NOVEMBER 2022 THE RIDER/ 9 INSIDE


Richmond: Cowboy Capital ..........9 WHAO ..........................................9 Pro and Non-Pro Reining Series .........................10


Richmond, Cowboy Capital of Ontario


By Craig Black Richmond is a hamlet about 10 min-


utes southeast of Aylmer. In 1996, Jon Walker built a great cattle pen and spear- headed by Tom Kent and Jon himself, they had weekly team penning practices and monthly team penning shows. Back at that time, these were big and popular events. Eric Van Boekel, Barry and Jennifer Mousseau, Tim and Nancy Banick, Ralph Miller, George Holm and Jon Walker him- self were regular contestants. Towards the end of the nineties, I


wanted to do something different with my reining horses so Sharon, Sherry and I started going to the Tuesday night practices which were only a short drive from St. Thomas. About this time, the team penning was petering out and we pre- sented a different aspect to working these cattle. It was a much more controlled method of working a cow. Now, Jon and a few others could see the difference. Jon is the kind of person that is always anxious to learn and improve his skills on a horse. About 20 years ago, a group of us picked up on Ian


Thomas’ suggestion of forming a Reined Cow Horse As- sociation and we did. In the beginning, a handful of people would practice at Ian’s arena in Cambridge and then with Jon Walker’s generosity and co-operation, we started our Tuesday night practices at Walker Ranch in Richmond. I’d like to say we were lucky but someone told me that you create your own luck. We did just that. We created a group of very dedicated and determined-to-learn-and-improve riders. Werner Bohner, Steve Wilson, Ian Thomas, Tim Banick, Ralph Miller, Sharon and Sherry and myself, got the ball rolling and it has never stopped. Over the years, we have seen people come and go,


wanting to try this discipline. It didn’t take long for people to figure out that in order to do this event, you had to have a really broke horse. The dedicated ones would send their horse to get trained and take lessons and some even went and bought better broke horses. It didn’t happen overnight, but the core group stayed determined and practiced, con-


such a great facility to work out of thanks again to Jon. We have kept our membership fees and entry fees minimal and paybacks better than most places. Along with that, we have maintained that opportunity to learn and improve and have done all that for 20 years all the while retaining the “fun included” aspect in the whole picture. To me, there is nothing more rewarding than to hear someone say how much better their horse is going and how much fun this is or how much I enjoy coming out here to Richmond. This is what we have created. Four or five years ago, we introduced the Herd


Work or Ranch Cutting class to our program with over- whelming success as it is now one of our biggest classes. It is divided into Open and Green as Grass divisions with the intention to allow beginners a chance to try it, and more advanced riders to learn and improve. Several riders have attended cutting clinics, taken lessons and we have also welcomed more help. In the past year, some have bought very nice cutting horses so they can learn and im- prove even more. You can’t believe how much fun they are having and the big steps being taken in their learning. We have created a new monster! As I said in the beginning, it was team penning. Eric


Van Boekel started here and since has moved on to the cut- ting pen where he has won over $500 000 as a Non Pro. Cody Mousseau started here in the team penning, went on


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tinually learning and improving. Today, our Tuesday night practices will have any-


where from 15 to 25 riders each night. We split into the show pen and the small pen for green horses or riders. There are new people coming out constantly all with the idea to learn how to work cattle and improve their riding skills. As a rule, on Tuesday night, there are only two “pro- fessional trainers”, Jess Cofell and myself, but that original group of Werner, Steve, Tim, Sherry, Ralph, and Jon, have advanced and improved to the point where now they can help newcomers progress. A few years ago after judging one of our shows, sen-


ior judge, Joe Carter said, “this group has improved to the level where several of you could go and show anywhere and be competitive.” Speaking of judging, in the past few years, several young judges have acquired their AQHA judges cards so we have been employing them. What bet- ter place for them to get some experience judging the cow horse event. Many of our directors have been there since day one


and I think the one thing we have all worked on together is for the membership’s best interest. Fortunately, we have


to rodeo and he was the IPRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler and Roper (yeah, that’s Barry and Jennifer’s little boy). Logan Donaldson came to our cow horse practices and shows and went on to be the AQHA Youth World Champion Breakaway Roper. For several years, the OQHA held AQHA Working


Cow Horse events at their shows in Ilderton. Sherry Black and Jacs Spinafox earned more AQHA Working Cow Horse points than any other horse in the over 50 year his- tory of the OQHA. Then she showed the mare, Smart Du- allin Dolly to Reserve Champion Open Horse for the Northeastern Affiliate of the NRCHA. This year, Werner Bohner showed his horse Casey in the Non Pro classes at the North Eastern Reined Cow Horse Association and was undefeated, winning the Non Pro championship. You can see, there have been more than a few good


cowboys and cowgirls that have come through Walker Ranch in Richmond. This year, the Ontario Reined cow Horse Association is proudly celebrating its 20th anniver- sary. Thank you to so many determined, dedicated, and selfless people who created this from day one and devel- oped it into one of the best associations in Ontario.


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