Outside Circle by Jan Swan Wood: Gate To Great places second, Pro-Am win, AQHA and cloning, barrel, goat tying and breakaway jackpots
It sure turned off cold and windy last week. Reminded me that it really is fall and maybe I ought to get some of the fall work caught up before the snow flies full time. If October would last about a month longer I could get a lot more done around the place.
Congratulations to Dale Simanton and Dorothy Snowden, Newell, South Dakota, and their Gate to Great graduate Jaded Lover on placing second at the prestigious Retired Race Horse Project competition in Kentucky. Dale and JL were with .05 points of the winner, so it was a “photo finish”, so to speak. JL went to his new home and career in Kentucky where he will be a fox hunter and rejoin other Gate To Great grads. Dale and Dorothy have a wonderful program for re-training Thoroughbreds for other jobs after careers on the track.
At the Buck Brannaman Pro-Am Vaquero Ranch Roping in Santa Ynez, Calif., there were 105 three person teams competing in the elite competition. Winning the whole deal were Dwight Hill, Rexburg, Idaho, Brett Heggie, Bozeman, Mont., and young Sterling Grosskopf, Billings, Mont. Congrats guys!
On October 26 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit entered an order denying the plaintiff’s petition for a re-hearing of the judgment for the AQHA in the cloning lawsuit. The opinion held that the plaintiff’s evidence did not prove that the AQHA conspired against the plaintiffs, nor does the AQHA compete against the plaintiff in the horse market. The money and staff hours that were spent fighting this legal battle were worth it in that perhaps it is finally laid to rest for good. Whether one is for or against the cloning of horses isn’t the issue. Making clones and then expecting the AQHA to change their registration criteria to accomodate the few who have spent a fortune on clones, was just ridiculous. They knew the rules going in. Hopefully the AQHA can just move along now and get back to business.
Speaking of the AQHA, Crago Performance Horses, Belle Fourche, South Dakota, are now Ranching Heritage Breeders, making the Crago raised foals eligible for the Ranching Heritage Challenge competitions as four year olds. Congrats Chuck, Mary and Jade!
The Wright Turn Barrel Series, Wright, Wyming, has set it’s dates. They are Nov. 11, Dec.20, Jan.17, Feb. 27, March 6 and the finals March 20. Membership for the series is $25. There will be both 4D barrels and 3D poles. Exhibitions start at 8 a.m. and end at 12:15 with varying fees for the different time slots. Entries for the competition will close at noon, then the arena will be open 12:15-12:45 with the 4D at 1. The Youth will follow that, then the pole exhibitions and 3D poles. For more info call Lori Robinson 307-756-2342 or Kelly Caldwell at 307-670-1286. This will be held at the brand new Southern Campbell County Ag Complex.
There will be an open consignment horse sale at Philip Livestock, Philip, South Dakota, Wednesday, Nov. 11. It will run when they get done selling weigh up cows and bulls.
The BHSU Rodeo Team will be hosting a goat tying and breakaway jackpot on Nov. 14 at the Seven Down Arena, Spearfish, South Dakota. Entries open at 2 p.m. with goat tying at 3, followed by youth, then open breakaway, youth, for 13 and under, open, boys 14 and under, Sr. Men’s 50 and over, and open girls/women of any age. For more details call rodeo coach Glen Lammers at 605-381-9531.
There aren’t many details yet, but there is going to be a benefit team roping for Tim Crane on Nov. 29 at Upton, Wyo. I’ll get more information on that as soon as it is available.
If you have an event coming up or just an item of interest you’d like to have me share, send me an email and I’ll get it in this column. I can’t tell anyone else about it if I don’t know about it myself.
Well, that’s my circle for another week. Take care and have a wonderful week.