Press Release
August 25, 2006
Reining – on the Road to Aachen:
WEG 2006: The Team from USA
Matt Mills
Scottsdale, Arizona
Born and raised in Long Beach, California, Matt began riding horses at an early age.
He had a very successful career as a youth rider earning multiple championships
throughout California in a variety of disciplines including western pleasure,
horsemanship and trail. In 1996, Matt switched his focus to Reining. He qualified for
the AQHA Youth World Championship Show in 1997, but never made it to Fort Worth,
Texas. Instead, the day after he graduated from high school, Matt headed to
Scottsdale, Arizona. He had accepted a summer internship with top reining horse
trainer Dell Hendricks. That summer internship quickly turned into a job offer and Matt
spent the next five years as Dell’s assistant trainer. In early 2002, Matt established his
own training operation in Arizona. He coaches several successful Non Pro and Youth
riders as well as showing futurity and derby horses. Matt also starts several two-yearolds every year. He trains at Bobbie Cook’s Out West Stallion Station in Scottsdale,
Arizona.
Matt’s list of accomplishments includes the 2000 NRHA Futurity Intermediate Open
Reserve championship. In 2002, he was on the USEF Top 50 Reining Riders List and
in 2003 Matt qualified a horse for the USET Futures championship in Gladstone, New
Jersey. Through the years, Matt has consistently shown that he is one of the up and
coming talents in the sport of Reining. This was readily evident in 2005 when Matt won
the Intermediate Open championship at the NRBC and was third in the NRHA Derby in
the Intermediate Open Division. As of August, 2006, Matt has $209,876.26 in NRHA
Lifetime Earnings. At age 27, Matt is the youngest member of Team U.S.A. He and his
wife, Karen, will celebrate their first anniversary this coming December.
Ramona Billing
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Matt Mills will be riding Easy Otie Whiz, by Topsail Whiz and out of Miss Poco Easy,
owned by Outwest Stallion Station/Bobbie Cook. Easy Otie Whiz has NRHA Lifetime
Earnings of $221,371.89.
Tim McQuay
Tioga, Texas
With $2,128,298.10 in Lifetime Earnings, Tim McQuay is the National Reining Horse
Association’s Leading Lifetime Money Earner. A member of the prestigious NRHA Hall
of Fame, he is the only competitor to reach NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider status.
Tim has won every major NRHA sanctioned event at least once including the NRHA
Futurity, the NRHA Derby, NRHA Superstakes and National Reining Breeders Classic.
He is a five-time winner of the All American Quarter Horse Congress Reining Futurity
and he is also a two-time AQHA World Champion and multiple NRHA World and
Reserve World Champion.
Originally from Minnesota, Tim and his wife Colleen (who is also a professional horse
trainer specializing in Hunter and Jumper events), moved to Tioga, Texas, in 1989.
Since that time, McQuay Stables has made the north Texas town of Tioga a focal point
for the equine world.
For many years, McQuay Stables was known as the home of NRHA All Time Leading
Sire Hollywood Dun It. He, too, was inducted into the NRHA Hall of Fame in 2000.
McQuay Stables maintains a full battery of well-known stallions including Gunner,
(APHA Colonels Smokingun) the 1996 NRHA Futurity Reserve Champion and the
winner of the 2001 USEF Reining Championships. Tim’s many international
accomplishments include a silver medal at the 2005 FEI World Reining Masters Finals,
Manerbio, Italy, riding Mister Montana Nic. At the FEI CRI and CRIO competitions held
at the NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship Show, the
pair earned gold medals in both divisions (team and individual).
Married for 33 years, Tim and Colleen have one daughter, Mandy, NRHA’s Leading
Lifetime Non Pro Money Earner. Mandy is married to NRHA Top 20 Professional and
2006 WEG Team U.S.A. first alternate, Tom McCutcheon. They have two children,
Cade and Carlee.
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Tim will be riding Mister Nicadual owned by Jerry Kimmel. The 2000 stallion is by
Mister Dual Pep and out of Nicachecka and has NRHA Lifetime Earnings of almost
$80,000.
Aaron Ralston
Silt, Colorado
Aaron Ralston, 30, grew up in Collbran, Colorado, on a ranch where his parents ran a
cow/calf operation. “We raised and broke all our own horses,” says Aaron. He rode in
rodeos and competed in team roping, but didn’t go to a horse show until he was 21years-old. “I had no idea that training horses was a profession.” But then he met Chris
Carlson who trained reining horses. Carlson encouraged young Ralston to go work for
an established trainer with a great reputation and solid program in order to get a good
foundation. At the time, Aaron was attending Mesa State College, but just before
graduation he accepted a position with Doug Milholland. Aaron credits Carlson with
sending him in the right direction and Milholland with giving him the tools to train.
Aaron views competing at the World Equestrian Games as an incredible opportunity.
“It’s a huge event that means a bunch to us. But more than that, it’s about
representing our country and the sport of Reining.”
Aaron will be riding multiple AQHA World Champion Smart Paul Olena, owned by his
wife, Meg Griffith-Ralston. This 12-year-old stallion is by Smart Chic Olena and out of
Paula Tari and has $58,654.43 in NRHA Lifetime Earnings and more than 240 AQHA
points.
