The evening
before Halloween is often referred to as “Mischief Night,”
and while there may have been tricks throughout the nation,
there were only treats Oct. 30 at the Will Rogers Memorial
Center in Fort Worth, Texas! The Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC)
hosted an evening of charity and fun during the 2009 World
Championship Appaloosa Show, held Oct. 23–31, 2009.
The ApHC joined forces with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
to host a Toys for Tots fundraiser in hopes of making the
holiday season a little brighter for local Fort Worth families.
More than $1,600 was raised and quite a few toys were collected!
The ApHC would like to thank the Marines who generously donated
their time to collect donations as well as Marine Aircraft
Group (MAG-)41 who provided the color guard opening ceremony.
After the National Anthem, the festivities were started with
a Calcutta fundraiser. Eight ladies who specialize in Western
Pleasure or Hunter Under Saddle volunteered to compete in
the chaos that is the Appaloosa Rope Race, the equine version
of musical chairs. The ladies and their Appaloosas were auctioned
off to compete on behalf of their highest bidder, with half
of the pot going to the Appaloosa Youth Association and the
Appaloosa Youth Foundation Scholarship Fund, with the remainder
awarded to the bidder of the winning rider. Shawn Reynolds
of Columbus, N.J., was the lucky bidder who won $1,175 of
the $2,350 pot. However, Reynolds graciously donated his portion
to the AYA Scholarship Foundation!
The evening concluded with Freestyle Reining, which is a technical
reining pattern coordinated with music and, in many cases,
costumes. The Appaloosa breed is often noted for having the
most creative and entertaining Freestyle Reining performances
in the industry, and these performances were no exception.
The evening began with the Wicked Witch of the West, aboard
her flying monkey, performing to the music of Rick James’
“Superfreak.” Throughout the competition, spectators enjoyed
appearances from the Blues Brothers, Bumblebee from “Transformers,”
the Grim Reaper, musical sensation Lady Gaga, Santa Claus,
Uncle Sam and many more. Each contestant performed exciting
reining maneuvers with a creative act to match.
The night ended with first place being a tie—Ima Frosty Lena,
owned by Stuart Millstone of Orange Park, Fla., and exhibitor
Theresa Pennington earned high marks with their Transformer-themed
performance, tying with another exceptional performer, Who
Whuz It, owned and exhibited by Leslie Temple of Granbury,
Texas, who stormed the arena with a wild performance from
the Grim Reaper. The two exhibitors chose to share first place
and split first and second place monies totaling $3,500. The
total purse for the class was more than $5,000, and generously
sponsored by Ron Landeck.
For more information about the 2009 World Championship Appaloosa
Show or other upcoming events, please visit www.appaloosa.com.
