Mills, Deary, Salgado, Fappani, Flarida
The stage is set. The National Reining Horse Association has announced the names of the five reiners who will compete at The American Performance Horseman presented by Teton Ridge. Based on 2022 NRHA year-end earnings, the NRHA Professionals who will showcase reining at The American Performance Horseman are: Shawn Flarida ($579,745), Casey Deary ($500,297), Fernando Salgado ($470,912), Andrea Fappani ($445,675), and Matt Mills ($288,962).
The American Performance Horseman will debut at The American Western Weekend, Friday, March 10, 2023, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
The reiners will be joined by the top five professionals from the National Reined Cow Horse Association and from the National Cutting Horse Association. These 15 riders will compete for a $1 million payout in a first-of-its-kind competitive exhibition format. It will be a global stage for the athletes of each discipline to compete for individual prize money as well as a purse for unique teams comprised of a reiner, cutter, and cow horse rider.
We caught up with these qualifiers to find out what they thought about the upcoming event and their strategy.
For more information on The American Performance Horseman and to sign up for the 2023 ticket waitlist, please visit www.americanrodeo.com.
Casey Deary:
What do you think about the American Performance Horseman?
Oh, I’m super excited! To me, anytime we can get somebody like Thomas Tull lined up to promote us, I think it’s a win for our industry.
How does it make you feel to be among the first to compete in this highly publicized event?
At the 2022 NRHA Futurity, there was a great set of 3-year-olds, and I know that horse show dictates the Top Twenty every year. I’ve had a great year going to it, but I knew that could change at any minute, so to have it end up the way it went, I’m thrilled with the success and I’m extremely proud of my horses.
Do you know which horse you will take to the competition?
I’d like to find out a little more information about it. I’d love to know the size of the arena and how much time we will have to prepare. All of those horses are so different that I want to make sure I take the right kind of individual for the situation.
Do you have a game plan going into it even without knowing which horse you will take at this point?
I’m going to do the same thing that I would do for, say, getting ready for the Cactus Classic. This year, I don’t have to qualify (for The Run For A Million) at the Cactus Classic because I’ve already qualified in the Shootout in 2022, so I will get that set of horses ready like I would be getting them ready to go to the Cactus Classic, and then, I’ll just let them tell me which one wants to be the horse to go.
Fernando Salgado:
How do you feel to be one of the five riders to compete at the inaugural event?
This is very exciting for me. The other guys that made it are all men that I grew up watching and always looked toward. They were some of my idols that I always tried to learn from, and I always had so much respect for them. To just be able to be on that same list, and compete against those guys is really a dream come true for me.
And being the only one from Brazil, representing my home country and the international world, is a huge deal for me. I cannot wait, I’m very, very excited.
You had an incredible year. Was TAPH a goal for you?
For people who don’t know, the year before last, I had really good horses, but some got hurt and I just didn’t have good luck coming into the Futurity. I ended up dropping to Level 3 for 2022. So I am eligible to compete in both levels, which means more opportunities and more money.
I had my horses all saved up. This has been the best year I’ve ever had; you know. I’ve had really good results pretty much everywhere I went.
I didn’t know about the American Performance Horseman earlier in the year, but when the news came out about this event, I was already going to a lot of shows – a lot more than I normally would. I just kept going, because it seemed like I had a real shot at it, and everything was working out. This is a huge deal to me.
What do you think the American Performance Horseman will do for the reining industry?
I think just like The Run For A Million did for reining, by showing our sport to different people, I think the American Performance Horseman will do even more. I think it will take that extra step, and that’s incredible. I cannot explain how exciting it is for me to be part of it, especially the first year. That’s really amazing and wonderful.
Do you know which horse you’ll be showing?
I have one horse that’s my favorite that I showed at The Run For A Million, and that is Gunnabeabrightstar. Unfortunately, at TRFAM, I knew he wasn’t 100 percent, so right after that, we did surgery on him, and we are starting to leg him up right now. He’s still a question mark if he’s going to be on top of his game by then, but if he’s not, then I won’t show him.
I have two mares that I really, really like in my barn. One of them is Twomilliondollarchex, owned by Pedro Pastor Hernandez. I made the Futurity Finals on her last year, and this year, I didn’t show her a lot, so she’s fresh. The other I have is a mare named Electric Enterprize, owned by Tamarack Ranch, that I showed last year at the Derby and at the Run For A Million Shootout. She’s good for me every time and is solid. She’s going to be six years old, so she’ll be a little more mature.
