The first example of how much it still has to offer our discipline is the stallion that, together with Edoardo Bernardelli, climbed to the top of the podium at levels 4 and 3 with a 215.5. In fact, Shine Pop, son of Shine Chic Shine x MM Lollipop, was bred at Alessandro Cazzaniga’s facility that boasts a few, carefully selected mares and a lot of passion that over the years have ensured good and constant results. Edoardo, 29, is one of Italy’s best Non Pro riders and has a rich show record that includes 2012 NRHA European Derby Non Pro L3 Champion & L2/1 Reserve Champion; 2014 NRHA European Futurity Non Pro L3 Reserve Champion and IRHA/NRHA Futurity Non Pro 4YO L3 Champion; 2016 IRHA/NRHA Futurity 3YO L4 Non Pro Reserve Champion and 2017 IRHA/NRHA Futurity L4 Non Pro Reserve Champion. After finishing his studies, Edoardo decided to devote himself totally to his passion: reining horses. He went to the US to gain experience alongside some of the best in the industry and has now set up his own centre in Olgiate Molgora, Bernardelli QH, where he breeds and trains his competition horses. “I'm really happy! Shine Pop behaved well, and we have finally managed to bring this title home! I have been trying for quite some time…”. Edoardo bought his partner in the show pen when he was just a month old and held on to him after he was weaned, taking care of his training entirely. “I bought him because I liked his pedigree, but as he grew, I began to appreciate his development, his charisma and physical appearance. This horse has very strong manoeuvres and a personality to match, but he is always collaborative and willing to work”. Despite his youth, Edoardo is a veteran of the show pen and knows how to control his nerves: he expressed a gritty and determined run: “I was focusing on the stops, which are Shine Pop's strongest manoeuvre. Unfortunately, we missed one because of a misunderstanding, but fortunately the circles went very well, so in the end we produced a good performance. Probably, without that mistake we could have marked a higher score, but in the end, we got where we wanted”. Bernardelli thus concludes a year that has been highly successful, with a victory at the European Derby, one at the Maturity held at Bo Ranch and a second place at the Italian Derby with his “Mosè”, or more formally, Whiz Wild West. “I want to thank my family for their continuous support, my assistant Fabio Torino, and Guglielmo Fontana for his help here in Cremona”, he concludes.
Exactly 20 years after his first national Futurity in 1999, and after reaching the finals eight times without ever claiming a title, here is the first top spot on the podium in the 3-year-old competition for 35-year-old Gabriele Carrarini: Non Pro 3YO Futurity Level 2 Champion and Level 4 and 3 Reserve Champion (score 204). Despite his relatively young age, Gabriele’s approach to reining and philosophy is that of an old-style Non Pro... And he is proud of it! He is convinced that this discipline is “a path” that can be long and often demanding, but therein lies its beauty: “I didn't get the top title, but for me the victory at level 2 is a triumph seeing that it is my first time ever. I would like to add that this victory is not mine alone: it is the victory of all those horses that don’t cost a fortune to buy and that have not been trained by Million Dollar riders. It is the victory of those Non Pros who dedicate themselves to this sport with passion and perseverance, who know how to wait and pursue their objectives by working every day to achieve them. It is the victory of those assistants who bring their team’s weakest horse into the show pen and manage to place him in the final at level 1, and for them maybe it's the competition of a lifetime. It is the victory of the trainers who become great because they “make horses” great, and not because they ride the top horses. One of these is Max Ruggeri, who has been supporting me for 10 years and whom I followed to the top of the Alps. Despite the current trend that would see us all travelling to the US to buy horses that are trained and ready and focusing only on the million-dollar races, for me reining is the sport that developed in Italy where anyone could nurture the talents of his own little horse in his own backyard and dream of getting to a Futurity”. And that's exactly what Gabriele did with Cg Smart N Gold, known as Goldy, bay gelding son of his stallion Clinton (Arc Surprising Smart) and his mare Arc Girl Chic N Gold. “Bred and raised by me in our stables at