Page 188 - February 2016 Speedhorse

PAINT NewS BRIeFS
Bringing you the latest news relating to Paint running horses
Courtesy of APHA and MyFlashyRide.com
Save the Dates
The annual APHA racing banquet takes place March 11 at Remington Park racetrack in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Tickets are $30—dinner is included—and tickets must be purchased through APHA. For details and to reserve your spot, contact APHA Director of Racing Karen Utecht at kutecht@apha.com or 817-222-6444.
Paint Barrel Racing Incentive Program year-end awards will be presented March 26
in Fairfield, Texas. The event features an all- breed invitational barrel race and special PBRIP sidepot—you won’t want to miss it. To learn more, contact Jason Smith at 918-232-2856.
New Sponsor, New Saddles
The American Paint Horse Association recently partnered with Elite Custom Saddles to provide exhibitors who excel in performance classes such as speed events, cattle and ranch horse classes with new award saddles.
Beginning with the 2015 competition year, the Paint Barrel Racing Incentive Program year-end divisional winners will each receive
a custom Elite trophy saddle. That comes
in addition to a number of other saddles awarded at the AjPHA and APHA World Championship Shows and to certain APHA year-end high-point ranch horses. More awards will be unveiled in the future, including additional PBRIP special awards.
Elite Custom Saddles is based out of Tioga, Texas, and is managed by APHA member and horse trainer Jon Carpenter.
“My family and I grew up in the horse industry, and my dad also had a saddle shop,” Jon said. “Saddles and horses are our passion. Every saddle we make at Elite is carefully designed to ensure our customers get the best
possible product. Our saddle makers—partner and Senior Saddle Maker Raymundo Blanco and his son, Ray Jr.—have more than 55 combined years of experience building Western saddles. We enjoy being able to personalize each saddle to our customers’ unique needs.”
APHA Executive Director Billy Smith is especially excited about the partnership, as it provides additional awards to the ever-growing speed, pattern and ranch horse classes.
“Participation in PBRIP and ranch horse classes are at an all-time high. We saw a significant increase in entries for these classes
at our 2015 World Show over the previous year, which demonstrates our members’ enthusiasm for these events,” Billy said. “This new partnership with Elite will allow us to better recognize and reward exhibitors in these growing disciplines and hopefully generate even more growth in the future.”
APHA Tattooer Mike Cusimano Dies
Mike Cusimano, an APHA tattooer, died Jan. 13 in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. He was 65.
A longtime racehorse official and identifier, Mike is survived by his wife, Bonnie; son, Joel; sister, Karen Thomas; brothers, Joey and Jimmy; and two grandchildren.
A memorial gathering took place Jan. 29 in Sallisaw. Mike will be missed by the Paint racing community.
APHA Tattoo Fee Increase Reminder
Effective Jan. 1, the APHA tattoo fee increases to $100. All Paint Horses must be parentage verified before they are tattooed. Checks are to be made payable to the American Paint Horse Association. For more information, contact Director of Racing Karen Utecht at kutecht@apha.com or 817-222-6444.
PBRIP Barrel Racing Program Modifications
Enrollment in the Paint Barrel Racing Incentive Program—commonly known as PBRIP—is changing from the rider to the horse. Both exhibitor and owner must be current APHA members to participate in the PBRIP sidepots, special cash bonuses available only to PBRIP participants at barrel races around the country.
For existing PBRIP participants, the new rules take effect after your current PBRIP enrollment expires—after that, the horse will be included in the renewal process.
For more information, contact PBRIP Director Karen Utecht at 817-222-6444 or email kutecht@apha.com. Learn more about PBRIP at pbrip.com.
For more fast news about flashy speed-bred Paints, check out MyFlashyRide.com/news.
Contact APHA
For Paint racing-related
questions, contact:
Karen Utecht • APHA Director of Racing racing@apha.com • 817-222-6444 apha.com/racing
Speedhorse Photo Archive Answer
The photo on page 185 shows World Champion, Champion Stallion Clabber (My Texas Dandy-Blondie S, Lone Star) after winning the Tucson Derby on Aug. 23, 1941. Originally named Clab Foot because of his flared feet, his fans would shout “Clabber” while they rooted for him at races and the name stuck. Clabber’s owner A.A. “Ab” Nichols purchased him as a 2 year old in 1938 and used Clabber daily as a ranch horse, roping off of him and heading and cutting cattle. Nichols would then haul the colt 100 or more miles to run match races three or four times each weekend. Clabber was heavy boned, heavily muscled and hard knocking. He was never given any formal race training and never received bandaging or any other treatment that racehorses receive. Clabber was known to run best at longer distances, starting out at 440 yards. Clabber was the first AQHA Champion, receiving the 1940-1941 World Champion and Champion Stallion awards. Clabber was sold to Frank Vessels, Sr. in 1944 and later died of a head injury in 1947 at the age of 11. Clabber was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1997. He is the sire of such runners as Champion Clabbertown G, Tonto Gal, Wagon N, Clabber Girl, etc., and the broodmare sire of Champions Clabber’s Win, Clab Win, Missle Bar, Tonto Bars Gill and Triple Lady.
186 SPEEDHORSE, February 2016
news briefs