Live Auction Items for Sliders’ Night Out presented by Toyon Ranch Announced

On December 1, 2021, reining enthusiasts will come together for Sliders’ Night Out presented by Toyon Ranch. The event, which regularly draws more than 400 attendees, is the Reining Horse Foundation’s largest annual fundraiser.  The celebration is held during the National Reining Horse Association Futurity and Adequan® North American Affiliate Championships. The 2020 event was cancelled, so the night of philanthropy and celebration is one many in the industry are eagerly looking forward to.

A highlight of the 2021 soiree will be the annual live auction, which is limited to a select group of items. This year’s donations are:

  • A John Deere TS Gator donated by Equine Discounts.
    • The John Deere TS 4×2 Utility Vehicle features cushioned bucket seating, a 12-v outlet, and a large, durable cargo box for heavy hauling.
  • A private clinic for eight people in 2022 with NRHA Professional and former NRHA Professional of the Year Mirjam Stillo.
    • The clinic will be held at the privately-owned Ranchos Los Vaqueros in Pilot Point, Texas. The clinic includes lunch and post-clinic cocktails in the welcoming event space. Hosted and made possible by Mirjam Stillo Performance Horses, Nancy and John Tague of Toyon Ranch and Debbie and Gary Conway of Ranchos Los Vaqueros.
  • A custom-made, handcrafted 18K gold pendant from MS Diamonds TX.
    • NRHA Corporate Partner MS Diamonds TX will create a custom 18K gold pendant set with 1ct GVS quality diamonds complete with the winner’s logo.
  • A 2022 embryo for Wind Her Up Chic, donated by NRHA Corporate Partners Tim Anderson and Kim Niven.
    • Wind Her Up Chic (Smart Chic Olena x Wind Her Up Doc) is a former NRHA Futurity, NRHA Derby, and National Reining Breeders Classic Open finalist with lifetime earnings exceeding $100,000. Embryos for Wind Her Up Chic, who holds the 16th spot on the NRHA Lifetime Producers List, are not available publicly outside of the Sliders’ Night Out Live Auction.

“The proceeds raised from this event and through the RHF benefit our members in a variety of ways, including the Dale Wilkinson Memorial Crisis Fund, youth scholarships, supporting our Hall of Fame, and more,” Clark shared. “Every dollar donated, whether it’s a big donation or small, adds up and makes a difference. The RHF just keeps growing every day, and I, and the rest of the RHF Board, are thankful for every donor. This is our 20th anniversary, and the RHF is at a level we dreamed of when it started. We have great leaders with a great vision, and I am proud to be a part of it.”

New in 2021, Sliders’ Night Out will offer live, online bidding powered by Auction Mobility, the same platform that will be used for this year’s NRHA Markel Futurity Sales on December 2. To view the Slider’s Night Out Auction, go to auctions.nrha.com, or download the new NRHA Sales App. Proxy and absentee bidding is also available, and those interested can contact RHF Executive Director Leslie Baker.

In addition to the Live Auction, there will be a pledge auction where everyone in attendance is welcome to contribute to the RHF. Unrestricted gifts of $100 or more will receive donor recognition in the Reiners Club.

Hosted by the RHF, the event will honor and recognize the NRHA Hall of Fame inductees as well as the recipients of the NRHA Dale Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2020 and 2021. “We are excited to formally welcome 2020 Hall of Fame inductees Sally Brown and Jerry Kimmel, and the 2021 inductees Doug Carpenter and Jose Vazquez,” said Rick Clark, NRHA President and RHF Development Chairperson. “We will also recognize Mike Carrier and Charles Vaughan, who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Awards for 2020 and 2021. These are well-deserved honors, and we are excited to celebrate each of these individuals.”

The RHF, which serves as the charitable arm of the NRHA. Through major underwriters and Hall of Fame table hosts, dollars are raised in support of the RHF mission of caring for and honoring the reining community.

Donors of every level are important. They come from individuals, corporations, ranches, training barns, foundations and groups of reiners joining forces to support the event. Baker said a limited number of tables and seats remain available for the event and encourages anyone wanting to attend, to act quickly.

Advance reservations are encouraged to ensure a chance to be in attendance at Sliders’ Night Out and enjoy the chef-prepared dinner and celebration. Individual tickets are available.

