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From : Colorado County Citizen
Colorado County horse brings home gold
July 30, 2003
Local horse owners, Bill Peel and Terry Owens' stallion, Smartest Chic Olena, an American Quarter Horse, brought one of the most prestigious awards in the equestrian field home to Weimar recently. The stallion won the celebrated United States Equestrian Team Festival of Champions Gold Medal in Gladstone, N.J., June 19-22. "It was like a dream come true," Owens said. "We knew the horse was special and that he had a chance, but the competition was fierce and the conditions dreadful." The best way to describe the 2003 USET Festival of Champions is challenging. The Gladstone, N.J. home of the United States Equestrian Team (USET) had only seen five days of sunshine in the last two months when the open reining championship began. Despite wet weather and the forecast of heavy rains, the open reining championship ran according to schedule. When the skies cleared and the scores tallied, Smartest Chic Olena and trainer Tom McCutcheon garnered the gold medal with a composite score of 442.5, edging out silver medalist Starlight's Wrangler and Dell Hendricks. The win was the second consecutive gold medal performance for McCutcheon, who is based in Pilot Point. "This is a perfect ending to a year where we were unbeaten," McCutcheon said. "Beau (Smartest Chic Olena's barn name) is one of the easiest horses I have ever ridden to get ready for a show, regardless of the conditions. He consistently carries me to the winner's circle." The Smartest Chic Olena and McCutcheon partnership has an enviable record. Since taking over the reins of the 7-year-old stallion early in 2001, the duo have won over $100,000 together, including the 2001 National Reining Breeders Classic Open Championship, the 2001 Congress Junior Reining Championship and the 2002 Sadddlesmith Series. This year Smartest Chic Olena and McCutcheon swept the USET, winning the All-Star Series at Houston and Kansas City prior to receiving the gold medal at Gladstone. BiTerra Quarter Horses owner, Owens' purchased the flashy stallion after the 1999 National Reining Horse Futurity, where he was an Intermediate Open finalist. "Our trainer presented me with an opportunity to buy an 'awesome' prospect. That was the biggest check I had ever written in my life," Owens said. As it turns out, that decision was the beginning of Owens' love affair with the stallion and the sport of reining. After months of searching for the right home, Terry and husband, Bill Peel, founded BiTerra Quarter Horses in Weimar. The USET victory is the culmination of a great show career where Smartest Chic Olena compiled 12 championships and over $115,000 in lifetime earnings. This places him among the top five offspring of $2 million dollar sire Smart Chic Olena and the leading money earning to compete solely in reining. The stallion is retired from the show pen and will spend his time in the breeding barn.
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