10/ APRIL 2023 THE RIDER Pro and Non-Pro Reiner Article Series


Saddles – getting the right fit, and choosing the right show blanket


Gilead Friedman, our


friend and the brilliant brain behind Mental Athletics (a worldwide mindset training program to enable equestri- ans to reach peak ability in the show pen) says, “You the rider are the competitor, the horse is the athlete.” Our top priority when


riding in general and in the show pen is the comfort of our partner, the athlete - the horse; do they have a saddle that fits well and is fit for purpose? And once we have that, do we look our best in the show pen? To answer these two


questions we spoke with two of our sponsors: Brit-


tany Blakely of Britt’s Cor- ner Tack and Linda Fred- eriksen of the CW Saddle Blanket Company.


Western Saddle fit:


Brittany: If we expect our horses to be a balanced ath- lete, fitting our tack is im- perative. Signs of bad fitting tack include: bucking, rear- ing, refusal to move for- ward, spooking (without good reason), bolting and biting/ kicking/ ear pinning while being tacked up. A well-fitted saddle al-


lows the horse to comfort- ably stretch and move fluidly in all gaits and the


ing quality show pads since 1996, with my main cus- tomer base being the Quar- ter Horse


industries. The market was flooded with below standard products, I was, and still am, very busy delivering quality show pads to my clients.


It’s all about the crafts- manship and the quality To keep up with de-


saddle doesn’t need to be shifted constantly or read- justed/ pulled forward or back during riding.


How often should you have your saddle fitted? If you’re competitive


and showing, yearly is opti- mal. With a horse building muscle and changing it is important to keep an eye on what is happening to allow the horse to perform at their best. Even if saddle fit could improve what you’re doing by 10%, then what does 10% look like when it comes to your show pen performance?


What size seat should I buy?


Buying a saddle is like


buying pants- there really is no ‘hard and fast rule’. It de- pends on how you ride: a saddle that fits the rider al- lows the rider to collapse at the hip but sit in a natural position, and where your legs would naturally hand to pick up the stirrups.


There’s a LOT more to this than we can cover here!


Now you have the right saddle, what about the show pad? You have the right sad-


dle and pad for your horse (Britt can talk about those too) but what about your saddle blanket


- a high


quality blanket with beauti- ful colours to accent your horse and complement you too?


Linda: As a self-taught weaver, I have been weav-


mand, in 2020, I made the decision to hand over one of the reins and contracted out some of


the weaving


process. I worked with the contractor for over a year, to ensure the show pad being produced was of the same quality as if I wove the show pad myself. I am still in- volved in every show pad and the final product. I con- tinue to do all the design work, colour placement and provide the contractor the technical portion of the show pads weave structure. To me there’s nothing


better than a horse looking its best with a beautiful show pad - I can create a show pad to match your shirt.


Britt and Linda will be


at our shows (June 2-4 and August 18-20) or you can find them on Facebook to find out more! —————


Pro and Non-Pro arti-


cles written by Jen Jonas of Jonas Performance Horses (Pro) and Sharon Jones of Be A Better You (Non-Pro). Together, they are J&J Rein- ing Inc. Both Jen and Sharon


are believers in continual learning – if you’re not learning you’re not grow- ing.


PBR Canada’s Elite Cup Series


Returns To London, Ontario For First Time In Four Years On May 31


By: Kacie Albert LONDON, Ont. – For the first time in four years, and third time in tour history, PBR (Professional Bull Rid- ers) Canada’s elite Cup Se- ries, presented by Wrangler, will buck into London, On- tario, holding the PBR Lon- don Classic at Budweiser Gardens on May 31. PBR Canada’s Cup


Series regularly features Canada’s best riders along- side some of the league’s top international athletes, squaring off against the rankest bucking bulls from across the nation. For one night only,


fans will witness exhilarat- ing 8-second rides and wrecks throughout the ac- tion-packed event as the PBR’s courageous bull-rid- ing athletes face off against their 2,000-pound oppo- nents bred to buck. The London event will


Shari Irwin Kelly Lehman Secretary: Kit Bartle


2023 Judges Committee (905) 440-5941


(519) 807-2660 (519) 732-0263


mark the fourth event of the 10-event 2023 season for the PBR Canada Cup Series, presented by Wrangler. Prior to travelling to the On- tario city, the Cup Series will visit three cities across the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba. When the elite Cana-


dian Cup Series last trav- elled to London in May 2019, Daylon Swearingen (Piffard, New York) cap- tured his third event win of the season, victorious at PBR London Classic. The then 19-year-old’s


win was highlighted by the top-scored ride in Round 1, bringing the raucous crowd to its feet when he made the 8 aboard Black Sails (Triple R Bull Co.) for 84.5 points. Garnering 450 Canadian points, Swearingen rose to No. 2 in the Canadian na- tional standings. The win in London


email: shari_irwin@hotmail.com email: maddavery@gmail.com email: drumbolady@hotmail.ca


