Beyond all expectations, twenty countries will be represented in the second edition of the $100,000 2005 FEI World Reining Masters Series presented by the Arcese Group and the Italian Equestrian Sports Federation (FISE). Again, beyond all expecatations, South Africa will be represented in Manerbio on September 24th, and the man who will make history by representing the first African country on an international level will be Shane Borland. The FEI in fact agreed to make an exception for South Africa and their qualifier was run concurrently with the first qualifying British CRI, which was held during the Garden Of England Show, on July 30th. Borland showed Luv To Cut, owned by Roma Phillimore, and earned his way to Manerbio.
Born in Zimbabwe, Shane grew up in South Africa and has been riding since he was five-years-old. The sport of Polo brought him to Great Britain where he is now based. After experiencing Reining for the first time in ’99, the finesse, skill and horsemanship required to produce a reining horse appealed to Borland who soon made the switch from Polo. Today he runs his own training facility and his focus is set on starting two-year-olds as well as actively showing in the AQHA approved event circuit. Determined to develop the sport on the African Continent, Shane also helped to establish the South African Reining Horse Association this year.
The South African reiner will be joining athletes from around the world who will be getting together in Manerbio, Italy, at the Palasturla Facility for the prestigious and much awaited for finals slated for Saturday 24th at 9 pm. Qualifiers from Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and U.S.A., after a year’s worth of qualifying CRIs, will have a chance to ride head to head for the much coveted FEI medals. Log on to the official website of the FEI World Reining Masters Series and meet those competitors that have already qualified at www.worldreiningmaster.com. Here you will also have the chance of downloading the pictures of the riders and answers to any questions you may have regarding the competition!
