JUNIOR REINING

SMART SPOOK IS ON TOP OF THE WORLD WITH HIS THIRD MAJOR WIN OF THE YEAR.

BY TONYA RATLIFF-GARRISON, INTERNET MANAGER

Smart Spook is one for the record books.

Last December, the sorrel stallion took the 2004 National Reining Horse Association Futurity open championship title. He came back in May to win the NRHA Derby, and became the only horse in reining history to win both NRHA events back to back. Now he’s won yet another major title: world champion junior reiner.

And he’s accomplished every bit of it with Shawn Flarida on his back.

“This is just a really nice horse,” the Springfield, Ohio, trainer said. “He’s won everything but the National Reining Breeders Classic and, hopefully, one of these days we’ll get that done.”

“I’m on top of the world!” owner Rosanne Sternberg said. “It’s a great, great finish to the year we have had with Smart Spook. I’m very, very fortunate to have such a great horse and to have a great rider to ride him, too. They’re a great team.”

 

Shawn Flarida and Smart Spook have had a very good year, winning the NRHA Futurity, the NRHA Derby and now the world title in junior reining.

Flarida and “Spook” entered the junior reining finals Thursday, November 17, 13^th in a draw of 17 horses. It was not an easy field. There was Dell Hendricks with Starbucks Sidekick, the reserve champion at this year’s NRHA Derby. Todd Crawford was riding Lena Gallo, the reserve champion at the 2005 NRBC. And Tom McCutcheon with Major Jesse, the winner of the Open Maturity at the 2005 Fiesta in the Park.

“There were a lot of good guys out there tonight,” Flarida said. “So you don’t want to screw up too much.”

But with a horse like Spook, Flarida didn’t have to worry. The pair quietly entered the arena before moving into AQHA Reining Pattern No. 5. With the crowd cheering them on, they turned in a flawless performance, earning a score of 226.5, half a point higher than their score in the NRHA Derby.

“My goal on a horse like that is try to be as mistake free as I can, meaning no penalties,” Flarida said. “I knew once I got my lead departures, and I got him spun around and I didn’t make any mistakes, I knew he would take care of the rest.”

As Spook matures, Flarida said the stallion’s performances continue to amaze him.

“I think he is getting stronger with his age,” he said. “I just think it’s a little easier for him as he matures in his body. That might not necessarily translate into marking any more, but I think things sometimes get easier for him as he gets older. He just does his work so well.”

And it doesn’t matter whether his “work” is in the practice pen or in the show arena, Flarida said Spook is always at his best.

“I have as much fun riding and practicing on that horse at home as I do showing him,” he said. “Rosanne actually got to see me school him a couple of days ago at the farm, and I asked her what was that like. And she said he’s as fun to watch when you’re schooling him as when you're showing him. And that is so true.”

Spook is everything Sternberg hoped and dreamed for in a reining horse. The homegrown stallion is out of her Grays Starlight mare, Sugarplum Spook, and by $3 million NRHA sire Smart Chic Olena.

After he won the Futurity, she had breeding requests for him from around the world.

“We’ve got about 60 foals coming next year, and some will be born in Italy and Germany,” said Sternberg, who divides her time between her North Texas ranch and her home in East Sussex, England. “We’re very excited to see how they turn out. If they’re like him, we’ve hit a home run.”

What Sternberg and Flarida both like so much about Spook is that he is nothing like his name.

“He is so quiet,” Flarida said. “There are not very many horse that are that quiet and that physical. I mean, he can run full flat out there and stop, roll back, and he comes out of it ready for more.”

“Because he is so quiet, I wouldn’t have any worries showing him,” Sternberg said. “I think anybody, non-pro or professional, could ride that horse. He’s a great, great horse.”

Flarida will continue to show Spook next year and perhaps capture that elusive NRBC championship title. After that, Sternberg has some pretty high hopes for the 4-year-old stallion.

“Future Olympic horse, maybe,” she said with a sly smile. “But you know he’d have to be on the British team. So I wouldn’t be able to use Shawn. I was thinking I might have to do it myself.”