Gladstone, NJ—September 30, 2002—Shawn Flarida of Springfield, OH, was named United States Equestrian Team (USET) Athlete of the Month for September after winning two Gold Medals at the first-ever Reining World Championship held at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, September 11-22.

Flarida and his mount, San Jo Freckles, owned by Michael Harper, led the U.S to the team Gold Medal and also took individual first place honors with a score of 221.5 points. Flarida stood in second place individually after the qualifying round but proved his skill in the final round and emerged as the individual World Champion edging out teammate Tom McCutcheon of Pilot Point, TX, riding Conquistador Whiz, owned by George Shifrin. Flarida’s win makes him the first-ever reining World Champion.

Flarida was thrilled with his own performance as well as his horse’s performance in Spain. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet,” said Flarida. “I was really pleased with my horse. It was a lot of fun out there. I have been riding since I was a little boy, so something like this is really special.”

Related Link
Horsesdaily On the Scene at the 2002 World Equestrian Games