Craig Schmersal is among an elite few in the National Reining Horse Association that have won all five major events and to top it off, Schmersal is also a $5 million rider. He has also competed in the World Equestrian Games taking home Gold and Silver Medals.
At the Mother’s Day Slide in Scottsdale, Arizona aboard Rootin Tootin Nite, Schmersal cinched the Open Derby Championship.
“That horse is a super cute horse. He’s a really physical stopper, really physical turner. So he’s relatively new so this is kind of like a test drive just to see what kind of horse he was in the arena and he sure showed good… I had an empty hole, I could show three that day and I only had two and with that horse being new in the program I decided to try him out,” he said.
It was a pleasant surprise for Schmersal since he has only had the horse for around a month. This success has Schmersal planning on taking Rootin Tootin Nite the NRHA Derby and show him in the Novice. The two will be a pair to watch in the NRHA.