Summer Celebration Quarter Horse Circuit is Huge Hit, Drawing Almost 4,000 Entries

July 2-5, 2015– Murieta Equestrian Center, Rancho Murieta, CA

The PCQHA approved six-judge Summer Celebration Quarter Horse Circuit was a huge success over the fourth of July at the legendary Murieta Equestrian Center in Rancho Murieta, California. Thanks to the cooler weather, a record number of exhibitors enjoyed a full slate of Quarter Horse classes for Cutting, Working Cowhorse, Reining, English and Western Rail, Trail, and Jumping classes.

Exhibitors vied for the coveted circuit awards – Silverado Silver Buckles, custom director’s chairs, and many other cool prizes. Due to the large number of exhibitors, the Cutting, Cowhorse, and Reining arena did not close until almost 10:00 pm. On the rail side, the entries were up in Sr Trail with 30 horses and the other classes were well attended as well. Show Manager Poncie Gimple of Track One Events says, “We make it fun for exhibitors with a can-do attitude and knowledgeable staff.”

This four-day, six-judge, split combined show attracted exhibitors from all parts of the West Coast. The six-judge format gave exhibitors an opportunity to earn more points in the shorter four-day format. In addition, daily class winners won buckets filled with brushes and products, $10 coupons, and circuit winners took home Silverado Silver Buckles or custom director’s chairs. Beautiful custom tooled leather briefcases, Bob Avila Silver Spurs, and Jumbo Gear bags were given to the All-Around Champions.

New for this year were these Specialty Classes:

2015 Summer Celebration 4 & 5 Year Old Working Cowhorse Horse Derby- sponsored by Murieta Equestrian Center This class ran concurrently with Junior Working Cowhorse & Cutting. Winning a beautiful Silverado Silver Buckle and $1,000 cash was Smart Shiney Pistol, ridden by Trent Pederson and owned by Hope Miller.

The High Scoring Cowhorse and recipient of the large “Connie Carter” custom made chest/cooler for the Derby was also Smart Shiney Piston. Thanks to Connie Carter for donating these extraordinary custom prizes.

The High Scoring Cutting Horse and recipient of another large “Connie Carter” custom made chest/cooler for the Derby was Chics Chairman, ridden by Les Oswald and owned by Jenny Alvarez.

The Rod Wiemers ‘High Score Fence Work’ Memorial Buckle was sponsored by family and friends of Rod Wiemers. This beautiful Skyline Silver buckle was given to the horse with the highest single Fence Work score of the show. The award was created to honor Rod’s memory. Rod Wiemers was one of California’s legendary cowhorse trainers, whose time was cut short doing what he loved in the Working Cowhorse arena. Each year, Rod’s family and friends donate an impressive Skyline Silver buckle to honor his love of the Cowhorse classes. This year’s champion was Real Smooth Cat, ridden by Ken Wold and owned by Dan Perez. Presenting the coveted Silver Buckle was Rod Wiemers step-daughter, Jennifer.

The Highest Single Reining Score Champion received a special custom “Connie Carter” tack box, donated by Darlene Mills.  It was given to the horse with the single highest Reining score of the show. Winning this beautiful tack box, along with the silver buckle and director’s chair circuit awards for Senior Reining and Amateur Reining was the 2012 AQHA World Champion Amateur Reining Horse, Northwest Whiz, owned by Courtney Boesch.

Another  “Connie Carter” custom made small chest/cooler was donated by Ron Zanetti, Equine Insurance Specialist, and was given to the Youth/Sr. Trail or Amateur/Sr. Trail or Select Amateur/Sr. Trail horse exhibitor with the fifth highest cumulative score in these combined classes. Winning this beautiful custom cooler was I Wanna Keep Playing with trainer Jennifer Doubrava and owner Isabel Schween.

Congratulations to the 2015 Summer Celebration All Around Champions:

These Champions took home custom tooled leather briefcases, custom jumbo gear bags, and Bob Avila silver spurs!

•  11 & Under All Around – Mr Crimson Lark & Jennifer Jones
• Novice Youth All Around Champion– Good N Dynamic & Jordan Schween
• Novice Youth All Around Reserve Champion – WSR Only Prettier & Colbvi Jacobs
• Novice Amateur All Around Champion – Definitely Magic & Tami Read Schween
• Novice Amateur All Around Reserve Champion – Megan McDonald
• Youth All Around Champion – I Wanna Keep Playing & Isabel Schween
• Youth All Around Reserve Champion – Hope To Be Hot & Brittany Minks
• Amateur All Around Champion – The Krymsun Moon & Stephanie Kofu
• Amateur All Around Reserve Champion – Simply Mr Sonny & Linda Chilstrom
• Select Amateur All Around Champion – Skys Lady In Blue & Caroline French Campbell
• Select Amateur All Around Reserve Champion – A Certain Aero & Delia Trenbeath
• Open All Around Champion – Waiting On A Woman & Nancy Cline (Melissa Zanetti, rider)
• Open All Around Reserve Champion – Leanwithitrockwithit & Isabella Nunes (Kristin Brock, rider)
• Green Horse All Around Champion – Spiffy Goodbar & Jim Stubbs (Melissa Zanetti, rider)
• Green Horse All Around Reserve Champion – Best Cookie Yet & Sara Cronin (Justin Wheeler/Jenn Doubrava, rider)

