Amateurs Hilary Armstrong Reinhard and Kathryn deVries, both multiple World and Congress Top 10 riders, will be reporting for us daily from the Oregon Summer Classic which runs June 22-28. Reinhard and deVries, who are close friends, will be showing in a variety of classes at the circuit including halter, trail, western riding and the two year-old futurity. The show is being held for six days with eight judges at the Jackson County Expo Center in Central Point, Oregon. Stay tuned for reports from them throughout the show!
Reinhard and deVries Report #7
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Saturday at the Summer Circuit had the highest temperatures (104!) and some of the hottest competition. A lot of circuit award winners were name as well as many new futurity champions. The yearling halter futurities finished out the last halter day of the circuit.
Temps were still high (100) when the riding futurities started at 730 pm. The two largest futurities of the week went tonight, the two year old and three year old open futurities. Both champions became double champions tonight – both previously winning their non pros counterparts earlier in the week.
The two year old was won by Ona Good Kiss owned by Susie Johns and ridden by Chris Holbin. Second was ridden and owned by Leah Mickelsen, and third was Kellie Hinely riding KM Suddenly Smooth, owned by Kathryn deVries.
Ten open three year olds showed – and Lemonmade (shown right) ridden by Kristy McCann and owned by Cory Seebach and Dr Candice Hall were the champions for the second time this week! The striking palomino gelding is by Candice’s stallion Machine Made. Overall second place was Shirley the Best with Mark Jensen riding, owned by Judy Schwenk. Third was Yea No Doubt ridden by Kerri De Kubber and owned by Emily Axelson.
The 3/4 year old hunter under saddle futurity was won my Shannon Brown and Embrace the Dream. The western pleasure maturity also went tonight and was won by One Good Sister, owned by Tom Lukenbill.
Reinhard and deVries Report #6
Friday, June 26, 2015
Friday a
t the Summer Classic meant a day off of showing for trainers and exhibitors. People took advantage of the free day and spent it enjoying the diverse activities that Southern Oregon has to offer. While some spent the day white water rafting, playing golf, fishing, wine tasting or enjoying the jet boat trip that the show office had organized, others rode during the cool morning hours and spent the scorching afternoon hours at the movies or hibernating in their hotel rooms. Hopefully the day off will make tomorrow’s 105 degree forecast more bearable!!
Reinhard and deVries Report #5
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Temperatures soared above 100 degrees on Thursday, the fourth full day of showing. But, exhibitors endured the heat and class numbers stayed strong. Hilary won the amateur trail under two judges and finished qualifying Zippos Ultra Gold for the World in amateur trail. Getting that last qualifying point is always a relief!
When the sun went down, the fun started. The Champion of Champions class featured all of the week’s youth horsemanship and hunt seat equitation class winners competing for the title. The judges put the exhibitors through a variety of maneuvers testing their skills. In the end, the 
Champion was Charlotte Green.
The trainer’s showmanship class allowed trainers to show their humorous side. Costumes included a pregnant nun showing a pope, Wonder Woman showing Super Horse, Kanye and Kim Kardashian, and Elvis. The best costume award went to Rose Santos and Cody Cowdell (Kanye and Kim Kardashian). Best performance was David Busick (Elvis) pictured here. Best over all was Chelsea Carlson who showed dressed as Julian Harris.
Reinhard and deVries Report #4
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The Summer Classic is in full swing! Wednesday was another round of halter, showmanship, hunt seat, reining and Green and Senior Trail.
Senior Trail was again the biggest class with 52 entries and the win was split between The Vital Invitation, owned by Kathryn deVries, shown by Kellie Hinely, Triplicate Pleasure owned by Chelsea Sterling again shown by Kellie Hinely, and RA Undisputed owned by Katherine Tobin and shown by Deanna Searles.
The real excitement started in the evening with the first set of futurities for the week. First up was the two year old non pro with some talented young horses – and in the end, Susie Johns with her beautiful roan mare, Ona Good Kiss were the champions. ‘Kisses’ is by VS Code Blue and out of the great mare Ona Good Impulse. Susie bought her as yearling from Jan Pittman and Susie says she is the easiest futurity horse she’s ever shown. She loves everything about her and is she was a joy to show. (Left – Photo © The American Quarter Horse Journal)
This was followed with the open longe line classes, with six talented entries – and Finally Blue My Mind, owned by Madeline Farrington from Louisiana,and shown by Cindy McGraw came away with the win.
The Three Year Old Non Pro Futurity had nine entries – and Lemonmade and Candice Hall (pictured right) came 
away with the win while the Three and Four Year Old Hunter Under Saddle was won by Nancy Renfro showing Embrace the Dream for Shannon Brown.
It was a great night of futurities with a great group of talented young horses.
Reinhard and deVries Report #3
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Free donuts, free coffee, free wifi and and amazing office view. When you’re an amateur with a career that regularly attends horse shows, your show days are frequently a mix of horses and business. It can be hard to keep up with both sometimes, but we are lucky to be living in a time when we can be productive while getting to enjoy our hobby. I wonder if I can get the show to postpone my showmanship go if my conference call goes long…
At the show it is also exciting to see that the youth riders have showed up to the Summer Classic. After a few years of declining youth numbers, classes yesterday in the youth and novice youth were strong. The youth horsemanship had 27 entries. First and second place was split between Hotroddin Ona Harley with Hannah Forbes and Central Park West with Charlotte Green. In addition to the strong youth classes,the Novice Youth 13&U has been the one of the largest classes with mostly three and four point classes. The future of AQHA is here.
Reinhard and deVries Report #2
Monday, June 22, 2015
First Day/Day of Firsts
The Oregon Summer Classic Circuit is underway. Management is happy to report that entries and stalls are up. The novice classes continue to follow the trend of being some of the largest classes and youth classes are making a healthy comeback here in Central Point. Halter and hunt seat ran in the main arena today, with showmanship followed by green and senior trail running in the trail pen. Reining ran all day out in the Isola arena. The largest class is the Senior Trail which ran late into Monday night with over 50 entries.
The weather has been great and there are many new exhibitors making their debut at this year’s Classic. This included the winner of the first class of the day, novice geldings 3 and Over – Cody Mitchell. The husband of seasoned amateur Kathryn deVries, Cody made his first venture into the show pen with trainer Rose Santos’ mothers horse, Happy Hour. “It was a blast showing such a fun horse for my first time, this show is so fun and well run–it made it easy for me to relax out there,” says Cody.
Tuesday starts with driving, western riding, trail, and cutting. Good luck to all exhibitors there as both competition and the weather heat up this week!
Reinhard and deVries Report #1
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Today was the prep day for the Oregon Quarter Horse Association Summer Classic. The facility features one indoor arena and three covered arenas. Trail practice was set up in one arena while the other arenas were available for rail and pattern practice. The show featured a free dinner with cake and wine this evening. We had a great time visiting with friends and riding our horses. OQHA does a great job of making everyone feel welcome.
