Cielos Electric Jac, known simply as "Jac" when he's home in the barn, is a stunning horse with his golden palomino coloring. But this recent world championship winner has a heart of gold also.
"He is very sweet natured. He's an athlete and he's willing to please. But he is mischievous," said Howdy Smith, Jac's owner. Smith, of Texarkana, Ark., and Jac brought home four Palomino Horse Breeders of America World Championship titles July 21 when they competed at the association's annual show in Tunica, Miss.
Smith had never competed in four events in one day on the same horse. He was hoping for one world championship and was elated to win four.
The duo won in the categories of open ranch pleasure, amateur ranch riding, senior reining and amateur reining.
"It was always a dream to have a world championship on one of my own horses," Smith said.
Jac, who is a 6-year-old stallion, is extra special because Smith bred and trained the horse himself.
"We have his mama and his daddy and have had him since the day he was born," Smith said.
Jac is a full-blood quarter horse with the golden palomino coloring and a flaxen mane and tail. Palomino is a color, not a breed, and Smith was actually surprised Jac's dark-colored sire and dam produced a palomino.
"There was a very slim chance. But I love palominos and always wanted one," he said.
Jac has since sired a couple of palomino foals of his own, along with a couple of sorrels. He has also earned titles in other shows, including the Arkansas State Horse Show and the Fort Worth Horse Show.
Smith said reining is the most challenging category because it's the highest level of communication between a horse and rider.
Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins and stops. Reining originates with working cattle, and it requires the horse to be responsive and in tune with its rider, whose aids should not be easily seen. The horse is judged on its ability to perform a set pattern of movements.
Smith was a professional horse trainer for a number of years but retired when he turned 50 and now just competes on his own horses.
Jac can continue to compete as long as he stays sound.
"We can show him in quarter horse shows and he can go back (to the palomino show) next year and defend his title," Smith said.
Smith and his wife, Melindy, are newlyweds who met through a shared love of horses.
"Horses are our passion and this is what we love to do," Smith said.
The international organization known as the Palomino Horse Breeders of America was formed in 1941 to collect, record, preserve the purity of blood and improve the breeding of palomino horses.
For more information on Smith's reining horses, visit howdysmithreininghorses.com.