Dell Hendricks
Tioga, Texas
Dell Hendricks and his wife, Terri, run a successful breeding and training operation in
Tioga, Texas. The office walls are covered in photos and articles about the trainer’s
biggest wins: an NRHA Futurity victory, an AQHA World Champion title, and five wins
at the National Reining Breeders Classic.
Ramona Billing
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Hendricks grew up in Idaho and enjoyed team roping through his teenage years. When
he was 20, his father, Jim, started to rein and invited Dell to accompany him to a show.
He decided that if all those people could ride reining horses, he could too. “I realized
quickly that I wanted to do this for a living,” said Dell.
Hendricks attended the horse management program at Lamar Community College in
Colorado, and then apprenticed with six-time NRHA Futurity Champion and NRHA Hall
of Fame member Bob Loomis. Following his stint with Loomis, Hendricks headed for
Santa Fe, New Mexico, to work for breeder Pat Warren.
Hendricks became a very consistent NRHA Futurity, NRHA Derby and major-event
finalist. In 1999, he won the NRHA Futurity on Hollywood Vintage. He has also been
consistently ranked in the NRHA Open Top Ten divisions while competing successfully
in AQHA, USEF and FEI events.
In 2005, Hendricks achieved NRHA Million Dollar Rider status. To date, his NRHA
Lifetime Earnings are $1,187,762.81.
Dell also serves as the President of the National Reining Horse Association and was
first appointed to the NRHA Board of Directors in 1998 where he continues to serve the
NRHA membership.
Dell Hendricks will be riding Adair Reiners LLC’s Starbucks Sidekick, a six-year-old
Quarter Horse stallion by Smart Starbuck and out of Dun It For Chex. Interestingly,
Dell purchased the horse from Tim McQuay as a yearling. Matt Mills, who was riding
for Dell at the time, initially trained this horse. Starbucks Sidekick is truly a “team”
horse.” Starbucks Sidekick has NRHA Lifetime Earnings exceeding $171,000.
First Alternate:
Tom McCutcheon
Aubrey, Texas
Tom McCutcheon was born into the performance horse business in western Wisconsin
where he joined his father and three brothers as a professional horse trainer. He owns
Ramona Billing
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and operates a training facility in Aubrey, Texas, and has created a business with an
international base. His fluent Italian, plus the contacts he made during his time training
in Europe early in his career, gives Tom a decided advantage in the worldwide equine
market.
Tom is the owner of Tom McCutcheon Consulting Service, a worldwide consulting firm
for the reining industry. He is co-founder and Chairman of the Board of the Directors of
the prestigious National Reining Breeders Classic, serves on the USEF Board of
Directors and is a member of the NRHA Professionals Committee.
Tom has many significant wins to his credit in NRHA, USEF and FEI competition. In
fact, he was a member of the highly successful Gold Medal Team U.S.A. at the 2002
World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain. Tom was also the silver medalist in the
Individual competition at that event. His NRHA Lifetime Earnings are $904,954.57.
Tom is married to Mandy (nee McQuay) and they have two children, Cade and Carlee.
If needed, Tom will be riding Ruf Hearted Jac owned by Sarah Willeman. Ruf Hearted
Jac is by Lil Ruf Peppy and out of Miss Jac Of Hearts. He has NRHA Lifetime
Earnings of $68,101.13.
Second Alternate:
Crystal McNutt Brock
Scottsdale, Arizona
Crystal McNutt Brock grew up with reining horses, showed in NRHA events as a Youth
competitor and never outgrew her passion for the sport. “I’ve been showing in stock
horse classes and Reining since I was five,” she says, and that was more than two
decades ago.
Her enjoyment of the sport started out with Arabians and that hasn’t changed. “My dad
got me an Arabian. He thought it would be fun,” she says. “I started out with Arabs,
went to Quarter Horses, and now I ride both.”
Ramona Billing
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McNutt-Brock said she’s “been lucky enough to ride with some really great people,”
including trainers John O’Hara, John Slack and Brett Stone. “They’ve been a great
influence on me,” she says. She’s been training on her own for several years.
Crystal’s most recent success in the Arabian world came when she won the 2006 Half
Arabian Reining Classic Futurity on Hollywood Playboy. In 2005, she won the same
event on Diamonds A Shining. Crystal also won the 2004 Working Western Trainer
award from the Arabian Professional and Amateur Horseman’s Association.
No matter what breed, McNutt Brock loves her chosen career, even if it was a second
choice. “I went to school to be a Veterinarian,” she says. “But I love what I do. I
wouldn’t trade it for the world.” Crystal has $97,374.56 in NRHA Lifetime Earnings.
If needed, Crystal will be riding Dun With Caution by Hollywood Dun It and out of
Cautious, owned by RVR Performance Horses. Dun With Caution has $54,673.25 in
NRHA Lifetime Earnings.
The World Equestrian Games in Reining are scheduled for September 1 and 3,
team competition starting on Friday (September 1) at 10 a.m. Individual
competitions will follow on Sunday starting at 11.15 a.m.
After FEI’s nomination deadline this week, it updated its listing of the nations
competing. Now altogether 98 competitors are nominated at the moment. The
following nations nominated teams: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain,
Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S.A.
Hungary, Mexico, Norway, Poland and South Africa announced individual
competitors.
(bios of this press release: courtesy Pat Feuerstein)
Ramona Billing
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