lent to the Equine Program at Feather River College in Quincy, California by Hilldale Farms where he could spend his final years, teaching students how a stallion is supposed to behave. The 25-year-old breeding stallion was welcomed with open arms, and Equine Program Coordinator Crystal Anderson lobbied hard to get him.

Anderson liked what she knew of the stallion. Not only was he a champion in competition, but “he had such a sweet, kind disposition.” She knew his foals would be the same because she’d already worked with some that students had brought to the program. She was certain that they would be valuable assets both to the breeding and training programs. The college breeds its own horses, then foals and raises them until they are trained. Later, they are offered in the college’s annual Feather River College Production Horse Sale held in May each year.

At the college, Rowdy Yankee was treated like the celebrity that he was for his remaining years. He was given the best stall on campus which allowed him both indoor and outdoor access and was always deeply bedded with fresh, clean shavings. He enjoyed lots of turnout time when he first arrived and was hand-walked as his years advanced and his health declined.

The campus was only able to get one foal crop out of the old stallion, but they are excited to work with the now-yearling sons and daughters of the Million Dollar Sire. “We’ll be excited to get them started under saddle this coming spring, and then, hopefully, we’ll have them ready for the sale in 2024,” Anderson said. “I wish we could have kept him going. I would have loved to have had a thousand of Rowdy’s babies in the program.”

She added, “He was loved by everyone. He was a stallion, but he never really acted like one. He was more like a puppy dog than anything. He was just so friendly to everyone; he was so kind.”

Rowdy Yankee was 28 years old when he passed.

“Our family had been involved in the horse industry for decades, but Rowdy gave us a second generation of excitement and the motivation we needed to jump deeper into the reining industry,” said Peterson. “We are thrilled to know that there will be a resurgence in Rowdy offspring and hope that those foals will reignite sparks of excitement about reining horses for other families like it did for ours.

Rowdy Yankee will have frozen semen available in 2023 through Oswood Stallion Station. For more information visit oswoodstallionstation.com.

When Gina Schumacher and CS O Bingo marked a 220 to win The Invitational Non Pro Championship at the Kimes Ranch Tulsa Reining Classic, it was more than just a win. Not only did Schumacher collect the largest check of her career, she also unofficially became the National Reining Horse Association’s 38th Million Dollar Rider.

“It’s nice to have this kind of achievement, but it doesn’t change anything because I still have to learn, and I still have to work the same amount every day to keep up,” Schumacher said humbly.

Reaching the million-dollar mark was special, but doing so on CS O Bingo, a 3-year-old colt by Snip O Lution and out of Bingo Juicy, made it even more so. “We bred, raised, and trained him. He’s sired by our stud, Snip O Lution, and I know a lot of people don’t really recognize or remember him because he was over in Europe. He’s the sweetest thing ever, but every time he walked into the show pen, he was a machine. CS O Bingo’s dam was my first futurity horse, and my dad had bought her for me,” Schumacher shared. “It was really cool that I’ve shown and won on both the mom and dad and now the baby.”

Schumacher’s love of horses was likely passed down from her mother, NRHA Million Dollar Owner Corinna Schumacher. “Mom always had horses, so I just kind of followed along. I had a dressage pony and some Shetlands, but I always had little Western saddles to ride,” Gina recalled.

Corinna Schumacher established CS Ranch in Givrins, Switzerland, and it became the base of operations, home to about 25 reining horses and host to multiple prestigious reining events. Corinna’s recognition of the scope of the discipline in the United States led to the purchase of 460 acres in Gordonville, Texas, upon which she built a state-of-the-art facility. Completed in 2012, it is home to an impressive show string and 130 broodmares with NRHA $2 Million Rider Duane Latimer as the resident trainer.

“My mom and Duane are both a big part of my success. My mom because she has gotten the right horses for me, and Duane because he’s trained them,” she said. “There are too many people to thank individually for helping me get here, and I’m afraid to leave anyone out. I thank my family for sure and the whole crew – the people who are always there.”

