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78 Riders, 13 events, 4 team games, a taco bar, 1 match race, 104 prizes & over $25,000 in awards, not to mention the 14 miles I walked!
This weekend would not be possible without all the hard work of the TCR Board of Directors. Jeff Arabia, Beth Arabia, Dennis Cole, Honami Thomas, Shelby Martin, Shilah Mullins, Randy Barnard, Kelli Locatelli, Wendi Silva & our board members from afar… Hailey Thomas & Cate Segura
Friday the gates opened at noon with Ruth Piper & Randy Barnard parking our campers. This is never an easy task & they did a great job! Everyone got settled into their campsites & stalls & started to decorate for Fourth of July!
Mother Nature was kind to us this weekend & we had some gorgeous weather! Sun mid 60s & a light breeze everyday! It was perfect to kick off our presentation of flags on Sunday. It was AMAZING! Our flag were carried by these TCR Riders!
American Jennifer GalindoCole
250 Anniversary Rylin Martin
California Chloe Barnard
Army Alexis Bozarth
Marine Farrah Botto
Navy Alain Holt
Air Force Emma Carapinha
Coast Guard Charlene Blackwell
POW/MIA Kaylee Naegele
Armed Forces McKayla Danze
Thin Line (all the colors) Gracey Blackwell
Blue - Police Rachel Cardini
Red - Fire Emily Amorim
Silver - Corrections June Sousa
Yellow - Security Amber Stites
White - EMS Brooke Mullins
Green - Game Warden/Federal Law Enforcement Lauren Harp
TCR Tammy Pi
This was even more moving since it was America's 250th Birthday. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!
We had not 1, not 2, not 3 but 5 arena records set! Quadrangle by Rylin Martin, speedball by Jennifer Galindo-Cole, figure 8 cowhorse by Maycee Mullins and then Maycee set a record in skill barrels only to be broken by Rylin a few runs later! Plus we had some very close to record breaker runs too! Our ground was SMOKING! Thank you to the Posse grounds for the great venue with safe ground!
We finished our 7 events up and went onto our team events. First up was the Fox & Hound these teams are decided by a random draw & in this event the “Hound” can not pass the “Fox” so it takes some planning. This was so much fun to watch! Next up was the ribbon race where riders got to pick their partners & try to not break their ribbon as they ran around the single stake. So many fun teams to cheer for! Next was another random draw event, Scramble Barrels. This was a new event that uses 5 barrels for 2 riders & the teams are chosen at random so you have no idea who your partner will be! Lastly, we had our cowhide race, everyone’s favorite event! The crowd went wild watching the riders & passengers going flying down the arena. Our Team Event winners are:
Fox & Hound
Water Tub Amber Stites Wendy Silva
Bucket Avery Cisco Devon Naegele
Bronc Halters Jennifer GalindoCole June Sousa
Ribbon Race
Bucket/Goodie Kaylee Naegele Devon Naegele
Wither Strap Wendy Silva Brooke Mullins
Tumbler Rylin Martin Pyper Jones
Scramble
Saddle Pouch Kaylee Naegele Fidel Moreno
Wither Strap Devon Naegele Jennifer GalindoCole
Saddle Sack Avery Cisco Emily Amorim
Cowhide
Bucket/Goodies Brooke Mullis Maycee Mullins
Bucket/Goodies Maycee Mullins Pyper Jones
Cowboy Halter Alaina Holt Bently Holt
After our team games wrapped up we all cleaned up a little & headed over to the Posse Clubhouse for a taco bar dinner! Thank you Monterey County Sheriffs Posse for feeding us! The tacos were amazing.
Sunday morning was beautiful & sunny, promising our riders another great day! Our National Anthem was sung by a group of our very own riders! Thank you ladies! Once the show got flowing we hustled over to the clubhouse to set up the awards. Thank you to the many hands who came to help unload the prize vault, break down the 100’s of boxes, build all the prized packs (There were a lot of them this year) set out & display the awards so they sparkled & added all the finishing touches to our display. It took many hands but the end results were perfection!
Running 3 arenas helps get us through the day very quickly & we were done with our 6 events in record time! That means it was MATCH RACE TIME! Our top 16 riders in Speedball raced head to head, chasing the top prize of a Mollys Custom Silver buckle & $200 in CASH. Thank you AOK Corral for sponsoring this event! This was the first time we have ever done a skill event at a match race. There were a lot of new faces in the match races & after 12 heats it came down to Devon Naegele & Brooke Mullins. Your 2026 Tri-County Riders Match Race Champion is ………..DEVON NAEGELE!
