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Six Million Reasons to Watch Andrea Fappani Rein

Photo by Cam Essick

For Immediate Release – November 12, 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – The name Fappani is synonymous with the winner’s circle and this fall was no different for the Italian-born reiner. The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) unofficially congratulates NRHA Professional Andrea Fappani for becoming the newest NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider.

Fappani is only the second NRHA Professional in history to reach this monumental milestone. As soon as the 2020 show season resumed, Fappani hit the ground running and he’s been on a hot streak ever since.

At the 2020 NRHA Derby presented by Markel, Fappani rode Spooks Gotta Outfire (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Black Custom Chex) for owners Clemerson Gomes Barbalho and Mark Weissman to a 225.5. This was enough to take third place in the Open Level(L) 4 Finals and was the first chunk of change that inched Fappani closer to his six-million-dollar rider status.

Several top tier finishes at the rescheduled 2020 National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) sent Fappani home with over $70,000 in his pocket. This trend continued at the High Roller Reining Classic and the Friends of Reining Futurity in Tennessee where Fappani made his $50,000+ payday look easy. Here are some of Fappani’s top finishes in 2020:

  • NRBC Hollywoodstinseltown Open Futurity L4 – First place: $12,720
  • NRBC Open Classic Finals L4 – Fourth place: $25,000
  • Friends of Reining Open Futurity Finals L4 – First place: $30,000; third place: $13,306; and fifth place: $9,504
  • AzRHA Best of the West Yellowstone Open Futurity L4 – First place: $20,072; and second place: $12,218

Originally from Italy, Fappani trains reining horses in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Rancho Oso Rio, LLC. He became an NRHA member in 1994 and traded in his non pro card to become a professional just three years later. In 2006, Fappani became one of the youngest NRHA Million Dollar Riders in history.

“When I came to the states in 1997, my dream was to win the Futurity,” Fappani said. “In 2001 I was lucky enough to do that. I had to ask myself what next because that was my lifetime goal.”

The humble showman has never solely focused on chasing his LTE, it’s always been about progressing his horsemanship. Fappani is especially proud of the consistency he’s displayed in his career year after year.

“I’ve always been scared of having a great year and following it up with a not so great one,” Fappani said. “It’s never been about winning, it’s always been about consistency in my training program and showing that I can make the same things happen again and again.”

Many of Fappani’s current clients have stuck with him since the first year he ran his own program. The trust Fappani has built with his clients is on full display each time he performs.

“When you have people behind you that trust you and don’t question the decisions you make as a trainer, it gives you a lot of freedom to treat their horses as your own,” Fappani explained. “Having clients like that behind me as a trainer has been one of my greatest assets in my career so far. And then I have a great team who keep me in a position where I can concentrate on my training and just get better every year.”

In the race to seven million, Fappani isn’t far behind NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider Shawn Flarida. Congratulations to Andrea Fappani on this monumental accomplishment!

 

 

 

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Muehlstaetter Reaches NRHA Million Dollar Rider Status

For Immediate Release ­– November 7, 2020 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – At just 12 years old, Martin Muehlstaetter knew he wanted to train reining horses for a living. He is now, unofficially, the newest National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Million Dollar Rider.

Originally from Villach, Austria, Muehlstaetter’s first official mount was a warmblood on a lunge line. As the years passed, he would continue riding everything from warmbloods to haflingers and all other breeds in between until he became an assistant trainer for NRHA Million Dollar Rider Rudi Kronsteiner in 1999.

After three years of tutelage under Kronsteiner, Muehlstaetter was set to become an assistant trainer in Italy. Fate had other plans and he ended up in Texas before working for some of NRHA’s founding fathers: Bob Avila, and NRHA Million Dollar Rider Dell Hendricks, and Todd Sommers.

“When I told my mom I wanted to be a reining horse trainer, she told me there was no such thing,” said Muehlstaetter who now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. “Ever since then I’ve always been focused on reining horses. That’s where my heart and soul is at.”