Website: www.whao.org Celebrating 70 Years! 2023 Sr. Judges


Cally Jo Fritz 21 Taylor Blvd., Elliot Lake, ON P5A 3H5 H: (226) 289-8563, C: (519) 280-8169 Email: callygene@gmail.com


Shari Irwin 166 Gleasons Corner Road, Castleton, ON K0K 1M0 Cell (905) 440-5941 shari_irwin@hotmail.com


Jamie Kuhl 899 10th St. W., Owen Sound, ON N4K 3S3 H: (226) 909-1447. C: (647) 290-6093 jamie@archlines .ca


Kelly Lehman 895893 Oxford Rd. 3, Drumbo, ON N0J 1G0 C: (519) 807-2660. E: maddavery@gmail.com


Anne Marinacci 65 Swayze Court, Smithville, ON L0R 2A0 905-957-5619 Email: annemarinacci@hotmail.com


Erin O’Drowski 253 James St. N., PO Box 2767, St. Mary’s ON N4X 1A5 C: (226) 377-0244 Email: eodrowsk@gmail.com


Kris Simpson 711 Middletown Rd., RR #1, Waterdown, ON L8B 1P7 Cell: (519) 831-7299, email: richlandshowhorses@gmail.com


Don Stauffer 9626 Wellington Rd. 14, P.O. Box 16, Conn, ON N0G 1N0 H; (226) 258-9206, Cell (519) 604-8864 thestauffers48@gmail.com


Robyn Storey 6-120 Dudhope Ave., Cambridge, ON N1R 4T7 (519) 620-9015, Cell: (519) 841-3934, gatorrocks@hotmail.com


Mike Tucker 1581 Maple St. N., R.R. #4, Fenwick, ON L0S 1C0 (905) 892-5610, Cell (905) 984-1581 Email: m.tucker@hotmail.ca


Jr. Judges


Dave Black 94 Concession 4 Road, Fisherville, ON N0A 1G0 C: (905) 921-0359 Email: diamondbquarterhorses@gmail.com


(Maple


was a crucial steppingstone for Swearingen en route to being crowned the 2019 PBR Canada Champion. While Jared Parsonage Creek,


Saskatchewan) and Dakota Buttar


(Kindersley,


Saskatchewan) entered the season-culminating PBR Canada National Finals ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, within a slim 32.49 points of one another, Swearingen completed one of the most riveting come- from-behind surges in his- tory with a dominant performance. He went a perfect 4-


for-4, winning the Canadian Finals and erasing a 689.57- point gap to emerge the 2019 PBR Canada Cham- pion by 450.42 points over runner-up Buttar.


Since winning the


2019 PBR Canada Champi- onship, Swearingen has gone on to excel on the world stage, joining an elite contingent of riders in 2022 when he was crowned the PBR World Champion. PBR Canada’s return


to London comes on the spurs of one of the most in- tense national title races in the nation’s history. Follow- ing a riveting regular sea- son, nine riders traveled to the 2022 PBR Canada Na- tional Finals in contention to win the honor and accompa- nying $50,000 bonus. Mounting a come-


from-behind surge, Nick Tetz (Calgary, Alberta) emerged the 2022 PBR Canada Champion, surpass- ing regular-season No. 1 Buttar and holding off a hard-charging Brock Rad- ford (De Winton, Alberta) in the final outs of the season. When the dust settled,


Tetz finished 26.5 points ahead of runner-up Radford. The bull riding action


for PBR Canada Cup Se- ries’ London Classic, begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on Wednes- day, May 31, 2023. Tickets for the event


go on sale Friday, February 24 at 10:00 a.m. EST, and start at $25, taxes and fees not included, and can be purchased at the Budweiser Gardens Gate #1 Box Office and online at Budweiser- Gardens.com. Stay tuned to PBR-


Canada.com and follow the tour on Facebook (PBR Canada), Twitter (@PBR- Canada), and Instagram (@PBRCanada) for the lat- est event and broadcast schedule, results, news, stats and more.


and Paint


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