This year, the Americana horse fair and show celebrates its 20th Anniversary. The first Americana was organized in 1986. There had been an open  European Championship of Western riding before of course (this show dates back to 1979), but both the name and the concept were new.  The name AMERICANA goes back to an idea of WESTERN HORSE editor Hardy Oelke who suggested the name to Horst Geier then. In 1986, the team Horst Geier, Andreas Völz and Uli Vey organized a completely new event: a mixture of top show, an exhibition and lots of entertainment – a unique fair of Western culture and Western riding. Today, AMERICANA is one of the most important and renowned events of Europe and known all over the world. In fact, it is among the NRHA Leading Reining Events. Americana is a ‚Mekka of Western Riding in Europe’- and this does not only show the status of this event but also its importance for the development of western riding in Germany.

The first two Americanas were organized in Munich. In 1986, 26,000 visitors came to the Olympia riding facility. There were traffics jams in the area all the time. For the first time, there were high class Italian competitors (remember Ricky Bordignon competing in the Barrel Race astride his Quarter Horse-stallion ‘go Go’). Two years later the event went to the Olympia facility in the centre of Munich. More than 7500 visitors came to the evening show alone. For the first time, there was a Bronze-Trophy-Reining there offering a purse of DEM 12.000,-- added in Open. The audience was great and the place as well, but not the conditions for the riders, So Americana 1990 went to the new fair ground at Augsburg – and immediately attracted  28.000 visitors.

From then on, AMERICANA became better and bigger every time. There were new classes like ERCHA Futurity or the Americana Reining Futurity. A Western Forum was established and more and more show and entertainment: The  Westerntown, the Saloon and the tent as well as Country Musik live. The idea was obviously right: in 2000, there were 50.000 visitors, two years later, the event attracted  240 exhibitors.

In 2004, Americana’s indoor arena was enlarged to international standard of 30 m width to offer optimum possibilities for cutting and reining. Also, cutters had the chance of using hall 2 as a „practice pen“.

 „Masters“ in Pleasure and Trail

Besides the official European Championship of the European Cutting Horse Association as well as the European Reined Cow Horse Association and the NRHA-USA-approved Bronze Trophy Reining, Americana introduced a Masters Pleasure and a EUR 6,000.-- Masters Trail  in 2004 (the Masters-Pleasure was won by Barbara Cumiolo astride Hot As I Wanna Be and the Masters-Trail by Iris Oplusstil (AUT) astride Masters Mystique). 42,200 visitors came to the 2004  Americana. More than 130 journalists reported of the EUR 130,000.-- event with 410 competitors from 15 nations. The absolute highlight of the 2004 show was Martin Larcombe winning the Bronze Trophy Open Reining astride Arc Oak Enterprise. Larcombe finished the season as NRHA World Champion.

„Americana is our Tour de France“

„Becoming an Americana Champion simply is the coolest – you can’t compare it to anything else,“  says Grischa Ludwig, two times NF German Reining Champion and European Champion. He even compares this event to the „Tour de France“: Grischa won both the Americana Reining-Futurity astride Great Red Whiz as well as the  Working Cowhorse Open (astride FF Play My CD).

Markus Schöpfer dominated Reined Cow Horse Futurity

In 2004, Italian Markus Schöpfer won the Reined Cow Horse Futurity with Remilore and also placed second. But the cowhorse was not the only spectacular cattle class during the last Americana. The cutting show was won by  Gianluca Munarini astride MR Pepto Fletch scoring a superb 150 in the final.

Americana promotes Western Riding in Europe

The idea of an event open to all riders and breeds proved to be right. All western breeds compete here – American Quarter Horse, Paint Horse and Appaloosas – as well as other breeds. Becoming a finalist of the Americana has become an important success.

Many famous trainers in the U.S.A. – like Tim and Mandy McQuay, Martin Larcombe, Shawn Flarida, Carl McCuistion, Bozo Rogers, Scott McCutcheon, Francois Gauthier, John Hoyt, Don Boyd, Todd Arvidson, Dean Latimer, Jeff Kasten, Andrea Fappani, Fred