Finally, the time had come, we tabulated 2 days worth of events, 1300 times entered, winner’s lists run. High Point reports run & making sure riders didn’t bump up too many divisions & rode enough events. It takes about 90 minutes to double, triple, quadruple check all of the standings. (Plus we run a backup computer just to make sure…..) Now, it was time to announce our 18th Annual Firecracker Frenzy High Point winners!
FC 11 & Under
Placing Item First Last Horse
High point Tack Set/Bucket/Haybag Saige Clayton Spanx
Reserve Buckle Cup/Saddle pouch/Bucket/Haybag Lucy Sousa Indigo
3rd Buckle/Bronc Halter Avery Harp Wayne
4th Spurs/Straps/Reins/Best Ever Lilah Madrigal Kody
5th Mayatex Blanket/Reins/Tumbler Lilah Petruno Cowboy
6th Wagon/Stable Mix/Martinellis Rileigh VanValkenburgh Fireball
FC 12-34
Placing Item First Last Horse
High point Tack Set/Bucket/Haybag Kelly Locatelli Ty
Reserve Buckle Cup/Saddle pouch/Bucket/Haybag Leah Gooch Prim
3rd Buckle/Bronc Halter Eloise Meligne Whiskey Tango
4th Spurs/Straps/Reins/Best Ever Lainey Ratliff Dreamer
5th Mayatex Blanket/Reins/Tumbler Savvy Clayton Moose
6th Wagon/Stable Mix/Martinellis Rachel Cardini Journey
FC 35+
Placing Item First Last Horse
High point Tack Set/Bucket/Haybag Craig McGurn Josie
Reserve Buckle Cup/Saddle pouch/Bucket/Haybag Cindy Elliott Finley
3rd Buckle/Bronc Halter Anita Simoni Sexy
4th Spurs/Straps/Reins/Best Ever Tiffany Smith Charlie
5th Mayatex Blanket/Reins/Tumbler Rebekah Crill Pacha
6th Wagon/Stable Mix/Martinellis Jasona Prowse Lison
7th Tool Box/Stop Buggn/Tumbler Cynthia Moreno Max
8th Fly Mask/Fly Spray/Saddle Pouch Honami Thomas Willie
9th Wither Strap/Cup Karen Boylan Sparky
10th Haybags/Totes/Samples Pam VanValkeneurgh Shasta Pop
A Horse
Placing Item First Last Horse
High point Tack Set/Bucket/Haybag Gracey Blackwell Missy
Reserve Buckle Cup/Saddle pouch/Bucket/Haybag Emma Carapinha Whiskey
3rd Buckle/Bronc Halter Tammy Pi Gunner
4th Spurs/Straps/Reins/Best Ever Ruth Piper Mz Gracey
5th Mayatex Blanket/Reins/Tumbler Charlene Blackwell Jackie
6th Wagon/Stable Mix/Martinellis Farrah Botto Penny
7th Tool Box/Stop Buggn/Tumbler McKaela Danze Kaydee
8th Fly Mask/Fly Spray/Saddle Pouch Brianna Sifton Whiskey
9th Wither Strap/Cup June Sousa Molly
10th Haybags/Totes/Samples Arielle Minor Rip
AA Horse
Placing Item First Last Horse
High point Tack Set/Bucket/Haybag Randy Barnard Wrangler
Reserve Buckle Cup/Saddle pouch/Bucket/Haybag Avery Cisco Slim Jim
3rd Buckle/Bronc Halter Fidel Moreno Pistachio
4th Spurs/Straps/Reins/Best Ever Emily Amorim Ladyo
5th Mayatex Blanket/Reins/Tumbler Chloe Barnard Rocket
6th Wagon/Stable Mix/Martinellis Wendi Silva TC
7th Tool Box/Stop Buggn/Tumbler Jenny Greene Timmy
8th Fly Mask/Fly Spray/Saddle Pouch Pyper Jones Eze
9th Wither Strap/Cup Lauren Harp Gus
10th Haybags/Totes/Samples Alexis Bozarth Reno
AAA Horse
Placing Item First Last Horse
High point Tack Set/Bucket/Haybag Rylin Martin Whiskey
Reserve Buckle Cup/Saddle pouch/Bucket/Haybag Maycee Mullins Jack
3rd Buckle/Bronc Halter Jennifer GalindoCole Jake
4th Spurs/Straps/Reins/Best Ever Lila Crigger Kid
5th Mayatex Blanket/Reins/Tumbler Kaylee Naegele Honey
6th Wagon/Stable Mix/Martinellis Devon Naegele Marley
7th Tool Box/Stop Buggn/Tumbler Kelly Crigger Cricket
8th Fly Mask/Fly Spray/Saddle Pouch Miguel DeLeon Ruby
9th Wither Strap/Cup Brooke Mullins Bob
10th Haybags/Totes/Samples Beth Arabia Charley
We can not forget our future AAA riders… our LEAD LINE RIDERS! Each rider received not only a 22” tall trophy & ribbon but also a bucket full of goodies from our long time sponsor, LA Hearne Company!