To make reservations, contact Leslie Baker, RHF, (405) 946-7400, ext. 106 or email rhf@nrha.com.

Ruben Vandorp Secures Million Dollar Rider Status with Wins at 2021 Best of the West Reining

The National Reining Horse Association’s newest Million Dollar Rider Ruben Vandorp loves his life. Career-wise he loves reining, reiners, the reining community, and most of all, the horses. He’s equally passionate about his family – wife Melissa, kids Skylar and Peyton – and his church.

In fact, there are very few topics that this Netherlands import isn’t enthusiastic about, and that’s been his mindset since he came to the United States with a duffle bag and a dream. “I started in youth competition, then out of high school got a job with Nedpoint in the Netherlands,” Vandorp recalled.

After a few years, he moved to Pauls Valley, Okla., to continue working for the international exporting company that purchased horses in the U.S., then shipped them overseas. “That got me into it and made me want to buy horses and sell them and put them on airplanes,” he explained.

Indoctrination into this aspect of the reining world shaped Vandorp’s future indelibly and throughout his career, his model has been to get horses started, and then sell them. He also placed other trainers on the talented athletes when he felt that was the right direction. It has been a very successful formula but did make it harder for him to amass his own earnings in the show pen.

One of Vandorp’s friends mused that he’s probably the only rider who has won a million that didn’t set out to win a million – just to sell horses. “I’ve always taken that route of selling them when they started working,” he admitted with a laugh. “Well, with just a few exceptions.”   

Einsteins Revolution (Einstein x Fly Flashy Jac) was the first of those exceptions and the horse that put Vandorp on the reining radar screen. The now $2 Million NRHA Sire was a standout. At the 2007 National Reining Breeders Classic, Ruben won the Level(L) 3 and after a tie was second in the L4, earning more than $80,000.

Another top money earner was Legacy In Lights (Hit The Lights x Doc Berry Miss), which Vandorp rode to earnings exceeding $159,000 as a 3-year-old.  In 2020 it was Spooks Gotta Crush (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Megas Sugar Baby) that headlined with Vandorp when he rode him at the NRBC to win the Level 3 Championship and tie for fourth in the Level 4, earning $46,321.

Ruben passed the million-dollar mile marker in October at the 2021 Best of the West Show in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Mr Farenheit (Magnum Chic Dream x Wimpy Little Girl), a horse he co-owns with Max Morin. “What I’m super excited about in hitting the million is the honor of being in a group with so many trainers I respect and admire – it’s very humbling. So many of them have been so helpful – overall the whole reining community has been encouraging and helpful,” he said.

NRHA President Rick Clark was quick to note, “Ruben has been in the industry a long time. He’s an excellent showman who has worked very hard over the years to achieve this milestone. This achievement is a testament to his dedication.”

What does the future hold for Ruben? “There’s really nothing I want to change. I love what I do and love the customers I have so I want to just keep going and enjoying life.”

Photos are courtesy of Ruben Vandorp

2021 Italian Reining Horse Association Futurity: November 14-20

The 2021 $426,264 IRHA/IRHBA/NRHA Futurity Opened Today With the Non Pro Qualifier

The 2021 $426,264 IRHA/IRHBA/NRHA Futurity Open Go Round

2021 $426,264 IRHA/IRHBA/NRHA Futurity Open Finalists Determined: Czechowicz and CSG Wisemanfear Fly to the Top Composite Score

2021 $426,264 IRHA/IRHBA/NRHA Non Pro Futurity Finals: Nogue Puig and Simple The Best 66 Are The Champions

Visit irha.it for more!

Expectations High for 2021 NRHA Markel Futurity Sales

Im Gunna Shine – 2020 High Seller

Catalogs for the 2021 National Reining Horse Association Markel Futurity Sales are arriving in mailboxes around the globe, while many reining enthusiasts have already begun perusing the consignments through the Sale’s new website and mobile app.

Regardless of how people choose to do their research, it’s clear that the quality of horsepower consigned this year, slated for December 2 at the NRHA Futurity, is high as ever.

Twenty-six NRHA Million Dollar or higher stallions account for 122 foals in the sale, including all three NRHA $12 Million Sires (Wimpys Little Step – 2, Gunner – 8, and Topsail Whiz – 3).