Celebrating it’s 70^th anniversary, PCQHA held its “Why I love PCQHA” Membership Contest during the show. PCQHA members were asked to text a photo and share why they love the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association. Hundreds of loyal PCQHA members shared their fondest horse show memories, along with why they love PCQHA and included special photos of themselves, their horses, and horse show families. Photos and comments were posted to the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association Facebook page. The prizes for sharing the love were a Toro Mower or Toro Blower, donated by Equine Savings.com. Cece Campbell, PCQHA Summer Celebration Show Chair, exclaims, “The prizes, awards, parties, points, and sponsors for this show made for a spectacular show for exhibitors – it’s like a summer family holiday!”

Winning the Equine Equipment Savings Toro Leaf Blower was Carol Cocchi, whose dedication to PCQHA includes many years as a loyal PCQHA board member. Her participation continues today because she will begin showing in Trail classes with a young horse.

Winning the Equine Equipment Savings Toro Lawn Mower was Laura Kellejian, whose love for PCQHA started 40 years ago as a youth showing at Quarter Horse shows.

Equine Equipment Savings is dedicated to helping active participants in the equine world save at the local dealership on Toro, Exmark, Massey-Ferguson, Challenger and Farm Paint. Call 1.877.905.0004 if you are interested in saving on great farm equipment.

Several hundred exhibitors gathered for the Thursday afternoon PCQHA Welcome Party, where good, old-fashioned hamburgers, corn, watermelon, and wine were served. Sponsored by PCQHA, the party offered a fun way for exhibitors to catch up with old friends, make new friends, and relax. Thank you Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association for sponsoring this fun party and thank you to Jim Edwards for donating the wine!

On Saturday morning, Judy Bonham and Kim Barrington led a large group of youth in a horsey art experience, where they provided painting supplies and instruction to create lovely horse paintings. Thank you to Judy and Kim for their hard work and creativity in providing such a fun activity for the kids. This was so much fun, and over 20 youth participated!

On Saturday afternoon, the first ever PCQHA Amateurs & Appetizers Party was held. This new group, led by PCQHA Director Cathy Hanson is a fun way to bring PCQHA members together, build camaraderie, and connect our community. Amateurs brought appetizers to share and enjoyed a glass of wine (thanks to Ron Zanetti). Attendees were asked to complete a survey about amateur activities. After the survey, PCQHA drew for PCQHA Membership raffle winners. They also gave away Renew Gold bags of feed. In addition, we surprised Cathy Hanson with a birthday cake to celebrate her special day. PCQHA has an open ear to exhibitors. If you would like to participate in the Amateur survey or committee, email annie@pcqha.com.

The final Summer Celebration event, the “Boot Race” with Root Beer floats, organized by Ramona Koch and Debbie Ingersoll, was held Saturday afternoon. Kids lined up and ran as fast as they could, in their socks, to where all the boots were piled up. They had to find their boots, put them on, and run back to the starting line. They all had a great time racing around and were thrilled with the great prizes, donated by Doug/Debbie Ingersoll.

Special thanks to our generous sponsors who made this event memorable with their donations and support:

Corporate Sponsor:

EMO Insurance

Arena Sponsors:

Equine Chronicle – Murieta Equestrian Center – Pacific Coast Journal – Renew Gold feed – Santa Cruz Animal Health

RTV Sponsor:

SacramentoForTractors.net

Host Hotel: Holiday Inn, Rancho Cordova

Product Sponsors: Well Horse – Smartpak – Healing Tree – Cowboy Magic – Platinum Performance – Straight Arrow Mane & Tail  – Santa Cruz Animal Health

Marketing & Creative: Close By Creative

Specialty Award & Raffle Sponsors: Silverado Silversmiths – Connie Carter Custom Chest/Coolers – Smart Pak – Rod Wiemers Family – Murieta Equestrian Center – Ron Zanetti, Equine Insurance Specialist – Close By Ranch, Cece & Brad Campbell – Darlene Mills

We are especially grateful to the numerous silver buckle sponsors who made this show such a memorable event for exhibitors and to world class photographer Don and Debbie Trout for sponsoring this event. As always, their photos capture the horses and riders at that magical second. You can see photos of winners at their website: www.DonTrout.com

For information about the Summer Celebration Quarter Horse Show, please visit www.SummerCelebrationShow.com. To become a Summer Celebration sponsor, contact annie@pcqha.com or Cece Campbell, closebyranch@gmail.com.