Reining Highlights 3rd Czech Quarter Horse Show

On Saturday, June 12th,2004 the Nova Amerika facility in Zalonov hosted the 3rd Czech Quarter Horse Association Show (AQHA approved show). More than 70 horses competed in 22 classes (halter, trail, western pleasure, reining and hunter under saddle). Reining was the main highlight of the whole show. Four classes were offered: Junior, Senior, Amateur and Youth. A total of 30 entries were nominated. Among them there were horses with top reining bloodlines, such as Smart Chic Olena, Peppy San Badger, Hollywood Dun It or Jac O Rima.

The biggest class of the show was the Junior Reining with a total of 15 entries. It was a good opportunity to see 3-, 4- and 5-years-old horses shown with snaffle bit. Irena Machalikova riding April Doc Olena scored a 70 to take home the top honors. This duo was a joy to watch, especially for big sliding stops. Irena is one of the most experienced Czech riders. She participated in many international shows in Austria and Germany. April Doc Olena is a 5-year-old sorrel stallion by Top Olena Dream (by Smart Chic Olena) and out of Tea Quackers. Last year the duo competed in Kreuth during the Breeders Futurity. They earned a third place in NRHA Ladies Open and fifth in NRHA Limited Open.

Klara Salkova on Smart Chiconita

A 68.5 score earned Karel Kubata and Pretty Miss Starbuck the second place. Pretty Miss Starbuck is a 3-year-old sorrel mare by Tom McCutcheon's stallion Smart Starbuck. She was purchased in the USA this year from Joy Hayes Quarter Horses. Karel Kubata earned also the fourth place with a score of 67.5 riding Percy Hollywood.

Tomas Martinek on A Hollywood Sweetie finished third with a score of 67.5. Tomas is a young rider with a lot of accomplishments already. He was working with Sylvia Rzepka and Vern Sapergia in Hungary and last year with Cody Sapergia in Canada. With Partee J Chex, a Paint Horse stallion, Tomas won two NRHA Limited Open Champion titles and a Reserve Champion title during the South Country Derby, Wild Rose Classic and Blacklandslide in Canada. His horse, the 4-year-old palomino mare A Hollywood Sweetie (by Hollywood Dun It out of Melonkali Sweetie) was trained and ridden by Cody Sapergia. Sapergia earned with her a third place in Canadian Supreme in 2003.

A break of gait during the transition from large fast circles to small ones resulted in a 2 point penalty for Klara Salkova on Monty Blue Sky. This duo scored 66.5 for fifth place but left a very good impression. What wasn't possible for Klara in Junior Reining, did happen in Senior class.

A total of 9 horse and rider teams fought for the first place in Senior Reining. Klara Salkova on Smart Chiconita executed a very nice run which resulted in a score of 70. This very experienced duo showed good speed control, fast spins and good sliding stops. There was only one penalty: -.5 for overspinning. "I was quite confident before the run. I know my horse's abilities, so the most important was to avoid any mistakes", said Klara after the run. She lest the arena with a loud applause.

Klara Salkova is the President of the Czech Paint Horse Association, a multiple Czech reining Champion and member of the Czech national reining team. Smart Chiconita is a 7-year-old bay stallion by Smart Chic Olena. He was brought to Europe from USA, where Marcy Ver Meer was showing him at the NRHA Futurity (missing the finals by 0.5 point).

Ivan Cernoch on Littles First finished second with a score of 69. Ivan had problems during rundowns. His red roan stallion speeded up almost to the point of loosing control over the horse by the rider. Ivan Cernoch is also a member of the Czech reining team. He works as trainer and manager in Nova Amerika. In 2002 he was showing Littles First during the QH European Championship in Kreuth and in 2003 with the Czech team he earned the 8th place during the FEI European Reining Championship in Reggio Emilia.

After winning the Junior Reining, Irena Machalikova scored 67.5 to earn the third place in Senior Reining. She was riding a 10-year-old bay stallion Peppy Golden Scooter (by Joaquin Peppy out of Ms Solid Gold). Irena had a very nice run with good fast circles and a set of good spins. Problems emerged with the horse anticipating the sliding stops.

In Amateur Reining Monika Julinova on Miss Bobby Jac Scoot scored 66.5 to earn the first place. Her husband, Petr Julina on Bueno Chex Lady, finished second. The best Youth rider was Marketa Zezulkova with Doc Toni Tee. She also placed second with Smart Maky Lena.

CZQHA is an international affiliate of the AQHA, established in 2001. Since then it has organized 3 shows. This year's event was judged by Lyle Jackson from Canada. On Friday evening the CZQHA hosted guests from Germany (Mr. Johannes Orgeldinger and Mr. Ullrich Vey), Italy (Mr. Marco Bertazzoni) and Poland (Mr. Michal Pec and Mr. Mariusz Marciniak) and also representatives from all Czech breeders associations.

Submitted by: Michal Pec
Photos: Katarzyna Pec