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Horses work hard for Millarville rider

A Millarville horseman reining in his 10th Calgary Stampede open title may not have been exactly what the doctor ordered.

A Millarville horseman reining in his 10th Calgary Stampede open title may not have been exactly what the doctor ordered.

Sure John Swales winning the Open Bridle championship in the Working Cow Horse Classic on July 15 on his mare Smart Marina was the right medicine, but Suzon Schaal, who finished second on Genuine Brown Gal, just happens to be Swales’ mare’s veterinarian.

“We just said to each other good luck,” Swales said with a smile. “We’ve known each other for a long time.”

It wasn’t the only title Swales won in Calgary.

He also took the top two spots on the Open Hackamore (five and six year olds) on Big Time In Cowtown and Won Smart Wolf.

Swales bought the now 10-year-old Smart Marina as a yearling at a sale in Fort Worth, Texas for a client. Marina was sold to Jim Baird of Millarville about six years ago, but still hangs her saddle at Swales’ spread.

“She was bred in and she was cheap,” said Swales, who picked her up for $6,000. “We were sitting in the stands, she was bred well, she looked good and we bought her for the client we had.”

Marina has won approximately $65,000 for her owners since being purchased by Swales — including $5,620 for winning in Calgary.

She got off to a fast start at the Stampede, as Swales and Marina had a score of 290.5 after the first go-round on July 14 at the Western Agrium Event Centre. Schaal and Genuine Brown Gal were second at 285.5

A go-round consists of two events, reined work and cow work. The rein work has the horse and rider doing patterns, including circling in both directions, sudden stops and other patterns.

The cow work involves controlling a cow — boxing the animal in at one end of the arena, then running the cow up-and-down a fence line — turning it at least once each way.

It ends with having the cow being circled both ways in the centre of the area. There are two judges who rate from 60 to 80 for both reining and working cow. The total is the score of the go round.

Swales carried his 290.5 into the July 15 final go-round. When Smart Marina and Genuine Brown Gal tied for first among the four riders competing in the second round, Swales was declared the winner with an aggregate score of 581.

It was Smart Marina’s work on the cow that gave her the title.

Marina controls a cow like a world champion ballroom dancer leading his partner — in-step with the cow.

“She’s very cowwy, very smart,” Swales said. “She goes everywhere that cow goes. She knows what the cows going to do before the cow does it. She can tell when a cow is going to stop, going to turn and she is really fast. My role is to train her and give guidance (during competition).”

Swales also had big time results on Big Time In Cowtown. He won the hackamore title on the horse that is owned by Robbie McKay of Black Diamond.

“Big Time is really good in the reining and down the fence,” Swales said, of Big Time, who as a three-year once led the world championships in Reno.

Schaal, a veterinarian from the Red Deer Lake area, didn’t go home empty-handed. She won the Open bridle non-pro on her seven-year-old mare Chics Ruffled Up.

Her two-round aggregate score of 576 put her just two points ahead of Airdrie’s Carlene Schmidt for the championship.

It took Schaal some time.

The judges whistled for a new cow for Schaal twice, as the first two animals didn’t put in much of an effort.

“I was getting nervous because she (Big Time In Cowtown) gets kind of tired having to work so hard,” Schaal said in a Calgary Stampede press release.

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