Back to the Future at 2013 Reining By The Bay

You knew it was going to be an awesome week when an American Bald Eagle flyby kicked off day one of Reining By The Bay 2013. The weather was spectacular, the depth of talent was incredible and day after day the spectators were treated to an action packed competition as the best in the West battled it out for over $180,000 in added money and prizes.

Winners took home truckloads of awards generously donated by Bob’s Custom Saddles, the Four Seasons Silicon Valley, Gist Buckles, SmartPak, Markel Insurance, Finish Line, Back On Track, Ice Horse, Santa Cruz Animal Health, Cow Dog Tack, Reiner’s World, Paddock Cakes, Cavalor, Auburn Labs, Equithrive, Pard’s Western Shop, Cavalor, Sound Hoof Care, Anderson Bean and Ariat.

Year after year, Reining By The Bay has had the great fortune of double digit increases in exhibitors, spectators and sponsors attending the event. The Brumley Management Group~Reining By The Bay team continues to go above and beyond to make sure that everyone is treated as a valued guest, from the extraordinary exhibitor bags received at check in to the Exhibitor Party and Wine and Cheese event hosted by Pat and Jim Warren’s Rancho Oso Rio, no detail is overlooked.

West Coast Reining Horse Association President Ollie Galligan was pleased with how the collaborative efforts between the Reining By The Bay team and the WCRHA paid off.

“We were thrilled with the newly formed alliance with the Brumley Management Group for this premier event,” Galligan says. “As the largest NRHA affiliate, WCRHA’s 400 member strong base has a lot to offer, as does Reining By The Bay, which provides our members with two full slates of WCRHA approved classes that count toward our year-end awards, as well as a Futurity and Derby.  Add to that the opportunity to be among friends and be able to meet our out of town trainers while receiving VIP treatment overlooking the San Francisco Bay, it doesn’t get much better than that.  We can’t wait to come back next year!”

Caption: Gillian Galligan and soon another Galligan. Image courtesy of John O’Hara Photography.

Based in the heart of Silicon Valley, Reining By The Bay has always been a leader in the use of social media technology. This year, with the addition of iEquine.com, a corporate sponsor and host of the live streaming online webcast, Reining By The Bay had over 22,000 viewers login from every state in the USA as well as 54 countries around the world. In addition, over 90,000 people viewed the Reining By The Bay daily photo galleries during the 5-day event.

Jan Peterson of Menlo Park, California is an exhibitor, sponsor, and member of Peninsula Equine, the official RBB horse show veterinarian team. She shares her unique perspective on the show.

“Pat and Jim Warren, Brumley Management Group and all of the sponsors make Reining By The Bay a really enjoyable show. The camaraderie at these shows is so special. Yes, everybody is so competitive and wants to win, but to come out of the ring and have people say what a nice go you had and to be able to say that to others is beautiful.  I really enjoy that about these shows.”

Jan’s husband, Russ Peterson DVM, is the owner of Peninsula Equine, the official horse show veterinarian. Getting to see some of their former clients in the winners circle is one of the highlights of the show for husband and wife.

“In veterinary medicine, we often see the broken horses,” he says. “But to see them get fixed to go on and do well is so rewarding.”

Jan, who rides with Andrea Fappani, was Champion in the Intermediate Non Pro Division and Reserve Champion in the Prime Time Non Pro Division on her Star For The Chicks (Smart Starbuck x Dun It By Chick). She expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to have Andrea come out and fine-tune the work she and Jason Attard had done at home.

“The thing that Andrea always says is learn the skills and the points will follow,” she says. “He’s a master at fine-tuning the art of showing.  It was a nice combined effort.”

Highlights From The Aged Events

The $55,000 Added SmartPak 3-Year-Old Futurity

The Non Pro and Intermediate Non Pro Futurity titles went to Camela Essick and Holier Then Thou (Jacs Electric Spark x Slylena) marking a 213.  Cam and her husband own and operate Pacific Range Ranch in Clements, California, and Holier Then Thou is a product of their successful breeding program.

