STORY AND PHOTO BY TONYA RATLIFF-GARRISON, JOURNAL FIELD EDITOR
At more than $3 million, Shawn Flarida is the top earner in the National Reining Horse Association. However, if you ask him who the best reining rider is, he doesn’t hesitate to answer: Bill Horn.
“The man is a legend,” the Springfield, Ohio, trainer said. “There’s no one out there better than BH.”
Bill, however, feels much the same way about Shawn. Though the 71-year-old is still showing, it was to Shawn Bill sent a promising stallion out of his mare Natrasha who is by Bill’s legendary stallion Trashadeous.
“He told me that this horse reminded him a lot of ‘Trash,’” Shawn said of Gunnatrashya, who later sold to Arcese Quarter Horses. “I was too young and I never got a chance to ride Trash, but I got to watch him a lot and I was in awe of him.”
Although Gunnatrashya is by Colonels Smoking Gun, aka “Gunner,” he didn’t inherit his father’s big bald face or blue eyes. Instead he is almost a mirror image of Trash. And that’s not all he has in common with his granddaddy.
“This horse is such an athlete and Bill says he is so much like Trash in the way he moves and performs,” Shawn said.
So much so that during the prelims for the 2009 All American Quarter Horse Congress Reining Futurity, the stallion rolled back so hard he left Shawn, causing Bill to give the younger trainer a seatbelt.
“It’s an inside joke,” Shawn said with a laugh. “Bill said Trash used to do that all the time. Said when he trained Trash at home, he wore a seatbelt.”
Shawn said he just might have to wear the seatbelt because of Gunnatrashya’s astonishing abilities.
“He’s is not a very big horse but he’s got a lot of try and he’s such an athlete. He can do stuff that is so amazing. When those horses are good like that you just hope they do good.”
And that’s just what happened. On October 8, Gunnatrashya and Shawn came into the Congress Reining Futurity finals and won it with a 225.5. It was Shawn’s eighth Congress Futurity championship. He was also reserve on Whizkey N Diamonds with a 222.
“He’s just a phenomenal horse,” Shawn said of Gunnatrashya. “He ran his circles to the left at a good fast speed. When he slowed down, though, I would have liked to have seen him slow down just a little bit more. His turns to the left though were probably harder than any horse I’ve ever rode. He’s really, really good there. He’s a superstar at turning. His circles to the right were good. His stops are incredible. He goes into the ground and it’s like he has another move and he just gets so deep.”
Also riding in the finals was Bill on Nu Chex To Trash, who is also out of Natrasha. It was the first big show for Bill since he’d had surgery last year and nearly died. Marking a 216, the NRHA Hall of Famer got a standing ovation from the crowd as he rode out of the arena.
“It was so cool seeing him out there,” Shawn said of Bill. “I look up to him so much. I just hope I can be half the rider he is someday.”
