Becky Melzer - YRHA Random Reiner Profile
Author: Wendy Deans
Date published: Nov 20 2008
You know the feeling, dreaming of that perfect horse. That one special horse that you love, can’t wait to ride every day and tries so hard for you. You read about folks in the Reiner that have experienced it and dream of when that special mount will come your way.
For Becky Melzer that day came at the NRHA Futurity show in Oklahoma City in 2006.
She had a lovely gelding (Bailey) by West Coast Whiz that she had been showing, but he took a long warm up. Becky has Lupus and that long warm up was wearing her out. She didn’t want to give up her favorite activity in life, reining, and felt it was time to look for a new partner.
The first horse she tried out was a 4 year old gelding, Pleasorima, by Chic Please and out of a Hollywood Dun It mare, that Patrice St. Onge showed her. He was really comfortable, but no way was she going to buy the first horse she tried out. She’d get on another horse and call out to her trainer, Jay Dee Anderson, “ Hey Jay Dee, get on this one, tell me what you think.” They did that 14 more times! She couldn’t get Pleasorima out of her mind. He was very talented with such a smooth lope and steady attitude. She rode him again and that was that. After a vet check and finding a trailer ride home, “Remo” was going to Montana!
Becky was first diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease, 4 years ago. It tires her out easily and she suffers from fatigue. Her muscles get sore, she needs to sleep and stretch a lot to keep her energy up when she is awake. There was no way she wanted to give up riding and reining. It’s what “turns her crank and blows her hair back.” She loves the atmosphere and camaraderie that comes with the sport. 
Remo was the solution to her health problem.
Becky continues to try to find ways to keep her quality of life as high as she can. Remo resolved the riding part of her life. Recently, she discovered that changing her diet has minimized the effects of the disease. It has allowed her to have a lot more fun lately. Becky is not one to sit around if given the slightest chance to be active. In her “former life” she competed in triathlons.
Becky rode in Pony Club between the ages of 8 - 12 and didn’t ride regularly again until her daughter, Kerri, was 9 years old and chose to take up riding. They rode Arabians together. Kerri ended up placing in the top 10 at the Arabian Youth Nationals in Albuquerque, NM. She placed in stock seat equitation and reining. Once Becky saw reining she knew that was what she wanted to do. She has owned a few other horses that helped her along the way, but Remo has been that special dream horse. He’s been solid from day one. She never had to micro manage him. What a treat!
This past summer she asked Jay Dee to show Remo in NRHA Novice Horse Open. They ended the year in first place in both YRHA and MRHA. Becky qualified to go to the Affiliate Championships in Denver placing a respectable 5th in the Limited Non Pro Affiliate class.
Becky has been married to her husband, Ric, for 31 years now. He is a Urologist at Billings Clinic. He is an avid fisherman and bicyclist. Their daughter Kerri is now 24 and works for an environmental firm in Seattle. Their 27 year old son, Tracy, has been in New Zealand for 2 years working on his PhD in medical physics. He’ll be there 2 more years giving Becky and Ric plenty of time to visit him in the land of Kiwi.
Becky says that Remo is a happy worker, a happy boy that loves his job. Being that he is only 6 we’ll be watching them enjoy and perfect their craft together for a long time to come.