 

Caption: Holier Than Thou and Cam Essick. Image courtesy of John O’Hara Photography.

“Holier Than Thou’s mother was my first reining horse.  I breed all my mares that I’ve ridden and raised and show their babies.  I raised this horse, had partnered with one of Todd Bergen’s assistants on it, and bought it back. I rode with Bob Avila years ago, and all the horses I have are remnants of horses he was extremely successful on. I breed with the purpose of having an open horse. I breed 6-8 babies a year who I think all have the potential to be open horses. I had him at home for six months. Then, Arno (Honstetter) had him for the last month with the intention of showing him at Reining By The Bay. This was the very first time he’s walked into a show pen, but having ridden his mother, who was just as good minded and athletic, and I felt confident in what I raise so I piloted him through and it worked out well.  I had four offspring at Reining By The Bay that were either Champion or Reserve Champion.  What comes out of this is that those of us who have a vested interest in the horse often have a better outcome. That gives me a lot of pride and pleasure to see the people who put a lot of effort into those horses succeed.”

In a battle to the bitter end it was Martin Muehlstaetter of Scottsdale, Arizona and Chexmart (Smart like Juice X Peppy Tuff Chex) in the winner’s circle for the Level 4 Open Futurity marking a 221.5 and slipping past Andrea Fappani, who was in a 3-way tie with himself for second with a 221 and Matt Mills who tied himself with a 220.

 

Caption: Martin Muehlsteatter and Chexmart. Image courtesy of John O’Hara Photography.

Martin came by Chexmart in a roundabout way.

“A customer of mine had a trail riding mare that she wanted to put into training, and I told her I didn’t want to take her money (to put the horse in training), but suggested that she breed her mare to Smart Like Juice. Here we are four years later.  Maybe I should tell her to breed the mare again next year!  The owner has been a customer of mine since day one, but she’s out of the country 360 days out of the year, so when it was time to wean him he came to me. Then, we started him, rode him, took him to one or two horse shows and then we came here to Reining By The Bay. It was a really tough field between Andrea and Matt…. They had some really nice well-bred horses.”

Martin has been coming to Reining By The Bay for years because of the “nice people, great weather, and the big outdoor pen that doesn’t put a lot of pressure on the young horses. I really want to thank Pat and Jim Warren, Brumley Management Group and the RBB staff that puts on this show.”

What does the future hold for Chexmart and Martin?

“Chexmart was not paid up for the Reining Futurity, so we’ll take him to the High Roller Reining Classic. If he does well, there we’ll take him to Oklahoma City.”

In the meantime, Martin, a member of the 2010 Austrian WEG team, will also pursue a spot on the 2014 Austrian WEG team headed for Normandy.

The $35,000 Added Bob’s Custom Saddles Non Pro Derby

When the dust settled, it was Dana Avila of Temecula, California aboard the 5-year old mare One Smart Pepto (One Time Pepto x Smart Little Margie) who pulled off a clean sweep of all levels of the Non Pro Derby marking a score of 221.0.

Caption: Dana Avila and One Smart Pepto. Image courtesy of John O’Hara Photography.

One Smart Pepto’s dam was bred by a customer of Dana’s husband Bob Avila, and Bob was instrumental in the breeding her to One Time Pepto, so Bob had a big hand in creating her.  She was sent to Bob to be started as a early 2- year-old and has been in Bob’s program from the get-go as a Reined Cow Horse Futurity and Derby horse, but little bad luck stuff happened along the way until last year when Bob had success with her in the Derby.

Dana shares One Smart Pepto’s journey to the winner’s circle at Reining By The Bay.

