Willow Brook Farms held its Second Annual National Reining Horse Association event as a prelude to Labor Day. Riders from up and down the East Coast brought their horses to showcase equestrian skills at the C.T. Fuller Memorial Reining at the Catasauqua horse farm. Saturday night came complete with a barbecue, followed by a freestyle riding exhibition.

According to Holly Fuller, reining is not a well-known competition outside equestrian circles.

"The competition is an outgrowth of skills needed by cowboys on a working ranch," she said.

Jackie Hoyt, who is the voice for events, explained some of the rules of freestyle competition.

"Everyone starts out with 70 points when they are at the gate," she said. "Style points are added by judges."

Riders are judged on how well they control their horses at different speeds, performing precise patterns of spins, circles and sudden stops.

"In freestyle, the rider must have a lead change, four spins left and right, and three sliding stops," Hoyt said. There are 11 patterns that are judged in full scale competition.

Sliding is that move seen on the silver screen where the rider races into town and the horse drops his hindquarters and slides to a stop at the hitching post. "It takes a lot of instruction and patience to teach a horse sliding," Fuller said.

The Fuller family has been involved in equestrian breeding and competition for generations.

"The arena here at Willow Brook is considered the best sliding arena on the East Coast," she said.

Fuller traces her interest in horses to when she was a 5-year-old living in Catasauqua.

"I saw all those pictures of my grandparents on horses and that is what piqued my interest," she said. It was her father C.T. Fuller who became the catalyst for the reining competitions.

C.T. Fuller took Willow Brook, about 1,800 acres in Catasauqua, North Catasauqua and Allen Township accumulated by his father, James W Fuller, and added horsemanship to the working farm. C.T. Fuller stopped riding at a young age. His riding instructor, Joe Carol, met an unfortunate end when his horse slipped into a sink hole, killing both the rider and the horse. Holly, C.T.'s daughter, rekindled his spirit with her interest in horses.

"The thing that is key to riding horses is you need to be in the moment," Fuller says. "The horse knows when you are not focused," she said.

When Bob Anthony was hired as Willow Brook's groomer in the 1960s, he favored quarter horses over the thoroughbreds and saddlebreds that C.T. purchased for Holly. Eventually, quarter horses grew to be the horse of choice at Willow Brook.

C.T. purchased two mares, daughters of Joe Cody, and both went on to be champions. C.T. eventually coaxed Joe Cody's owner to release the sire. Under Fuller's care, Joe Cody sired 324 foals, of which 149 were performers, 81 were Register of Merit owners, 13 were American Quarter Horse Association Champions, nine were AQHA Honor Roll horses and five were world champions.

Holly Fuller dedicated a room to Joe Cody with various memorabilia. As a horse breeder, photographer and video expert with his own quarter horse documentary, C.T. Fuller provided support for the breed as a unique American horse and perfected reining competition to showcase the skills of the horse and its rider. The C.T. Fuller Memorial Reining competition is a rebirth of events held at Willow Brook for nearly two decades.

In Saturday's freestyle competition, riders competed for spectator approval. Riders performing were 10-year-old Arianna Mesko on Ms Sugar Remedy; Shannon Quinlan on Lenas Chic Flic and Samantha Musante on Playin in Paris; NRHA professional Dan Sanborn, who has multiple world titles, rode Kachina Tag Olena; Trish Tilman rode A Smart Chance; Kim Wolfe rode a 19-year-old gelding Pines Rising Sun, a horse she has owned for 10 years; Nate Eicher rode Custom Wheelz; Hall of Fame inductee Rocky Dare rode Squeaky Clean Genes in a unique vignette with his three grandchildren.

Fuller awarded a first- place ribbon to Arianne Mesko for her performance.

Upcoming events at the farm include the Penn-Jersey Horse Show on Oct. 25 and 26. The horse show will coincide with a promotional bridal event, as family member Nicole Fuller highlights the setting of Willow Brook as a wedding venue.