CRHA Hall of Fame 2005

~ CRHA HALL OF FAME 2005 ~
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The Board of Directors of the California Reining Horse Association began discussing the formation of a CRHA Hall of Fame, patterned after the NRHA Hall of Fame, in 2004. A CRHA Hall of Fame committee was formed, a Charter and Induction Criteria were written and approved by the Board and the first two honorees were inducted at the club’s Annual Awards Banquet on January 21, 2006.
2005 Hall of Fame Inductees
Sandy Noble & Hesa Nevada Bar (aka Reno)	SANDY NOBLE It becomes apparent to anyone that investigates the history of reining in Southern California that the extent and quality of reining competition available to exhibitors today is due to a small group of dedicated reiners who formed and nurtured the CRHA in the early 1990's. And it is widely recognized that non-pro Sandy Noble, one of the CRHA Hall of Fame's first two inductees, is paramount among this founding group. Concerning those early days of organized reining in Southern California Roberta McCarty, one of the area's top reining trainers then and now, recalls that "without Sandy, there would be no CRHA and no Challenge. Many dedicated volunteers contributed to the club but no one did more to put the CRHA on the map than Sandy. She was the original rudder that kept the CRHA on course". Sandy is a native Californian from the San Joaquin valley area with a lifelong love of horses. It wasn't until her mid-30's that she had the opportunity to own her first horse, an appendix registered quarter horse named Hesa Nevada Bar. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Orange county where she showed "Reno" in reining classes at local quarter horse shows. A few years later she was inspired to get NRHA reining organized in Southern California and spearheaded the formation of the CRHA. Now several horses later and back in her native San Joaquin valley Sandy still has "Reno" who she affectionately describes as "one of the best friends I have ever had".
Roberta McCarty & Peppy's Lil Dunnit	ROBERTA McCARTY It is well known to West coast reiners that Roberta McCarty runs a successful reining horse training business with her husband Jim McCarty. Roberta has had considerable success as an open exhibitor, with NRHA lifetime earnings of $230,595. She made her first appearance in the NRHA Futurity limited open finals in 1996 and has subsequently placed in the top third of the NRHA Futurity open finals in 1997, 2002 and 2004. McCarty has also contributed to the success of numerous top youth (Robert Johnston, Kristi Harako), rookie (Alicia Briquelet) and non-pro reiners (Lee and Marilyn Scheffers and Kathy Copus). What may not be as well known, especially outside the CRHA, is that Roberta was one of the first professionals to join the CRHA board of directors in 1994, the year after the club's formation as an NRHA affiliate in 1993 by a board composed entirely of non-pro reiners. McCarty was sought out by the original board for her expertise and has remained active on the CRHA board ever since, serving two consecutive two-year terms as president from 1999-2002. Her expert knowledge and sound judgment have been and continue to be a principal reason behind the success of the CRHA. Roberta is also closely associated with the club's premier annual event the Challenge. A native of Ohio, McCarty grew up in Orange and Riverside counties in Southern California where she got her first horse at age 13. Roberta was largely self-taught and worked her way up from her beginnings as a youth exhibitor at local shows to her current status in the NRHA's elite open division. Not coincidentally, along the way she met and married Jim McCarty and the couple started their training business in Chino in 1981 showing in pleasure, trail, horsemanship, showmanship and stock horse events. The McCarty's began specializing in stock horse events later in the 1980's before being introduced to reining by friend and fellow reining trainer Penni Gerardi in the early 1990's. When asked about her influences, Roberta singles out Dick Pieper and Penni Gerardi as the NRHA professionals who were most helpful to the development of her reining career, but quickly emphasizes that "most of the credit" for her success is "due to the knowledge, hard work and support" of her husband Jim.