On December 25, past National Reining Horse Association President Mike Deer passed peacefully in his sleep at 82 years old. The reining community feels the loss of Deer, who not only served the industry and participated for more than 20 years but was a true fan of the sport.

Prior to serving as NRHA President from 2017 to 2018, Deer served as a regional director for two years, on the executive committee for three years, was vice president of the Reining Horse Foundation, and served his local affiliate.

“Mike Deer joined the NRHA Board in 2008, the same year I did,” said Rick Clark, NRHA past president. “I worked with him many, many years, and my first term as president, he served as my vice president. I knew him personally and his wife Rita, and Mike was a strong vice president. He supported me in every way, and it meant a lot to me. We were great friends. He would ask for advice while he was president, we owned horses together, and took trips together.”

Deer and his wife Rita both participated in the show pen and bred reining horses. He took pride in representing the average member and the small breeders who impact the sport so greatly.

In addition to this NRHA experience, Deer was a Colorado Licensed Commercial Insurance Agent and Broker for a Ranch Real Estate Company covering most of the U.S. for more than 30 years. He and his wife Rita then moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2018.

“Mike had such a passion for NRHA — running from the green reiner to the Level 4 Open and the masters classes. He just had a charming personality and was one of the finest, honorable individuals and truest friends I have ever known.”

Deer leaves behind his wife of 37 years, Rita, and his four children and seven grandchildren.

“Mike went through the ups and downs together, and it is a big loss for NRHA – but Mike lived life to the fullest,” said Clark. “I have a lot of respect for that man and learned a lot from him, and he served a lot of years for our association. He played a big part in where we are in the association today.”

Deer wrote in an NRHA Reiner article, “Grab your friends and neighbors, encourage them to buy a nice horse with slider plates, find a decent patch of dirt, and just say, ‘Whoa!’” May his legacy and joy for the reining industry continue.

Services will be held in Kansas on Saturday, May 6, at St. Ignatius Parish Hall, 816 Grant St., Neodesha, KS 66757. A service will follow in Glenwood Springs, CO, date yet to be determined.

Memorials can be sent to Mountain Valley Developmental Services, 700 Mt. Sopris Dr., Glenwood Springs, CO 81601. mtnvalley.org

During the 2022 National Reining Horse Association Futurity, Martin Larcombe was able to make the finish line to $1 Million NRHA earnings when he marked a 221.5 in the Level 3 Open Futurity finals aboard Vincent Van Whoa (Spooks Gotta Gun x FM Master Tag Chex), pocketing $40,375 for a Reserve Championship.

“You’re just thinking about riding your horses that you have, and you have a little bit of an idea if everything goes okay what they are capable of and just let things fall where they may. There is always the pressure of going and doing well, the earnings milestones are just that, it’s milestones along the way,” Larcombe shares. “You know, I don’t have a big barn full of horses, I tend to just try to concentrate on smaller numbers but better quality.”

Larcombe, a multiple world champion rider originally from Australia, is no stranger to the winner’s circle and certainly has earned his way into the million-dollar riders club. As a top contender inside the show pen himself with multiple world championships, not only in the United States but across the globe as well, he also takes on a huge responsibility to being an accomplished non pro coach in the industry. Larcombe was recognized and voted on by his peers to receive the 2021 Non Pro Coach of the Year award.

“I said to Sam [wife], you know, two or three years back, it’s [million-dollar mark] something that I really wanted. The joke always was once I get there, we’ll just go buy a house on the beach somewhere and retire,” Larcombe laughs. “But it looks like that’s not going to happen anytime soon, we’re still here, just business as usual. So, we’ll keep chugging along for a little while yet!”

When sharing who Martin would like to thank, he expresses, “My wife. We’ve been doing this for quite a while now, basically the better part of 30 years. She’s been there through the whole journey. That’s the main person I want to thank.”

With the beginning of his career competing in rodeos and quarter horse shows, Larcombe, along with his family, has progressed to finding success in the sport of reining. Larcombe, along with his sister, Shauna Larcombe, were part of the first Australian reining team to compete at the 2010 World Equestrian Games. Shauna also competed in the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France. His daughter McKinnon is also a devoted reiner and competes in large shows such as the NRHA Derby in Oklahoma City, OK, alongside her dad.

Larcombe spent eight years training in Europe, managing the CS Ranch in Givrins, Switzerland, before moving to work at the CS Ranch in Gordonville, TX. In 2018, he and his wife moved his base to Rabboni Performance Horses in Whitesboro, TX, where his family now resides and trains.

Career Highlights:

2022 NRHA Professionals No. 19 Money Earner

2022 NRHA Futurity Level 3 Open Reserve Champion

2022 SWRHA Futurity Level 3 Open Champion

2021 NRHA Non Pro Coach of the Year

2014 NRHA Derby Level 4 Open Reserve Champion

2013 Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity Level 4 Open Champion

2010 Reining Australia Derby Level 4 Open Champion

NRHA Certified Professional Judge

The 2022 National Reining Horse Association Futurity and Adequan^® North American Affiliate Championships crowned new champions and helped add additional milestones to multiple riders’ careers. The 2021 NRHA Professional Horseman of the Year, Trevor Dare, passed the coveted $1 Million in earnings.

