Team USA will be (From L-R) Tim McQuay, Dell Hendricks, Aaron Ralston, and Adequan® USEF Open Reining Champion Matt Mills. These riders will represent the USA at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, September 1-3.
Following the completion of the Adequan® USEF Open Reining Championship, the United States Equestrian Federation® announced the members of Team USA that will represent the United States at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games to be held in Aachen, Germany, from August 20 to September 3, 2006. The Reining competition will be held September 1 and 3. The four horse-and-rider combinations and alternates are as follows:
Matt Mills, of Scottsdale, AZ, riding Easy Otie Whiz, a seven-year-old Quarter Horse stallion, owned by Outwest Stallion Station and Bobbie Cook Aaron Ralston, of Silt, CO, riding Smart Paul Olena, a 12-year-old Quarter Horse stallion, owned by Meg Griffith-Ralston Tim McQuay, of Tioga, TX, riding Mister Nicadual, a six-year-old Quarter Horse stallion, owned by Jerry Kimmel Dell Hendricks, of Tioga, TX, riding Starbucks Sidekick, a six-year-old Quarter Horse stallion, owned by Adair Reiners, LLC
1st alternate: Tom McCutcheon of Aubrey, TX, riding Ruf Hearted Jac, a seven-year-old Quarter Horse stallion, owned by Sarah Willeman
2nd alternate: Crystal McNutt of Scottsdale, AZ, riding Dun With Caution, an eight-year-old Quarter Horse gelding, owned by RVR Performance Horses, LLC
The team was decided based on their rankings at the 2006 Adequan®/USEF Open Reining Championship held in conjunction with the CKRHA Clayton Woosley Hall of Fame Show last weekend at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. It was an emotional climax to a spine-tingling competition.
“I told my wife before the reining tonight that I wanted to be on this team more than I wanted to win the Futurity. It means an awful lot to be riding for your country,” said an obviously proud Hendricks.
“It means a lot to me, too. Just the company that I am in now, you’ve got two of the most celebrated, most famous riders in NRHA on the Team, and it’s nice to be sitting there next to them. You know, it makes you feel good,” stated Mills.
“What can you say, it’s the best thing in our industry that you can do, it’s the top of the heap,” said Tim McQuay, NRHA’s Leading All Time Money Earning Rider and NRHA Hall of Fame inductee.
Chef d’Equipe Jeff Petska is delighted with his new team and looking forward to sharing the experience of another WEG competition.