Schumacher’s Top 10 Wins:

• 2021 The Invitational Level 4 Non Pro Champion – $65,000 – CS O Bingo
• 2021 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Non Pro Reserve Champion – $40,215 – Gunin Addy Tude
• 2020 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Non Pro 4^th Place – $23,329 – CS Tosmarttoberuff
• 2020 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Non Pro 5^th Place – $20,962 – Alpha Attraction
• 2022 NRBC Level 4 Non Pro Reserve Championship – $20,000 – Gunnastepya
• 2020 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Non Pro 6^th Place – $18,595 – Step N Past Ya
• 2018 IRHA Futurity 3 Year Old Level 4 Non Pro 3^rd Place – $15,080 – Colonels Danger Zone
• 2022 6666 Ranch NRHA Derby presented by Markel Level 4 Non Pro Reserve Championship – $13,616 – Gunnastepya
• 2019 High Roller Reining Classic Level 4 Non Pro Derby Championship – $13,536 – Alittlewhitetrash
• 2019 Elementa Masters Premiere Level 4 Non Pro Championship – $11,052 – Shine N Whiz

For more information about Gina Schumacher and CS Ranch, visit cs-ranch.com

The reining world said goodbye to one of its most successful broodmares on September 27, 2022, when Miss Tinseltown (Great Red Pine X Ms Holywood Showtime) passed.

Foaled in 1994, NRHA Hall of Fame mare Miss Tinseltown wasn’t just a superstar in the show pen. After earning more than $114,000 in her own career, she went on to produce 13 foals that contributed more than $793,600 to her produce record.

The sorrel mare’s offspring include NRHA $3 Million Sire Hollywoodstinseltown (by NRHA $5 Million Sire Hollywood Dun It) and Gunners Tinseltown (by NRHA All-Time Leading Sire Gunner), earner of more than $305,000 and producer of more than $457,800, both owned by NRHA Million Dollar Owners Dave and Bonnie Silva.

NRHA $3 Million Rider Tim McQuay rode Miss Tinseltown to most of her show pen success, which included a 1997 NRHA Futurity Top Five finish and a Reserve Championship at the 1998 National Reining Breeders Classic. The pair upped their game in 1999, winning the NRBC Level 4 Open Championship with an incredible score of 233.5, and that score would stand for years as the NRHA’s highest all-time marking. Next was a reserve finish in the 1999 NRHA Derby.

McQuay first laid eyes on Miss Tinseltown when she was shown by Benjamin Miller, assistant trainer for Larry Rose, at a horseshow in Lexington, Virginia. “He marked 75s across the board on her and never touched her face. She just went around and showed great for him,” McQuay recalled. “We bought her for Mandy [McCutcheon]. She rode her once, and [Miss Tinseltown] pulled her right out of the saddle, so I decided that I had better ride her for a little bit. That was the only time Mandy got to ride her!”

While the mare and her offspring were integral to the reining industry, she meant the world to McQuay. “That mare was great to me,” he said. “I loved her. She was a great mare. She was kind of tricky to put through a schooling pattern and take her around there and try to be easy with her, but when you put the hammer down and said, ‘Let’s go win some money,’ she always said, ‘Okay, let’s go!”

For Dave and Bonnie Silva, Miss Tinseltown, or “Tina,” as she was affectionately known, was a part of the family for 25 years. Dave said, “I give a special thank you to Tim and Colleen [McQuay] for selling her to us.”

Shawn Flarida, an icon in the National Reining Horse Association, recently passed a major career milestone. The charismatic trainer, who hails from Springfield, Ohio, became only the second NRHA member in history to pass more than $7,000,000 in lifetime earnings.

“Reaching this milestone, it means everything to me. It is an honor to be here,” Flarida shared. “When I was coming up, we never knew we would be running at this much money. It’s a great time to be a reining horse trainer.”

Known as much for his personable demeanor as his signature green show shirts, he took the time to acknowledge those who have helped him reach this latest milestone. “I thank my wife, Michelle. She’s been with me through thick and thin and was there when I hadn’t won anything. She helped me get to the top. I also thank my mom and dad and my kids,” he said. “The main parts, of course, are the horses and the owners. I don’t know which one comes first – probably the great owners who believed in me. Without them and their horses, none of this would be possible.”

Flarida’s father, Bill, was quite the horseman and passed a love of horses to his sons. Shawn’s older brother, Mike, was the first to see major event success in the show pen. Mike won two NRHA Open Futurity Championships; the first in 1993 on Custom Crome and the second with Whizard Jac in 1996. Mike was inducted into NRHA’s Hall of Fame in 2010.