Just months after a coveted National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) Championship on Jerseys Baby Driver (Yellow Jersey x Wind Her Up Chic), owned by Janice Laney, Trevor continued to build on the momentum. Trevor made the million-dollar dream reality by placing sixth in the Level 4 Open Futurity onboard, Blame The Corona (Shiners Voodoo Dr x Corona Tag), owned by Courtney Brooke Battison, scoring a noteworthy 222.5. This performance would account for producing $57,078 towards the rider’s LTE.

“I just kept thinking, if I kept doing my job every day and doing the best quality work I could on my horses, then the million-dollar rider status would come,” shared Dare. “The million-dollar rider wasn’t something that I was counting down the dollars on. I did happen to look [at standings] about a month before the show [NRHA Futurity], so I had an idea that I was close,” he admitted.

Dare’s NRBC win not only earned this team from the Sooner state a $75,000 check but also helped gain traction for an incredible year-end accomplishment of becoming an NRHA Million Dollar Rider.

Jerseys Baby Driver and Dare are no strangers to the winners’ circle as they knocked out an impressive 226.5 winning run during the 2021 6666 Ranch NRHA Derby presented by Markel at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, one of the most prestigious wins of his career and adding $75,000 towards his earnings.

When sharing who Trevor would thank, he expressed, “Obviously, my wife, because she runs our whole business and supports the lifestyle that we live. But you know, it’s all the team that’s around me. The clients that provide the horses for me to show and all the sponsors that help get us down the road and through the daily lifestyle. There are really too many people to thank.”

Formerly from Ohio, Dare started showing horses when he was 4 years old. He then transitioned to reining at 8, with influence from his immediate family of dedicated breeders and uncle, Hall of Fame member Rocky Dare. His first recorded win with NRHA was in 1996 as the winner of the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Youth 13 & Under class. Trevor Dare Reining Horses is now operating out of Silver Spurs Equine-Oklahoma located in Purcell, Oklahoma.

Career Highlights:

2022 NRHA Professionals No. 9 Money Earner

2022 National Reining Breeders Classic Level 4 Champion

2021 NRHA Professional Horseman of the Year

2021 NRHA Derby Level 4 Champion

2021 No. 7 Money Earner for NRHA Professionals

2021 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Top 10

2019 NRHA Derby Level 3 Open Champion

2017 NRHA Futurity Level 4 3rd Place

In 2010, a flashy young colt burst onto the reining scene. By National Reining Horse Association Thirteen Million Dollar Sire Gunner, and out of Shining Little Peach (by Shining Spark), Colonels Shining Gun was poised to do great things. In early November, the stallion, affectionately known as Jojo, added another line to his resume when he became a Million Dollar Sire. While he’s now known for his prepotency, he proved his prowess in the show pen early on.

The stallion, bred by KC Performance Horses, was shown to a third-place finish at the 2010 Scottsdale Classic Futurity by All Time Leading Rider Andrea Fappani. Fappani and the colt then traveled to Oklahoma City for the NRHA Futurity, where they finished in the Top 10 of the Futurity Finals.

As fate would have it, reining enthusiast Katarzyna Roleska was in the stands during the first round of the Futurity, and Colonels Shining Gun immediately caught her eye.

“I saw him show in the first go of the Futurity with Andrea in the saddle, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He stole my heart,” Roleska recalled of watching Jojo show.

The very next year, Jojo was in his new home, Roleska Ranch, located less than an hour’s drive from Krakow, a southern Poland city. While Fappani continued to show Roleska’s horses in the United States, Jojo found success in Europe with a multitude of trainers, including Clint Ramsey, Million Dollar Rider Gennaro Lendi, Alessandro Frassa, and Million Dollar Rider Cira Baeck.

With Baeck at the reins, Jojo accumulated numerous wins, including the NRHA European Open Derby Championship. The pair was also on the Silver-medal winning team for Belgium at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, and Baeck posted her highest score ever – a 231.5 – at the 2013 Reining International de Lyon.

Roleska eventually elected to move the stallion back to the United States, and he now stands at Brent and Paula Loseke’s Colt Company. “In the United States, he has the opportunity to breed more mares, and I know that Paula and Brent love him. What makes me proud is that his offspring in Europe contributed incredibly to him reaching the million-dollar mark,” she said.

Jojo’s first foals arrived in 2013 and began dominating on both continents. A prime example is his leading money earner, NF Shining Whiz, a 2015 mare out of Whowhizthispeppychic. The mare, bred by David Perneel, was shown initially by Baeck and took reserve honors at both the Italian Reining Horse Association Futurity and the European Futurity. In 2019, she was purchased by Tamarack Ranch and shown to numerous wins in the United States by NRHA Professional Gabe Hutchins. The talented mare has now earned more than $97,000.

“My goal is for him to be a healthy and happy horse. His foals will do the rest,” Roleska said.

Colonels Shining Gun’s top money earners are:

• NF Shining Whiz (Whowhizthispeppychic) $97,937
• Snips Shining Gun (Snip O Gun) $75,511
• CSG Copshot (Finest Copyshot) $56,798
• CSG Kenzo (Shiner Brimolena) $54,749
• Copyride (Finest Copyshot) $51,225
• CSG Wisemanfear (Tejana Chic) $49,940
• Showgirl Shining Gun (Shes A Lil Showgirl) $46,262
• One Mr JJ (QHR Jamaica Express ) $37,379
• KL Less Is More (Payin On Time) $37,128
• CSG Shinethingun (ARC Think Chic) $37,052

For more information about Jojo, visit coltcompany.com/colonels-shining-gun or follow him on social media at facebook.com/ColonelsShiningGun