Taylor Harp
Lainey Jones
Eva Cisco
Lilly Rivas
Chloe Alpert
Addyson Sifton
Two special little girls & their “UNICORNS” gave us the cutest display during the ribbon race and we just happened to have 2 awards for them. GO GO PONY POWER!
We have 2 special awards that we give to the most deserving recipients. The first is our Joanne Galbraith Award. This award is a perpetual award that is passed on year after year. Joanne herself set the parameters, requesting that we select the most improved rider. This year we had a rider who had a brand new 4 year old horse & he could be a handful! They had some ups & downs over the year but they learned to be a team. Congratulations Emma Carapinha & Whiskey! Next up is our Overall Sportsman award. This award is presented to the person who went above and beyond throughout our entire season. This year’s winner couldn’t always attend our shows, but when he did he was out in the arena all day!
Congratulations Tim Drouin! Thank you for supporting our riders.
We couldn’t have run all these events without our judges! We gave them all a small token of our gratitude! Firecracker Frenzy survival kits. Thank you, Randy Barnard, Jonathan Martin, Drew Thomas, Honami Thomas, Rebekah Crill, Dennis Cole, Jeff Arabia & Austin Arabia for standing out in the sun all day, all day, both days! We also gave survival bags to our 2 ladies who staffed the arena 3 booth. You get 3 seasons a day over there so its always good to be prepared! Thank you Brandi Naegele and Samantha Carapinha for braving the elements for 2 days!
Lastly…. I am pretty sure we are the only club that does not 1 but 2 random draw saddles for our riders… All our riders get an entry into the drawing, we put them in a drum roller & pull out our winners! This year’s saddles were made by Galbraith Custom Saddles and sponsored by:
Armstrong Transport Group
Associated Plumbing Inc
Crumbl Cookies
Gold Star Motors
JC Interiors
Martin Inspection Services
RDL Construction
Stevens Creek Quarry/Ranch 35
Santa Cruz Underground & Paving
New MBT Inc.
. Our 2026 Firecracker Frenzy Saddle winners are…………………..
Pam VanValkeneurgh & Randy Barnard
Congratulations!
We need to acknowledge all our sponsors. These businesses & families are what make Firecracker Frenzy awards so amazing so please say thank you to them & try to use them for your business needs!
Platinum Sponsors
Alsop & Muller
AOK Corral
Baar Chiropractic
Becca's Country Grooming
Bradley's BBQ
CPM Equine & Livestock Removal Services
Draonfly Ranch
Elk Grove Milling, Inc.
Madrigal Family
Mystical Oasis Ranch/Kay's Bunny Butts
Pizza Factory
Sweet Darling Strawberries
Gold Sponsors
ADET Repairs
Balesteri Construction, Inc.
C&N Tractors
Dynasty Transportation Services
Johnson Associates
LC Interiors
MCSP
Pacific Coast Recycling
Rockstar Reins/Smartak
San Remo Ranch
Wilson Family Trucking
Silver Sponsors
Best Ever Saddle Pads
Cowboy Magic/Straight Arrow Products
Equal Balance
Horse Quencher
Hayward Lumber
Martinelli's
Platinum Performance
Riding Warehouse
Sublime Silkscreen
Formula 707/John Ewing Company
Stop Bugg'n Organic Fly Spray
Flair Strips
That is a wrap on our 2025/2026 season! It has been an amazing year filled with some great riders & lots of special moments. Many times I am asked “why run this club?” I do it for all of you, our riders. I love seeing so many of you grow as riders & become partners with your horse. I love to hear the cheers for EVERYONE & see friendships being made. Memories that last a lifetime.
Now we go into planning our Year End Award dinner for November. We need to order 85 custom buckles, 6 saddles, top division awards and plan a beautiful dinner! Plus, we start up our shows again in August! So until then, ride hard, ride fast & hug your horses
Firecracker Frenzy 2025
Firecracker Frenzy 2025