Although he showed as a non pro throughout his school years, Shawn traded in his non pro card in the late 1980s and began his storied career.

He won his first All American Quarter Horse Congress Reining Futurity in 1994, and then, in 2002, won his first NRHA Futurity Championship on future Hall of Famer and $12 Million Dollar Sire Wimpys Little Step. Also in 2002, Flarida competed at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, and won both Team and Individual Gold Medals on San Jo Freckles.

Flarida continued to rack up major event wins and then, with Hall of Fame mare and Million Dollar Dam Wimpys Little Chic, made history. Wimpys Little Chic, by Wimpys Little Step, became the first horse to follow up an NRHA Futurity Championship (2007) with an NRBC Championship and the NRHA Derby Championship (both in 2008).

Flarida became an NRHA Million Dollar Rider in 2003 and at the time was only the third person to reach that goal, just behind fellow Hall of Famers Tim McQuay and Bill Horn. Three years later, he became the second NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider (behind McQuay).

In 2008, Flarida became the Association’s first Three Million Dollar Rider, and in 2010, the first to reach Four Million. Five Million came around in 2013, and Six Million in 2017.

For 14 years, Flarida was NRHA’s all-time leading rider. While fellow Seven Million Dollar Rider Andrea Fappani took that position in 2020, Flarida still boasts a lead of more than $2 million in earnings over the next rider on the all-time earning list.

When he was inducted into NRHA’s Hall of Fame in 2011, Flarida said, “I’m honored. But I think it means more to me because of the people who are already in there. They are the reason that I am able to do what I love to do and earn a living doing it.”

Flarida’s Top 10 Highest Paying Wins:

• 2004 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship – Smart Spook – $175,000
• 2002 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship – Wimpys Little Step – $150,000
• 2013 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Reserve Championship – Tinseltown Fly Guy – $135,596
• 2014 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship – Shine N Spook – $132,635
• 2009 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship – Gunnatrashya – $125,000
• 2007 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship – Wimpys Little Chic – $125,000
• 2005 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship – KR Lil Conquistador – $125,000
• 2019 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Reserve Championship – Shine Colt Shine – $105,215
• 2016 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Reserve Championship – Whiz Gata Prize – $104,362
• 2021 The Run For A Million Invitational Reserve Championship – Spooks Gotta Spark – $90,000

The Count

Six Futurity Championships – 2002/Wimpys Little Step, 2004/Smart Spook, 2005/KR Lil Conquistador, 2007/Wimpys Little Chic, 2009/Gunnatrashya, 2014/Shine N Spook

Three Futurity Reserve Championships – 2013/Tinseltown Fly Guy, 2016/Whiz Gata Prize, 2019/Shine Colt Shine

Six Derby Championships – 2005/Smart Spook, 2007/Walla Walla Whiz, 2008/Wimpys Little Chic, 2009/RC Fancy Step, 2010/Gunnatrashya, 2012/Spooks Gotta Whiz

Four Derby Reserve Championships – 2000/Tivitos Sugar Bar, 2006/KR Lil Conquistador, 2011/Whizkey N Diamonds, 2011/Shine Chic Shine

Four NRBC Championships – 2006/Einsteins Revolution, 2008/Wimpys Little Chic, 2011/Shine Chic Shine, 2012/Spooks Gotta Whiz

Ten Congress Futurity Championships – 1994/Dun Its Easter Bunny, 2001/Sheza Great Bingo, 2002/Wimpys Little Step, 2005/KR Lil Conquistador, 2006/Senor Tejano Whiz, 2007/RC Fancy Step, 2008/Whizs Chic A Dee, 2009/Gunnatrashya, 2010/SDP Justice Is Comin, 2012/Yankee Gun

Note: Five of the top 10 all-time leading reining horses have been shown by Shawn Flarida.

3 – Wimpys Little Chic ($516,555)

5 – KR Lil Conquistador ($422,957)

6 – Smart Spook ($403,149)

7 – RC Fancy Step ($364,454)

9 – Einsteins Revolution ($352,720)

For more information about Shawn, visit his website at TheGreenShirt.com, or follow him on Facebook.