Mr Bay Jewel, a 6-year-old solid Paint-bred gelding, helped a trainer and celebrity team win the 2011 Reining with the Stars competition on April 17. Sired by Marthas Mega Jac (AQHA) and out of Bootspainted Jewel, the gelding, also known as “Barney,” was bred by top reining competitor Scott McCutcheon of Whitesboro, Texas, and is owned by G.C. Powell of Smithville, Mo. He has an impressive reining record, including winning a Reserve World Championship in Solid Paint-Bred Reining at the 2009 APHA World Show.

In the competition, held in Madison, Wis., trainer Cal Middleton coached Barney’s rider Ernie Rodina, a Purina Mills sales manager and Better Horses Radio host, to the win. Middleton selected the Paint Horse because of their past successes as a team in National Reining Horse Association events. Rodina was able to ride the horse only a couple of times before entering the ring for the competition. For the event, he had to perform a reining pattern aboard Barney, and then Middleton had to ride the same horse in a trainer freestyle pattern.

“He definitely had less time on his horse than any other celebrity in the event,” Middleton commented about his celebrity rider Ernie Rodina. “Our horse was good. Ernie and I both brought our A-games.”

The Reining With The Stars competition not only promotes the Midwest Horse Fair, but also raises money for the Madison affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure (of breast cancer).

More about APHA and solid Paint-bred horses

The American Paint Horse Association (APHA), founded in 1962 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is the international breed registry for the American Paint Horse. In fulfillment of its mission to collect, record and preserve pedigrees of the breed, APHA recognizes and supports 111 regional and international clubs, produces championship shows, sponsors trail rides and creates and maintains programs that increase the value of American Paint Horses and enriches members’ experiences with their horses.

APHA has registered almost a million horses in 59 nations and territories since it was founded, and now serves approximately 64,000 active members around the world.

The term “solid Paint-bred” is used when a horse of Paint breeding does not exhibit the white coat markings usually associated with Paint Horses.