Three-time NRHA Open Futurity champion Shawn Flarida
It was Senjor Tejano Whiz, sired by Topsail Whiz, who scored 226 points to claim the championship and $28,148. “He’s really physical and athletic,” said Flarida of the recently gelded horse he calls Brent, after its owner and breeder Brent Loeske, Aubrey, TX. “He just sat down and really worked well.”
BR Sheza Cameo Jac placed second with 225.5 and earned $17,133. The Master Cowboy Jac daughter, owned by Joe Bowman, Blacklick, OH, was bred by Flarida’s friend Dan Clarke, Ashland, KY, who died of a brain hemorrhage three months ago.
“She has a special place in my heart,” says Flarida. “It was really great to see her do well. She isn’t quite as big and strong, as the other horses I rode, but when you get done, you just want to hug her.”
Brian Bell tied himself for the third place with 224.5 on Colienas Finest Tafy and Starbucks Jazz.
Westfall bares it all
What do you do to top a bridleless win in the 2005 Quarter Horse Congress Freestyle Reining? For trainer Stacey Westfall, Mount Gilead, OH, the next step was logical – bareback and bridleless. Performing to Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying,” Westfall and Whizards Baby Doll, owned by Greg Gessner, Strasburg, OH, claimed the Open Freestyle Congress championship for the second consecutive year.
The pair had performed the winning routine for the first time at an NRHA event on Labor Day weekend, hours before Westfall learned that her father had been killed in an auto accident. She dedicated her Congress performance to him.
Westfall and Gessner’s Whizard Jac daughter drew a standing ovation from the sellout crowd and a score of 239 points. Reserve champions in the Open Freestyle Reining were past champions Shining Salute and trainer Rocky Dare, who performed to “I Got A Brand New Girlfriend.”