Wade Reaney Wins Open Two Rein & Hackamore

March 29, 2011 Off By Roberta Johnston

With a 437.5 composite, Wade Reaney and Kickback Nic won the Open Two Rein Championship at the National Reined Cow Horse Association Stakes in Nampa, Idaho. The win netted owner John Prudden a check for $1,590.

Reaney, who trains out of New Plymouth, Idaho, has ridden the mare by Nic It In The Bud out of Desire A Chic, her entire career. They qualified for the Open finals at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity, and later went on to win the Idaho Reined Cow Horse Association Futurity. “I then had some trouble getting her shown her Derby years. Corey Cushing showed her a couple times and I just got her back a few months ago,” noted Reaney. “She’s a good mare. When she’s on she’s on – she just needed to be put in the bridle.”

The new formula worked, as Kickback Nic came out strong in the rein work with a 217. “She just felt really relaxed in the pen. Usually she’s pretty looky and has a lot of feel. She stopped hard and turned around well,” he said. That dry work was followed with a 220.5 in the cow work. “We had a tough cow. It ran hard by she was really on it. It circled fast and she just reached her neck out there and circled up real well.”

Reaney said that he and Prudden, who has been his customer for a number of years, plan to eventually enter the mare in some Open Bridle Spectaculars, noting, “She’s really good in the herd work. We’ll just see what she tells us.”

Riding Diamonds Are Smokin for Debi and Loren East, Brandon Buttars won the Open Two Rein Reserve Championship and $1,325. Diamonds Are Smokin, by Like A Diamond out of Shirley Smoke, marked a 216.5 in the rein work and a 220 in the cow work.

The Open Hackamore

The very next day, Reaney returned to the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa, Idaho, to claim the Open Hackamore Championship, this time on Little Gritty Kitty.

The Plymouth Falls, Idaho, trainer showed the now 4-year-old mare, by Cats Merada and out of Short Stop Sis, as a Futurity horse, missing the Open Snaffle Bit Futurity Finals but winning the Championship at the Colorado Futurity and the Reserve Championship of the Magic Valley Futurity. “I haven’t had her back very long – she had the winter off and we have just been getting her back in shape,” noted Reaney. “We put her in the hackamore to try it out. There are still some things to work on but she showed pretty honest in it.”

Little Gritty Kitty, owned by Double S Quarter Horses, marked 216 in both the rein and cow work. “That 216 in the rein work is pretty good for her – that’s what she’s capable of doing,” he said. “We had a tough cow. They had a little trouble getting it into the pen, and I was wincing a little thinking ‘Oh no!’ She handled it really well.”

Reaney plans to continue showing Little Gritty Kitty, who added $2,864 to her lifetime earnings with the win, in Limited Age Events.

The Reserve Championship went to Ken Wold who had a 431.5 composite (214/217.5) on Shes A Catty Lady. The NRCHA Hall of Famer and Shes A Catty Lady, by Cowboy Cattylac out of Lady Rolena, won $2,148. Shes A Catty Lady is owned by Victory Phelps.

The National Reined Cow Horse Association, now in its 62nd year, is the governing body of cow horse competition, is responsible for promoting the sport, insuring high standards of competition and educating members and the public about the history and tradition of the cow horse. Through the support of a Corporate Partner family that includes Adequan, Bob’s Custom Saddles, Cinch, Classic Equine, Gist Silversmiths, John Deere, Markel Insurance Company, Nutrena, Pfizer Animal Health, Platinum Performance, Quarter Horse News, Rios of Mercedes, Running W Designs, the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino, and Merial products UlcerGard and EQUIOXX, the association works to keep the vaquero tradition alive in today’s equine industry. For information on the National Reined Cow Horse Association, call 580-759-4949 or visit the NRCHA Official Web Site at http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=em4lwidab&et=1104967327546&s=40&e=001caflfG4Q bDd95vlithKIWTPl538D8yTueXV_842z0yTtEYi8nRUCkiIxk3wHFloaJReBpPJx9r0QrCv23W_g 2uHtfiIKeCIRv5C48_cOv9M=> www.nrcha.com.