In January 2007, Muehlstaetter moved to Scottsdale to be with his future wife, Kim, and then stepped out on his own as a professional. One of the first horses Muehlstaetter trained from the ground up as his own boss was Country Custom (Custom Crome x Calatrava).

“We bought Custom as an early yearling and I did all the work from there until he hit the show pen,” Muehlstaetter said. “He was a special horse and now he’s living out retirement in our front field.”

Together, Muehlstaetter and Country Custom finished in the top ten at major NRHA events across the country in both the Open Level(L) 3 and 4. Muehlstaetter’s biggest payday to date came at the 2014 National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC). Marking a 226, Muehlstaetter and Blue Collar Tag (Whiz N Tag Chex x Kachina Oak Olena) finished in the number one spot for both Open L3 and 4.

Another one of Muehlstaetter’s top finishes was at the 2017 NRHA Futurity where he placed fourth in the Open L4 finals riding Seven On Seven (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Anne Get Your Gunner). Muehlstaetter humbly credits his success in the reining industry to his team standing on the sidelines for every run.

“I want to thank everybody who’s been part of this journey, from my family and my wife to all the shoers, vets, grooms, assistant trainers,” Muehlstaetter said. “Without the right people in your corner, a trainer can only reach a certain level. And it doesn’t matter how good you are if you don’t have clients to supply horses. I’ve been especially lucky in that regard.”

Muehlstaetter’s wife tracked the numbers closely for her husband as he made his way to the million-dollar milestone. During the 2020 Arizona Reining Horse Association (AzRHA) Best of the West show, Muehlstaetter reined Spooks Grand Slam (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Shiney Diamond Lady) to a 224. This was the top score in the Open L4 Friends of Reining Horse Foundation Open Derby.

“Reaching this goal was so emotional,” Muehlstaetter said. “Being such a crazy year, achieving this accomplishment felt good. I’m really proud of my wife and my whole team because without them I couldn’t have done it.”

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2020 NRHA Markel Futurity Sales Combine into One-Day Super Sale!

The annual National Reining Horse Association Markel Futurity Sales have long been recognized as venues that present only the finest horses to an always appreciative group of buyers. Each year, records are broken, and sale alumni often go on to greatness in high stakes reining competition. In 2020, the sales, which have previously been spread over three days, have been combined into a one-day super sale, set for Dec. 3.

This year’s sales will take place in Arena 6, and the day will start at 8 a.m. with a breakfast sponsored by Q Stallions, the American Quarter Horse Association’s All Stallions Directory. Auction action will begin promptly at 9 a.m. with the National Reining Horse Youth Association Stallion Auction. Breedings to 12 top stallions will be auctioned this year, and NRHyA officers will be presenting each of the stallions for bidding. These available breedings are listed in the Futurity Sale catalog.

Leading off the horse sale will be the Futurity Prospect Sale, an incredible showcase for two-year-old reiners. Buyers will have the opportunity to see these horses ridden the evening before in Norick Coliseum, where groups of six are presented to the audience.

Following the Futurity Prospect Sale is the Select Yearling Sale, presenting yearling reining-bred horses by top reining stallions. Then the focus moves to the Select Breeders sale which showcases broodmares, stallion, weanlings and even embryos. Wrapping up the day of incredible horses will be the Marketplace sale featuring horses from yearlings to show horses.

Although the sale ring action will not pause, lunch and hospitality will be provided during the sales, sponsored by Vaughn Zimmerman’s Not Ruf At All, Cinder Lakes Ranch and Paramount Network’s Yellowstone.

Bidders have a choice of bidding in person, at ringside, or online. Interested bidders can visit nrha.com/sales to register prior to the sale. To be able to bid at sale time, they must be pre-approved by 5 p.m. on Dec. 1. This online bidding is sponsored by Cinder Lakes Ranch.

