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Paint Horse make strong
showings at nation's top reining competition
Gunner wins showdown at USET Festival of Champions |
FORT WORTH-An American Paint Horse named
Colonels Smokingun, "Gunner," aimed to outdraw the competition at the
$100,000 United States Equestrian Team (USET) Opening Reining Championship in
Galdstone, N.J., June 26, and didn't disappoint the crowd of 5,000 people who
turned out for the showdown.
(APHA photo by Ross Hecox) |
The talented American Paint Horse named Gunner always aims to win
and did just that at the USET Opening Reining Championship in Galdstone, N.J.
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The American Paint Horse won the Championship
by a wide margin, with a two-round composite score of 448.5-nine points ahead
of the second-place competitor. A team of five judges awarded the
points.
Gunner's totals were considered exceptionally
high. In fact, the 8-year-old sorrel overo stallion went into the competition
with the highest USET reining score in history -a 233 in the semi-finals at
Oklahoma City, Okla. Ridden by Bryant Pace and owned by Kim and Debra Sloan,
all of Newfoundland, N. J., Gunner has proven to be a master at the sport,
earning more than $160,000 over his career.
"He's all start and he's all stop,"
said Kim Sloan, emphasizing that Gunner is cool under pressure and never wastes
energy.
"That's where his success comes
from.
"He'll be calm when he needs to be and
then explodes in the pattern right when you want him to.
"All his energy is directed to responding
to the rider. That's what's so special about him. Gunner is a great
horse."
The thousands of people who attended the
reining championship knew they were witnessing a special horse as well. Their
enthusiastic response to his final performance, with loud cheers and applause,
made it obvious they knew who was favored to win.
"But we never take anything for granted,
and neither does Gunner," said his owner. "Every horse out there had
the potential to win that championship, or they wouldn't have made it that far.
But when Gunner is "on," he's very tough to beat. And Gunner was
on."
Another American Paint Horse, Mark This Spot,
also qualified for the Championship in Gladstone and participated in the
competition. The 6-year-old bay tobiano stallion is owned by the Haverty Ranch
in Krum, Texas.
In USET's Nation's Cup team competition, the
Paint stallion Smokin Chic Olena was a standout.
Craig Johnson of Gainesville, Texas, helped
capture a silver medal for the United States on the 7-year-old sorrel overo. In
the Nation's Cup competition, teams that included four horses and riders
competed in two rounds of action. The class featured four national teams,
including Canada, Germany, Japan and the United States.
Smokin Chic Olena, owned by Susan Mason of
Fairmont, W. Va., also earned a silver himself with the second-highest
individual score in the class.
"To have three horses qualify to
participate and do that well in the competition is a real credit to these
horses and to our breed," said Jim Kelley, APHA assistant executive
secretary. "We're proud of the horses and everyone involved.
"When you look at what these horses have
accomplished, it reaffirms that, as a breed, American Paint Horses have the
conformation, athleticism and talent to be international
champions."
More about APHA
The APHA was founded in 1962. By that year's end, early association members had
recruited 150 fellow Paint Horse enthusiasts and registered 250 horses. By the
end of 2000, APHA had enrolled more than 100,000 members. To date, the
association has registered more than 616,000 Paint Horses.
The Fort Worth-based non-profit association
employs 165 people and maintains an operating budget of more than $15 million
for activities worldwide.
For more information about APHA or APHA
programs, call (817) 834-2742, ext. 788, or log on to
www.apha.com.
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