“The gentleman who owned her decided that he wanted to direct his program more towards cutting, and as I had just sold my horse, Bob asked me if I wanted to look at One Smart Pepto. I said, ‘really?’ ‘Me?’ ‘A mare?’ I had watched Bob ride her almost every day at home and each time thought she was so pretty, she took my breath away.  Bob was riding her one day and encouraged me to sit on her.  I was on her for five minutes, and I said, ‘you better take me off until we can see if we can get her bought.’  I fell in love with her from the get-go.  God bless her, there is not a mare bone in her body.  She is super sweet, super kind and there is no drama, so I thought I would love to go rein on her.  She’s not NRHA nominated, so therefore my three shows are Cactus Reining Classic, Reining By The Bay and High Roller Reining Classic.”

“They are so fun and geared toward the exhibitor and the owner.  How can you beat having a beautiful lunch in the VIP tent overlooking the bay? It’s incredible.  It doesn’t get any better and everybody has such a great attitude and a fun show to look forward to.”

With the money she earned at Reining By The Bay, Dana is currently in the lead for the Trifecta Non Pro Challenge award and could be packing her bags for a six day stay at the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele in Lana’i, Hawaii if she retains her ranking through High Roller Reining Classic in September.  Dana shares her thoughts about being in the top slot.

“I had a feeling it was close, but on the same note I’m going to try to put it out of my mind to keep from adding any pressure on myself to show any differently than I normally would. However, it would be awesome to win a trip to Hawaii!!”

The $60,000 Added Bob’s Custom Saddles Open Derby

It was a knock down drag out fight for the win in the Level 4 Open Derby, and the scores reflected the incredible efforts put forth by 20 horses and riders. At the end of the day, it was Gabe Davide of Gilroy, California and the 6-year old OK Spook marking a 232 to take the top spot, besting Andrea Fappani on Smoking Whiz with a 231 and Andrea again on Custom Spook marking a 229.  If there were scores handed out for enthusiasm, the clear cut winner would be Gabe’s wife Kari, who was screaming out the scores as she heard them from the in gate. The standing room only crowd loved it as she ran over and hugged…….the horse.

Caption: Jumping for joy! Image courtesy of John O’Hara Photography.

Gabe had heard about OK Spook through the grapevine and tried him as a 3-year old.

“The horse could do the basic maneuvers, but was still very green. I felt he had tons of natural ability and was extremely athletic, so we talked it over with the potential buyer who didn’t really want a Futurity horse. So, we bought him with the intention of making him a Derby horse, and I would have almost a year to prepare him as a 4-year old.  He wasn’t NRBC enrolled, so we knew that wasn’t an option for him, so we showed at all of the Brumley Management shows for the next two years until a really bad  abscess at the beginning of 2013 sidelined OK Spook.  His first show back was Reining By The Bay and he marked a 232.”

“OK Spook has over $40,000 in earnings and 100% of it has come from Brumley Management Group shows.  We so appreciate what Pat and Jim Warren do to support these shows, especially Reining By The Bay, as it’s a hometown show for us. I’m from Gilroy, and the lady that owns the horse is from Woodside, so we love coming here. They have such great sponsors and great prizes, even in the Ancillary classes.  We always come home with a trailer load of top notch product from these awesome sponsors.  I won two Bob’s saddles, a huge bucket of Finish Line products, Santa Cruz Animal Health products, Ice Horse boots, Pendleton Blankets, Cavalor feed, Back On Track Boots and a Markel cooler, which was great as the horse is insured by Markel.”

Director of Western Disciplines at Markel International and RSHF President Frank Costantini summed up the 2013 event by saying, “Reining By The Bay from my perspective is like going back to the future with all the nuances of the best bred horses, the best riders, and the best trainers anywhere in the world with the cross pollination of several different disciplines involved in the event.  It provides an excellent opportunity for riders of all levels to enjoy the ambiance of the show grounds and also the hospitality of all of the people involved in putting it on. Reining By The Bay is a testament to how Reining was meant to be back in the day with all the modern day twists of Silicon Valley.”

Scroll below to view more images courtesy of John O’Hara Photography.