TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Kahlayah Rehkopf and Reba
Jennifer Cassel and Jay
the team, shared tricks of the trade, taught life lessons, and had a special relationship with all the reining horses. In return, the horses reciprocated the affection of their leader. Reiner Jennifer Cassel smiled as she shared her memory of realizing Richard was indeed a horse whisperer. She explained, at one time, her relationship with her horse, Jay, was strained, to say the least. Jay was born a stubborn and cantankerous beast, and Jennifer admits she didn’t have the patience the horse required. After a reining competition went poorly, Jennifer said her patience had worn thin. “I looked at the horse and yelled, ‘What? What do you want?’” Richard happened to be standing a few yards away. “If I’m lying, I’m dying,” Jennifer said. “Immediately after I screamed at him asking what he wanted from me, Jay immediately walked right over to Richard, stood beside him, looking back at me as if to say that Richard was what he wanted and needed.” Richard smiled and said, “May I help you?” Jennifer relented and gave Jay’s training (and hers) over to Richard; the rest is history. Jay and Jennifer have become two peas in a pod thanks to the expert training of Richard and his genuine love for horses. In fact, all the team’s reining horses excelled under Richard’s watch. The reining team recently traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the National Reiner’s Breeder’s Classic, which is the second largest reining show in the world, paying out over $25 million in the past 25 years. There were 1,600 horses and riders who entered the competition. According to the riders, the horses become keenly aware when it is their time to shine. They get a sudden burst of adrenaline and have a heightened awareness of every move their
Martha Prieskorn and Earl
46
SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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