The derby competition was fierce! …and so was the weather. During the Saturday night feature performances, the storm drains at the westerner couldn’t handle any more water and competitors had to navigate through two feet of water to gain entrance to the show pen with their horses. Spirits were not dampened as Megan Shea captivated the crowd aboard Smart Like Jazz with a score of 148 to win both the Open and Ltd. Open 5&6 Year Old Derbies. Encroaching on the midnight hour, Garth Dedora won both the Non-Pro and Ltd. Non-Pro 4 Year Old Derby classes with a score of 143.5.
The derbies continued on Sunday as Shawna Sapergia earned a score of 147 to win the 4 Year Old Open Derby aboard Its Wimpys Turn. Clay Webster has returned to the reining pen with a vengeance as champion of the Ltd. Open 4 Year Old Derby with a score of 146.5, and was reserve in the Open 4 Year Old Derby riding Rooster Kicker.
Jamie Demott and Ryan Burnett tied for the championship of the Non-Pro 5&6 Year Old Derby while Ryan also won the Ltd. Non-Pro 5&6 Year Old Derby. Ryan Burnett dominated the pay outs at the Spring Classic with his two derby horses, Hello Hollywood Babe & Baby Boomerang. Ryan took home $6577.76 in derby winnings. The RA Sire Incentive 4 Year Old Classes definitely helped boost his pay out with $2676.67 earned from the sire incentive program. Ryan won the Sire Incentive Non Pro 4 year Old and was Reserve in the Open. Jesse Beckley won the Sire Incentive 4 year Old Open riding SG Chic Magnet for a pay out of $1421.54. With pay outs like these, it is time to seek out horses eligible for the Reining Alberta Sire Incentive program for your next prospect.
The Youth were on fire ! Mounted on Rio Eyes, Shelbie Friesen won the 14-18 with an impressive score of 73. Bryndon Canaday was right behind her to secure reserve champion position with a 72.5 aboard Sailors Good Sackett. In the 13 & under youth division Mary Dunkel scored 71 for the champion run riding Phenomenal Blonde, while Madison Brady Steed prevailed as reserve champion scoring a 70.5 on Dodge Rooster CT.
The Spring Classic Show Committee applaud our volunteers for their professionalism, sense of responsibility, & great attitudes. We are very proud of our membership’s willingness to help. The show committee would like to make special mention of four people who shouldered a ton of responsibilities to make the show a success:
Show Manager; Marnie Hamilton, did a fabulous job keeping the show within a respectable time frame. This was Marnie’s first time at the helm and a major accomplishment that she should be proud of. Backing up Marnie was George Lauder acting as the NRHA show representative to handle any NRHA rule-related problems.
No show is the same without Ron Anderson on the microphone; we all appreciate his wit & timely humour. What many don’t realize is that the show heavily relies on his constant score checking between runs and to place the winners at the end of each class. This is no small undertaking in a class of 80 competitors!
Last but definitely not least our show secretary; the unflappable Trudy Tienkamp, starts her day an hour before the show starts and is still tirelessly at her post until after the last run. With grace and dignity, Trudy deals with demanding stressed out competitors and one problem after another with her calm demeanour & amazing knowledge of the rules.
It is very encouraging to the reining industry in general that almost all competitors took advantage of the Reining Alberta classes and the concurrently run NRHA approved classes by entering both. This is proving to be a simple and effective way of accommodating everyone’s level of eligibility and offering each member a place to show. The newly adjusted & more appropriate eligibility levels were embraced by the membership. The Ranch hosted 54 entries, Rookie had 71 runs, Ltd. Non Pro – 78, and the Senior over 30! Since when did we all grow up?!
The show committee would prefer the Spring Classic to remain a three day show for many reasons, one being to make it easier on competitors who must take time off work or miss school to attend. But after eliminating several hours from the 2007 roster by reducing the class list from 45 to 31 & even with a large majority of those 31 classes being run concurrently, and lowering the eligibility levels, it appears the Spring Classic will not allow us to run it in three days. 2009 will bring a four day show to accommodate the increase in entries and new reiners to offer a more pleasant show experience...
I guess it’s not a bad problem to have!
For a complete list of results please go to the Reining Alberta web site: www.reiningalberta.net |
