| MRHA's Champion
Open horse for 2000 is familiar to Montana reining fans. After all,
he's been the Open winner or runner up every year since 1996. Bieber's
Oakie is a 1992 palomino stallion owned and shown by Jerry Fowler
of Polson, MT. He has a lifetime total of $7,482.51 in NRHA earnings
under Jerry's saddle, as well as 37.5 AQHA performance points in reining
and working cowhorse. For this year he is both Open and Intermediate
Open Champion of the Montana Reining Horse Association.
By a son of Doc's Lynx named Doc Egger, he's out of a Doc's Oak/Sugar
Bars mare. With this breeding, Oakie was started as a two-year old
cutting prospect and showed so much feel and handle that Jerry went
on with him in the reining pen. Three months after his first set
of sliders, Oakie and Jerry went to the Triangle Futurity in Great
Falls and won a go-round, ending up second overall. That was his
only show as a three-year-old. He's been shown on weekends only
and never hauled hard, achieving his AQHA Register of Merit in 1996,
qualifying for the World Show. One out in cutting as a four-year
old brought a win in the $1000 Novice Horse, and from then on the
slide track has been his arena.
Jerry says he's a very trainable and athletic individual. "At
first the crowd bothered him a little, the noise. But he's pretty
easy to show, he tries so hard. He's been real consistent."
Asked about preparation, Jerry says he has to be "loped down
about 45 minutes". That's about it.
Oakie's first colt to the show pen debuted this past year. Mr Golden
Oakie looks a lot like his sire, and was shown three times for two
wins in MRHA competition. Wins at the Yellowstone Slide and Glacier
Slide, along with a third in the Limited Open at the Big Sky Classic
in Billings, are his. This colt has a bit of a story too-daughter
Kayla Fowler showed a nice mare in the AQHA Youth Reining when she
was all of 6 years old. I remember Jerry having her ready at Kalispell
when the other kids her age were in Walk-Trot, but Kayla went in
the reining. The Fowlers lost the mare to colic the day of their
own reining in July, 1997 and the orphan colt grew up to be Jerry's
futurity mount this past season. Jerry says that Kayla, now an old
hand at age 11, gets to show the gelding next.
Bieber's Oakie has a whole new challenge for 2001. The Fowlers
have sold him to Tim Bagnell of Polson. He will continue to stand
to outside mares at Jerry Fowler Performance Horses.
Jerry has two coming 2-year-olds by Oakie started for next year
and is pleased with their attitude and trainability. With Jerry's
talents and Oakie's consistency, it sounds like a winning combination.
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