There have only been three stallions to win all three major NRHA events – the Futurity, the Derby, and the National Reining Breeders Classic. Two of those three, A Vintage Smoke* and Not Ruf At All, each have a foal in the sale, while Spooks Gotta Whiz* has 12.

The stallion most represented in this year’s NRHA Markel Futurity Sales is NRHA $5 Million Sire Gunnatrashya, with 22.

The mare power is equally impressive. NRHA Million Dollar Dam Princess In Diamonds has one foal in the Sales, as does All Ruffed Up, dam of NRHA Million Dollar Sire Not Ruf At All.

Ebony Spook, dam of the second and third high sellers for the 2020 Select Yearling Sale (Vintage Ebony and Spook Electric), has the most foals in this year’s Sales, with six.

Cremes Chic Olena, dam of the 2019 Marketplace Sale High Seller Xtra Half N Half, has two foals consigned to this year’s Sales, while Unquestionably Crome, dam of 2019 Select Yearling High Seller Inferno On Ice, has one.

Other notable dams include Gunnersspecialsister (full sibling to NRHA $4 Million Sire Gunners Special Nite), Icing Required (dam of Run For A Million Co-Champion No Smoking Required), and Mifs Doll (dam of NRHA $4 Million Sire Gunners Special Nite).

Prior to the four regular Sales, 11 breedings to great stallions will be auctioned to benefit the National Reining Horse Youth Association. That stallion lineup includes Colonels Shining Gun, Dun It For Whizkey, Gunner Dun It Again, Hey Joe, Inferno Sixty Six, No Smoking Required, Patriot, PS Mega Shine Chic, Spooks Gotta Spark, Tinker With Dreams, and What A Wave.

The Sales will continue with the all-on-one-day concept begun in 2020, so all the Markel Futurity Sales will be held on Thursday, December 2. Also, the two-year-old preview opportunities have been modified and expanded into two-hour sessions in Arena 6 held on November 30 and December 1 at the conclusion of each day’s Futurity Semi-Finals.

The Sales will also return to Barns 3 and 4, where they have been traditionally held, and will begin at 10 a.m. December 2 with the Futurity Prospect Sale, followed by the Elite Yearling Sale and the Preferred Breeders Sale. The Premier Sale will finish out the day.

*Includes Covering Sire

Gunnatrashya Soars Past NRHA $5 Million Sire Milestone

Gunnatrashya, a 2006 sorrel stallion by National Reining Horse Association $12 Million Sire Gunner out of Natrasha, first became an NRHA Million Dollar Sire in 2017. In every subsequent year, the stallion, owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA, has passed another million-dollar milestone, and with less than two months remaining in 2021, he’s done it again.

Gunnatrashya foals won more than $30,000 at the recent Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity, including Makin A Little Trash (Xtra Voodoo Dora), who finished third in the Level 4 Open and reserve in the Level 3 Open.

Gunnatrashya’s first foal crop burst onto the reining scene in 2014, with show pen standouts ARC Gunnabeabigstar (LTE $289,999) and ARC Gunna Sparkya (LTE $119,605). That initial success was just a glimpse into what has become a historic stallion career.

Gunnatrashya, bred by Katarina Dorminy, had just as successful of a career in the show pen as he has had in the breeding shed. With NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider and Hall of Fame Inductee Shawn Flarida at the reins, Gunnatrashya was the 2009 NRHA Open Futurity Champion, the 2010 NRHA Open Derby Champion and the 2009 All American Quarter Horse Congress Open Futurity Champion. Even with limited showing, he accumulated more than $218,000 in NRHA lifetime earnings.  
Gunnatrashya’s top-earning offspring are:

  • ARC Gunnabeabigstar (out of Wimpys Little Chic): $298,999
  • Super Marioo (out of HA Chic A Tune): $285,348
  • Inferno Sixty Six (out of Snip O Gun): $205,690
  • Gunna Stop (out of Stop Little Sister): $172,762
  • ARC Gunna Mark Ya (out of Shiney Miss Marker): $163,877
  • Gunnabebigtime (out of Big Time Jazzy): $147,486
  • Gunnarickashay (out of Rondas Tio): $147,229
  • Loveya (out of Love Em N Lena): $131,861
  • ARC Gunna Sparkya (out of Sailing Spark): $119,605
  • Diamond Studded Guns (out of Like To Flo): $110,814

Congratulations to Gunnatrashya and Arcese Quarter Horses USA.