Horsesdaily News: Jordan Larson Wins SWRHA $7,500-Added Open

Jordan Larson Wins SWRHA $7,500-Added Open

The Southwest Reining Horse Association Futurity Show has a tradition of having great Open reining competition and the 2005 edition of the event was one more chapter in a reining history. After one very memorable 226-point run, Jordan Larson, Whitesboro, Texas, topped the $7,500-added Lil Ruf Peppy Open October 28 in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Jordan’s win came with Victoria Lambert’s great 4-year-old mare, Memorable Affair.

The Open competition highlighted some of the best horses in the reining industry and the list of entries read like a reining “Who’s Who”. Justin Mathison on Starlights Slim owned by Larry and Leslie Woods of Guthrie, Oklahoma and Craig Schmersal on Commanders Nic, a horse he owns with his wife, Ginger, each marked a 225.5 to share the lead before Jordan took the stage in the 13-entry class. With fast, precise circles and huge, powerful stops, Memorable Affair picked up the championship and a check for $3,038.

“She’s perfect; she has more try than all of the other horses in the barn,” Jordan said of the mare by Major Vaquero and out of Coronas Affair. “She takes her job really seriously. I’ve ridden lots of horses and not all of them go in there and have the desire that she has.”

Todd Arvidson of Purcell, Oklahoma, ran among the best in the Open division. Although he and Gatling Gun, a 6-year-old Paint stallion by Gunner and out of Maggie Dexter, finished seventh in the Open, the pair topped the Intermediate Open with a 219.5.

“Showing in an Open like that, with that many really, really good horses, it was fun,” Todd said following his run on the big-stopping and loudly colored paint. “It was a good run. I had him just a little bit too flat; I had him a little bit too tired but he showed well, really pure.”

Todd and the stallion, which he shares his wife and non pro rider, Heidi, earned $592 for their win.

Nineteen-year-old Abigail Boyd of Overbrook, Oklahoma, found out at noon that she would be competing in the Limited Open class. Trainer Craig Schmersal put Abigail’s name in as a late entry with Slip Me Another Kiss and although the pair had little time to prepare for the class that ran just three hours later, Abigail and the horse marked a 218.5 to take the championship. Slip Me Another Kiss, by Slippin Solano and out of Two Eyed Hershey, earned $343 for owner Holly Casey of Mansfield, Georgia.

“He’s a great horse; he’s so easy to show,” Abigail said of the 9-year-old stallion. “He’s been around the block quite a few times and he’s broke. I’ve had a lot of experience showing older horses and we just clicked right off the bat.”

Matt Armenta, Whitesboro, Texas, double entered the Non Pro and Intermediate Non Pro classes held earlier in the day on Missin The Reys and walked away with both titles after a 145-point run. Matt and his parents’ 5-year-old mare by Dual Rey and out of Miss Hickory Zan earned a total of $1,695 for the two championships.

“I rode her the other day in the Novice Horse and just cruised her through. She felt good so I entered her in the Non Pro and went out there and showed her,” Matt said following his run. “I loped off and she felt good so I ran her hard and she stayed hooked the whole time.”

The SWRHA Futurity continues Saturday at 8 am with the Limited Non Pro horse show class, followed by the $10,000-added Non Pro Futurity Finals and $25,000-added Open Finals. The event runs through October 30 at the historic Hardy Murphy Coliseum in Ardmore, Oklahoma. For more information about the SWRHA Futurity or for complete results, call 580-759-2572 or visit www.swrha.com