Buttigliera D'Asti, he was started by Cris Lucchina and Cristina Fiscella and then I personally trained him under Max's fundamental guidance. Together we won the ARTA Futurity and the LR Non Pro. But the Italian futurity is another thing entirely! We actually risked not getting here at all: a week ago he caught a cold and had a temperature of 41.5°; then I thought about how strong he is and said to myself: let's go for it! We each invested our hearts in this feat, and we managed it”. It is the first time that Carrarini has tried his hand at the total management of a horse with only three months of training, and preparing him for the Futurity himself: “I do everything for him: it goes beyond just riding him, I have taken care of him entirely for over two years, and I think it is precisely this profound knowledge of my horse - that maybe other Non Pros with less time or less desire to do this, can never have of their horses - that made it easier for me to manage this young, and obviously inexperienced horse, in the three-year-old competition. It is not true that you can only win a Futurity on a superhorse: it is the willpower that makes the difference; it is staying in the stables through the cold of winter and heat of summer, it is saying to yourself every evening: ‘Okay, even if it means getting to bed later again tonight, I want to get there’.” Moreover, Goldy is not exactly easy: “He is overenergetic”, continues the Piedmontese rider: “This morning I had lunge him and he was bucking as though he hadn’t been out of the stable for a week... I think he has the power and also the qualities to be able to do so much, and that's why next year I'd like to give him to Max for the 4YO Open Futurity [which Ruggeri won brilliantly in the 2019 edition two days ago, Ed.]; but his character needs quietening, as we saw tonight from the shameful lap of honour he performed” adds Gabriele laughingly. “Max was great with me from the beginning, he said to me, ‘Gabri, look, you don't have to fight him, you have to get his attention, engage him, if it comes to an argument he is smarter than you!”
It was a blonde Dutch rider, Sharon De Groot, 25, who currently lives and trains in Antwerp, where she studies physiotherapy, to claim (with a 210) the titles of IRHA-NRHA 3YO Level 1 Champion and Level 2 Reserve Champion riding her splendid buckskin stallion Tinsel Whizington: another horse that was born and raised at home. He is the son of Tinsel Jac x Conquistador Sis, the mare with whom Sharon started competing in reining and that she rode in events throughout Europe for many years; she and the bay mare were also part of the Dutch young riders team that participated in the FEI European Championship in Manerbio in 2013. This young stallion is the first product of her mare and Sharon has cared for him since his birth. She has always been passionate about horses and has been reining for about 10 years. However, this year was the first time she has shown a 3-year-old. “Tinsel Whizington is really sweet, and does everything for me,” she says. “We really have an excellent relationship and an intense understanding. He is really a very good horse. Although sometimes he can be a bit difficult when working at home, once in the arena he gives me everything!” The horse performed strong stops and good, fluent circles to secure this result. Sharon and her stallion competed in the Austrian Futurity, and were Level 3 Intermediate Non Pro Reserve Champions, scoring 214. In addition, they showed at the Belgium Futurity and were Level 1 and Level 2 Champions, and L3 and L4 Reserve Champions, and in the French Futurity they took home the Level 4 Non Pro Championship. “We have had a really, really great year” Sharon says, “I still can’t believe what has just happened! Tonight, we did not perform our best run: I made a few mistakes as I was really nervous. But in the end, it turned out to be enough!’. Sharon enjoyed the atmosphere and the organisation of the IRHA Futurity in Cremona: “It was really nice to show here! You really get the feeling of a big event and the ground was great for showing!” After this hard show season, the buckskin stallion and his owner need a long rest to recover. “He deserves a good holiday now!”
Giuliano Mercuri won the Non Pro Reserve Championship Level 1 title riding Doctor Dre, a 3 year-old stallion by Doctor In Diamonds x Jc Hollywoodspunette, bred by Jury Mormile. The pair marked 205.5 in the final, improving the go-round score by 1/2 point.
Italian Reining Futurity press office
