John French Gallops to Glory at Devon
Open week at the prestigious Devon Horse Show in Pennsylvania went exceedingly well for West Coast professional John French. He earned two tri-colors, one in the Green Conformation Hunters and the second in the Regular Working Hunter division. Riding for Archie Cox, French won six blues and five reds in three divisions. He flawlessly piloted Scout, Overseas and Andiamo to several victories in the Green Conformation, Second Year Green and Regular Working Hunter stake classes.
“At Devon the horses can really shine,” explained French. “The Regular Working courses were a solid four feet, some were even bigger. The lines were very forward and the oxers were wide; it was a good test of scope. You could really gallop and show off your horse - one course had a big oxer with seven strides to an airy vertical with no ground line. The horse had to be able to jump that vertical off a forward step in good form.”
His achievements didn’t end at Devon. French was also awarded the honor of 2006 Rider of the Year by the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame at their Annual Awards dinner. Voted to the win by his peers, French earned recognition last fall when he won the competitive World Champion Hunter Rider Professional Challenge at the Capital Challenge. He shared the success once again with Archie Cox, whose client Lucy Davis’ horse Harmony was awarded the Junior Hunter of the Year at the annual National Hunter Hall of Fame dinner.

Rundown for Life
On June 1-3 Rundown Rodeos presented “Rundown for Life,” a premier mounted shooting event to raise money for the American Cancer Society (California Riding Magazine, May 2007). Held at the Industry Hills Expo Center the event brought together top-notch mounted shooters from around the country.
Each participant dedicated their competition by riding for a friend or loved one that had been a victim of cancer. Riders competed in their respective divisions in a three-stage qualifier match on Fri., June 1 and Sat., June 2. The results of the qualifier match revealed the top 25 percent in each division who were then divided into four separate classifications: Men one-three, Ladies one-three, Men four-six and Ladies four-six. These shooters then returned on Sunday for a two-stage eliminator match.
Each of the first place winners was awarded a $10,000 cash purse. Steven Wilson won the Men’s Master and Kenda Lenseigne won the Ladies’ Masters. The Men’s Open was won by Jake Kaenstler and the Ladies’ Open by Tara Varrelman. Charlie Little was awarded the Survivors Cowboy Trophy Saddle and Patti Blomquist the Survivors Cowgirl Trophy Saddle.
The top 10 from each from class returned Sunday evening for a “Top Gun Showdown.” After the Showdown a High Point Overall Champion was named: Chad Little. As the Overall Champion of this Masters Tournament, he drove away in a 2007 Ford F150 pickup truck.

California Show Jumper Richard Spooner Finds Success In Europe
While Richard Spooner may be the new kid on the United State’s Samsung Super League team, he is no stranger to show ring success.
Spooner and his two mounts, Ace and Cristallo, have been putting in solid, strong performances during the first half of the tour. At the first competition of the 2007 Samsung Super League in La Baule, France, Spooner and Cristallo were best of the U.S. combinations. They followed a single error in the first-round with a nice second-round clear; they were the only clear-round for the U.S. team in La Baule.
At the CSIO in St. Gallen, Switzerland Spooner and Ace jumped their way to top honors in the LGT Preis. The pair had the fastest time in the jump off by four seconds. Spooner also picked up the leading rider title at St. Gallen by adding two second place finishes and a fourth to his accolades. Their performance helped boost the US Team to third in the Samsung Super League Nation’s Cup.
The Samsung Super League with FEI consists of eight horse shows, each of these events has a five-star status, at which the world’s eight best national teams compare their merit. There are four weeks left in the tour; the next stop is in Aachen, Germany July 3-8, followed by Hickstead, England, July 26-29, then Dublin, Ireland, Aug. 8-12 and lastly, a double-point event in Barcelona, Spain on Sept. 13-16.

National Reining Horse Association Derby
Reiners and 4, 5 and 6 year old horses came from across the country, and even a few from overseas, to compete for more than $500,000 in purse money at the 2007 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. The Derby ran May 14-19 at the Oklahoma State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, OK.
The competition at the Derby started with the Limited Non Pro ancillary class. Stephanie Holcomb of Riverside County’s Temecula won first place with a score of 215.5 on her Peppys Lil Dun It (Hollywood Dun It x Peppys Lenita). The win moves the pair up to sixth in the NRHA national standings.
In 2001 Andrea Fappani of San Marcos became the youngest rider to ever win the NRHA Open Futurity Championship. Already a NRHA Million Dollar Rider, this year he added another title to his long list of achievements by winning the $2,000 Novice Horse Open on A Dream Date (Magnum Chic Dream x Miss Colonel Jaybird) owned by Regina De La Madrid of Coronado with a score of 219. He also took home the title of Reserve Champion and over $40,000 in purse money for her performance in the Open Derby Finals on A Big Chex To Cash owned by 23 Performance.
Not to be out done, Andrea’s wife Tish Fappani led during the first round of competition in the $15,000 Intermediate Non Pro on her own mare, Lady Smoke Peppy (Mister Dual Pep x Smoky Tibar). The pair finished third in the class with a score of 217.
Other California riders that put in a good showing at the Derby included past president of the California Reining Horse Association, Roberta McCarty of Santa Barbara. Bette Simpson’s gelding, Shiners Odyssey, ridden by Garrett Thurner also placed fifth in the highly competitive Limited Open Finals class.
Dates for next year’s event have not been announced, but plans are in the works to move the 2006 NRHA Derby from May to June.

The Winners Circle welcomes submissions and photos. E-mail them to rebecca@ridingmagazine.com.