Doug Carpenter, longtime member of the NRHA Futurity Sale Committee, is excited about the quality of the horses offered in this year’s sale. “I have never seen the depth of the horses we are selling – not only in how well-bred they are but also in their conformation. It is an incredible set of horses! I think we are seeing the breeding coming together – throughout the industry people are breeding great mares to great stallions and it really shows,” he said.

Carpenter continued, “I think it’s fantastic that we are doing the sale in one day on the non-showing day for Futurity. People can come to the sale and focus on that without the sale schedule conflicting with the Futurity competition. In the past, we have had complaints from buyers and consignors because of the sale overlapping the show, and this year that is not going to happen.”

For more information about the sale and to view the online catalog visit nrha.com/sales.

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Excitement Builds for Historic Payouts at 2020 NRHA Futurity

When the 55th National Reining Horse Association Futurity begins Nov. 26, it will launch a new chapter in its history. In early February of this year, the association made the landmark announcement that, thanks to the support of a committed group of donors, the 2020 NRHA Futurity champion will receive a quarter of a million dollars – a hundred thousand dollar increase from the previous year!

The news came during the association’s Annual General Meeting and was accompanied by the additional announcement that the Cinch Non Pro Futurity Champion would receive $60,000 and that the added money for the Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship classes would be doubled.

Now, as the momentous event approaches, the task force created to increase the futurity payout continues to plan ahead. Under the leadership of NRHA Vice President Rick Clark, the task force, which also includes NRHA President Mike Hancock, John Tague, Mark Blake, Doug Carpenter, Ginger Schmersal, Roseanne Sternberg and Shane Brown, is looking forward to even more growth in the next five years.

Clark said, “This is the beginning. We want to grow to awarding a half-million dollars to the open champion in the next five years and this will come from a combination of resources.”

Tague added, “The growth will initially come from supporters until we bridge to a more permanent and stable funding plan. There are many ways to build structural support for the purse. The most positive of all would be entry growth as a result of bigger purses. The work the association has done to become more efficient, along with the insights of its Board and the Executive Committee could well position the NRHA to be able to increase the added money in the years ahead.”

While the highlighted goal of the committee is the $500K Level 4 Open purse, its members also want to impact other open levels and the Non Pro divisions as well as funding additional improvements to the NAAC portion. In the coming weeks, members will reach out to other industry stakeholders, owners and trainers to join the effort.

It seems that this futurity, the exclamation point to an admittedly challenging year for the equine industry, is a perfect place to celebrate a new record payout for the Open and Non Pro Champions. With 344 entries in the Open Futurity and 176 in the Non Pro Futurity and the level of talent seen in earlier competitions, it promises to be an incredible show.

These numbers came in spite of the unfortunate cancellation of 20 international entries due to riders or horses not being able to enter the country due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. NRHA Commissioner Gary Carpenter noted, “Our hearts are with our international members who have devoted the last two years to preparing horses for this event. We share their disappointment in having their dreams delayed.”

The NRHA Futurity, although closed to the general public, is open to all horse people, who may enter through the barn areas to attend performances, the Futurity Trade Show held during the entire show and the NRHA Futurity Horse Sales, set for Thursday, Dec. 3. The event will follow whatever health mandates are in place for Oklahoma City at the time of the show, currently including masks being required and restrictions pertaining to social distancing.

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2020 NRHA European Futurity Postponed to 2021

The 2020 National Reining Horse Association European Futurity has been postponed to 2021 due to complications and restrictions related to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The Futurity, originally set for November 20–28 in Cremona, Italy, will be rescheduled and new dates for the event will be announced as soon as details have been finalized.

President of the NRHA European Council, Roberto Cuoghi, along with the Italian Reining Horse Association, made the decision based on current health considerations and government restrictions. The number of COVID-19 cases in Europe has risen significantly and new mandates have forced border closures, imposed strict quarantine regulations, and limited events.

NRHA Commissioner Gary Carpenter said, “Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to a world where plans change and then they change again. As the virus continues to run its course, we must respect local conditions, government restrictions, and follow the guidance of health authorities who are striving to protect their families and friends.”