High Roller Reining Classic Offers Great Reining Action
RELEASE: September 10, 2009
AUTHOR/ADMINISTRATOR: By Phelps Media Group
Amanda Brumley Offers Unique Perspective as Manager and Competitor
Producing the "crown jewel" of Western riding competition is no easy task, but with 10 years of horse show management experience and by participating at the show as an exhibitor, it is a job Amanda Brumley can do with confidence. Brumley is the founder and owner of Brumley Management Group, LLC, a promoter of reining competitions in the Western region of the United States. She is currently managing and showing at the High Roller Reining Classic, a National Reining Horse Association "AA" rated event, featuring over $200,000 in added money and prizes. The show began on September 4 at the spacious and luxurious South Point Hotel, Casino, and Equestrian Center and runs through September 12.
Brumley has been involved with horses her entire life, competing in every aspect of the equestrian industry. She began showing reining horses in the late 1980's because she was drawn to the technical difficulty that it entailed. Her interest in managing shows began when she felt that the shows were becoming too long and taking too much of a toll on the exhibitors and their horses.
"After showing horses for so long and going to all the different shows managed by different people, some shows just felt like marathons and you were exhausted afterwards," Brumley explained. "You almost needed to take a day off after the horse show to recover because you were up all night and awake at weird hours. It was very hard on the exhibitors and the horses. I decided it didn't have to be that way and came up with the idea for Reining By The Bay."
The Brumley Management Group, LLC, founded Reining By The Bay in 1999, and Brumley made sure that the show started on time and ended on time so that exhibitors did not have to ride at night. Since it began, Reining By The Bay has grown to be one of the most popular reining events on the West coast. The Brumley Management Group, LLC, took over the management of the Cactus Reining Classic in 2004, and the High Roller Reining Classic in 2008.
Brumley noted that key to the success of the High Roller Reining Classic is that it is held at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Equestrian Center. "The facility is very accommodating, and the South Point people are wonderful to work with," she said. "They bend over backwards to make sure our event is exactly the way we want it to be. There are challenges at every single show, but they eliminate a lot of the challenges here. The fact that you are sleeping right above your horse's stall is very accommodating for exhibitors. You can check on your horse in the middle night by just getting on the elevator."
This year Brumley will also be showing two of her own horses during the High Roller Reining Classic. She will compete with Whistle Piggin in the Three-Year-Old Non-Pro Futurity, and Me Smart Tarzan in the Non-Pro Derby.
"Last year was the first year that I competed at one of the events that I was producing because it can be very difficult trying to put everything together," she explained. "If you get called out to do something, or if you've got to get off your horse to go fix something you've just got to do it. You lose your train of thought as far as competing goes and you can get distracted easily, but it's all fun."
Brumley feels that competing at the events she produces helps make her a better manager and more aware of the exhibitors needs. "It's actually a detriment to me and my job if I don't compete," she admitted. "I forget what the needs of the exhibitor are sometimes when I'm not showing. By getting back in the show ring I remember things that the exhibitor has to go through to get ready to compete, and that actually makes me a better show manager."
An excellent staff is critical to allowing Brumley to show at her events. "They make my life so much easier because they are so good at what they do," smiled Bru