At the 2010 National Reining Breeders Classic in Katy, Texas, Deborah Thompson and Greg Gottschalk each earned a National Reining Horse Association Co-Championship. Thompson rode Chic To Please to a score of 141, tying with Gottschalk and Einsteins Resolution in the Novice Horse Non Pro Level 1 (1).

The two competitors had decided before the class had ended that, if they remained tied, they would settle for a Co-Championship. It did end in a tie, and while they settled as Co-Champions, and each earned a check for $262, Gottschalk was unable to attend the awards ceremony. Einsteins Resolution, is a 4-year-old red dun gelding by Great Resolve and out of Sonoma Starlet.

Although Thompson had planned to bring a 4-year-old to show in the National Reining Breeders Classic, her horse wasn’t quite ready for the big event. But that didn’t stop Deborah from making the drive from Collinsville, Texas, to Katy, Texas, to compete at the NRBC for the first time on her 8-year-old mare Chic To Please.

Deborah and the Chic Please daughter, who is out of Fashions Last Wish, didn’t do too well in their first class on Tuesday, April 13, but on Wednesday, April 14, the trip paid off with the Co-Championship.

“She just came back from an injury and I was real happy with her performance today,” Deborah said. “I laid her off last year for about half the year and this is her third show back. I’ve just been taking my time bringing her back so I was tickled with this win.”

Although Deborah has a trainer for her other horses, she has done most of the work on “Noodle,” who got her nickname from the way she meandered around when she began her training.

“She’d wander around just like a noodle so that’s what we named her. However, sometimes it’s “Tuna,” it just depends on what day it is,” Deborah said with a laugh.

But will Deborah and Noodle show in any more ancillary classes this week?

“I might show her some more, I just don’t know yet,” she said. “I’m one of those people who like to leave on a good note.”

And what a good note to leave on!

The National Reining Breeders Classic, celebrating its tenth anniversary at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, Texas, is the most successful stallion incentive program in reining history. In just thirteen years, the NRBC has grown to include upwards of 230 subscribed stallions and in 2009, there were over 2,800 enrolled foals. Annually, the payout at the National Reining Breeders Classic exceeds $1.3 million. For information on the NRBC, visit the web site at www.nrbc.com or call 580-759-3939.