144 SIDELINESMAY 2014
FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
By JanWestmark
I hadagreat timeat theRolexKentucky
Three-Day Event last year. In addition to
watching theworld-class eventers, I found
manywonderful things todoandseeat the
Kentucky Horse Park, including attending
theKentuckyReiningCup –which runs in
conjunctionwithRolex.
Reining is a great spectator sport that
gets the audience involved and, during
the freestyle event, I couldn’t stop smiling!
The music, the spinning horses and the
costumes had the audience on their feet
all night. If you’re in Lexington, Kentucky,
this year for Rolex, thenmake sure to add
the Kentucky Reining Cup, April 25-27,
2014, to your calendar.
During last year’sKentuckyReiningCup
Freestyle, I thoroughly enjoyed reining
champion Peter Kyle on A Ruf Gal (Lil
Ruf Peppy x My Top Sail Gal), an eight-
year-old American Quarter Horse mare
whowas named2013USAReiningHorse
of the Year. Pete and his talented mare
performed to the song “Harlem Shake,”
while dozens of fellow competitors,
including eventersDavidO’Connor andSineadHalpin, danced in
the ring. Peter andARuf Gal were slipping and sliding all around
the dancers (my unofficial term for the reining movements) and
the performance helped themwin the reserve title.
Slip Sliding Away at the
Kentucky Reining Cup
e
The Bottom Line
While I knowmuch more about eventers than reining riders, I
dida little investigating tofindoutmoreabout Pete–who I figured
had to have a pretty good sense of humor to pull off his freestyle.
Pete is a U.S. team veteran and won a team silver medal at the
2008FEIWorldReiningChampionshipsandwaschampionat the
2012 Freestyle World Championships. In addition, he has won
numerous World Championships, was a top 10 money-earning
rider for theNational ReiningHorseAssociation (NRHA) in 2012,
and has been voted by his peers as an AQHA Professional
Horseman of theYear.
Pete is also President of USA Reining, which is the official
discipline affiliate to theUSEF; serves as Chairman of theUSEF
High Performance Reining Committee; and is a member of the
USEFHighPerformanceEligibleAthletesReiningCommittee. He
and hiswife, Tamra, own and operate their 230-acreKyleRanch
inWhitesboro, Texas, where they focus on breeding and training
reining horses.
That’s a little about Pete, but to learn more about the rest of
the reining competitors I’ll head back to the 2014 Kentucky
Reining Cup. I hope many of you who are visiting Rolex will
join me. Produced by HorsePower, Inc., the event will feature
a three star $35,000 FEI Concours de Reining International
(CRI3*), the $50,000 Kentucky Reining Cup Team Challenge,
the $20,000 World Championship Freestyle Reining and the
$15,000 Adequan/USEF National Open Reining Championship
andOfficial Selection Trial for theU.S. Reining Team for the FEI
WorldEquestrianGames (WEG).
PeteKyle showsARuf Gal, 2013USAReiningHorse of
theYear.
PhotobyPrimoMoralesPhotography
Here’s the schedule:
Friday, April 25
–CRI3* andOpeningRound of the
Adequan/USEFOpenReiningNational Championship and
theKentuckyReiningCupTeamChallenge
Saturday, April 26
–FEI Junior andYoungRider
classes, Para-Reining classes andTheFreestyleReining
WorldChampionship
Sunday, April 27
–KentuckyReiningCupCRI3* /
SecondGo andFinal of theAdequan/USEFNational Open
Championship andOfficial U.S. ReiningTeamSelection
Trial
Tickets for theCRI3*Championship andSelectionTrial
onFriday are $15 per person and tickets for Saturday’s
WorldFreestyleChampionship are $22 per person. Sunday
admission is includedwith a ticket from either Friday or
Saturday. Ticket packages including admission for all three
days are available for $35 per person. Parking is free. For
more informationor to order tickets for the 2014Kentucky
ReiningCup, please visit
.