I think maturity is going to count a lot at that event, because it’s not like a lot of the reining shows where we get to be there for a week and then show on the weekend. We’re going to have less preparation and less arena time, so I think a solid horse that you don’t need to prepare as much – and one you can count on – is the way to go.
How will you prepare for the event?
Those three horses are probably the best ones I have in my barn, and I think they’re capable of being on top of their game in March. I’m going to go to some small shows before and see who is in the best shape and has the best timing at those events. That’s going to be the one I take.
Shawn Flarida:
What do you think about the American Performance Horseman?
It’s going to be exciting. I’m looking forward to going to it. I think the exposure that reining is going to get and the energy that we’re going to get out there for the whole industry is going to be phenomenal, and not only for the reining horses but for all of the western performance horses in general.
How do you feel about being one of the first ones to compete in it?
Fortunate and lucky! I’ve been in this sport my whole life, so that’s a pretty big deal and it’s really, really neat. Hopefully, other people will love and enjoy that sport as much as I do.
I can’t thank those sponsors and all those people enough. Teton Ridge, it’s unbelievable what they have done for the sport of reining, but for the sport of horses in general. It’s absolutely amazing. I never thought we would get to this place in my career, and I’m sure glad it is.
Do you have any thoughts on which horse you might take?
Oh, lots of thoughts, but no final decision.
Do you have a game plan leading up to it?
You know, obviously, just getting home from the Futurity, there’s a lot of little things to getting all of those idiosyncrasies taken care of first, but that plan… It’s been in the back of my mind, obviously, because I was kind of close there, but I definitely need to think about it a little bit harder and be more studious.
Matt Mills:
How do you feel to be one of the five riders to compete at the inaugural event?
I feel great, and honored to have qualified for it and to have the chance to represent the NRHA.
When this event was announced, was it something that became a goal for you?
Absolutely. When I saw earlier in the year what they were going to do, NRHA was putting out the
running totals of where everybody was at as far as money earned. I knew I was right in that range. Of
course, we’re all trying to do good, no matter what, but I had a feeling that if I could have a strong showing at the Futurity, I’d have a shot at it. So, it was something I had my eyes on for sure.
Do you have any ideas of what horse you might be riding in March?
I have a handful of options, and it’s a great situation to be in right now, especially considering I’m not qualified for The Run For A Million right now, and that qualifier is at the Cactus Classic (March 17-25). I’ve got to show three good horses there, and it’s so close to the American that I’ve got to try to time it so I have a horse peak for both events.
I’m definitely going to use one of the horses I have already that I’ve been showing. I have a horse named Stopping In Jersey, owned by Bosque Ranch. He’s definitely on my shortlist. Guns And Dynamite is another one that I’m going to take the next couple months.
I’ll have to see which one feels the most ready. I don’t know a lot of the details on how the event is going to go down, but I’m betting you’re probably going to want to have a horse that doesn’t take a lot of preparation, and one that doesn’t easily get distracted by outside influences like crowds and a different environment than we’re used to.
What is your game plan?
From what I understand there are going to be a few changes to our regular competition, but I’m just going to treat it like anything else and prepare them the exact same way I would for any major event. I won’t change my preparation as far as the horse at all.
What do you think this event will do for the reining industry?
I think this will be a continuation of what Taylor Sheridan has done for us with The Run For A Million and The Last Cowboy, and Yellowstone. We’re going to continue our momentum and upward trajectory.
I believe this is going to get our horses and our event in front of a different audience – a big one. They’ll get a chance to see firsthand how incredible our horses are.
Andrea Fappani:
You’re one of the inaugural team members of TEAM:TR and have been involved with the development of The American Performance Horseman from the beginning. What do you expect from this event?
I am very excited about this event – it’s a big stepping stone in support of reining. I think it’s huge that all the associations are coming together because that’s really the only way to take our sports to another level.
This will also be a different audience than what is at a typical reining, right?
By this format, and by being a part of the American Rodeo, we get to expose reining to people from other disciplines, and to the rodeo world as well. It fills in new pieces to the puzzle as far as promoting our sport.
There will also be a team component for this event, as well. I think it gives another way for the audience to become involved and keep up with which team is on top.
Have you decided which horse you will be taking to Texas?
I haven’t made up my mind yet, but the two front-runners are Trash Talkin Spook and All Bettss Are Off.
**Andrea was out of the country, so we were unable to get as complete of an interview with him for this article. We appreciate him taking the time to share what he could and look forward to bringing more information from Andrea in the future.