Rhen Richard and SJR Diamond Bond have been a force in the rope horse futurity game since the horse’s 4-year-old year, and he ended his aged-event career with a bang, winning the Gold Buckle Futurities 6-and-Under Heading Nov. 16 in Abilene, Texas.

The son of CD Diamond out of ARC Its Go Time by One Time Pepto won the average by 10 full points with a 919.35 for $11,000, and he picked up another $19,000 for first in the Elite Stallion Incentive—of which $9,500 will go to Richard’s A&C Racing and Roping and $9,500 will go to CD Diamond’s owners at San Juan Ranches. The horse won another $9,000 in the Elite Breeder’s Incentive, of which $4,500 will go to Richard and $4,500 will go to San Juan Ranches, too. 

We caught up with Richard after his final big win in the show business on SJR Diamond Bond.

TRJ: Was this your first time at a Gold Buckle Futurity?

Rhen Richard: Yep.

TRJ: Now that you’re a full-time futurity trainer, do you have time for futurities all over the country, or what finally made you come to this one?

RR: We came because we knew it was a good event. Before, we just didn’t have the right horses. It’s not that we didn’t want to come, you know what I mean? I’ve been a bit horse poor all year, and I just got a couple horses back this fall, so it made sense to come now. It doesn’t make sense to drive here when you only have two horses to show. That’s why we missed the first ones.

TRJ: I asked you this yesterday, but you didn’t really have an answer. The yellow horse, he’s six, right? Going to be seven. What do you want his future to be?

RR: I don’t know. He has the potential to be a rodeo horse, but it’s hard to say. I’ve got a couple of guys interested in him, but it has to fit, you know what I mean? He’s a lot of horse but a good one. I’m not planning on rodeoing, but I’m not ruling it out either. If someone has to have him, I’ll sell him. If not, I’ll keep him and try to do him right.

TRJ: Does Chad (Richard’s dad) put much pressure on you when it comes to those decisions?

RR: Not really. When you have a good horse, it’s not hard to sell. I’ve never tried to sell that horse. When it’s time, I think he’ll sell easily.

TRJ: What did he do well this week? What did the judges like about him yesterday?

RR: He was flashy and worked great yesterday. He scored well, ran hard, and was physical pulling. It would take something really good to beat him. He’s tough when he puts a day together. He was solid everywhere.

TRJ: He’s one of the few you didn’t raise. How does he fit into your program with those bred to run?

RR: When he puts his run together, it feels good. But I’m used to horses with a lot of run who don’t have to give everything in the tank. With him, sometimes I’m asking for everything he has, which is tough mentally for a young horse. Managing a horse like that is harder than managing one like Kenny’s Brookstone, who doesn’t have to give everything to perform well.

TRJ: What about the rest of your program? Is it more winter’s version-centered or racehorse-centered for the next couple of years?

RR: We’ve got a lot of crosses. Our coming 2-year-olds include four or six from racehorse lines by Reys Smokin Dually out of running mares. We’re starting to see the lines we like on the bottom side, especially since I’ve been home riding two-year-olds all summer. Horses from certain lines are really promising.

TRJ: For everyone who doesn’t know, what is that line?

Rhen Richard: It goes back to a mare named Runninn Brook Gal who won the All-American Futurity, out of a mare called RJK Runaway. We bred multiple studs to that mare and now have about ten mares going back to that line. It’s working well on the cross, producing good horses like Kynis Brookstone and Shes Mischievous.

TRJ: Shes Mischievous was a horse Kaden trained and showed. But you’ve been riding her lately?

Rhen Richard: Yes, I took her to Cody Johnson. She had a chance to win but broke a barrier once. She’s proving that futurity horses can make rodeo horses. She’s always been a standout.

TRJ: What’s her lineage?

Rhen Richard: She’s Winners Version out of a mare called Miss Mischievous, who goes back to that Runnnin Brook Gal line. We plan to flush her this spring for some cool stuff.

TRJ: What about your rodeo horses? Did Deets get sold?

Rhen Richard: Deets got hurt last year right before the NFR, which is what I planned on riding. We never figured out what it was, but he’s just started coming back. It’s hard to say I won’t rodeo because he’s a horse you can win on anywhere. I sold Rich, the horse I rode at the NFR last year, to Wyatt Bray. My old horse is 23 and done. The yellow horse and the black mare are situational. If I wanted to rodeo, I could.

TRJ: And, before we go, Kaden just kicked your butt in the 4-and-under heading, right?

Rhen Richard: Yes, he does a great job. I can get on any of his horses and feel like I can win. He needs to know he’s that good. The horse he just won on is nice, with the potential to be a top rodeo horse. Caden’s always got horses that can win at any level. It’s great to see him succeed.

Related Articles:

• SJR Diamond Bond and Rhen Richard Win Second Consecutive Royal Crown 4-&-Under of 2022
• Richard and SJR Diamond Bond, Rice and First Class Vintage Claim Royal 4-Year-Old Titles in Buckeye
• SJR Diamond Billy & Billie Jack Saebens Get 6-&-Under *Heading* Win for $39K at First Gold Buckle Futurity
• NOPE, Different Buckskin: Cody Snow to Debut Southern Ranches’ Futurity Standout SJR Diamond Billy at Bob Feist Invitational
• Marepower: Tauna Alcorn and Mike Bacon Win $122K Riata #12.5 on SJR Diamond Metalica and Play Like Boon

The post SJR Diamond Bond Closes $70K Futurity Career with Gold Buckle Maturity Win in Abilene appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The 5-year-old stallion Pride And Joyy now has $313,423 in QData earnings, with his latest win at the 2024 AQHA World Show in the Junior Heeling with the Relentless Remuda’s Miles Baker Nov. 4, 2024.

The win—worth $25,703 for their final score of 231.5—was Baker’s first AQHA World Championship, and it was Pride And Joyy’s second heeling globe, having won the Bronze Globe in 2023 for third with Trevor Brazile.

Watch: Miles Baker’s Entire Program ONLY on Roping.com

“(What sets him apart) is his ability and being hooked up to a cow and then obviously training is a big part of it, but if you don’t have the right tools or the right horse, you can’t train a fish to climb a tree,” Baker said. “And that horse, with the training stacked on his ability and his mind and everything, it just makes him elite. I was telling Ty and Melanie (Smith), I said I could literally have somebody could get on him the week before the NFR, have the arena set up, make five or six runs a day and take him out there and have a legit chance to win a gold buckle on him. And he’s a 5-year-old. And he’s just that good of a horse, and I’ll be the first to say it.”

Pride And Joyy’s Origin Story

The stallion is by Stevie Rey Von out of Fun N Fancy Free by Peptoboonsmal. Solo Select CEO Ty Smith bred the horse, then sold him to customers on the East Coast as a colt.

“Those owners sent him to Chris Dawson to start in the cow horse,” Baker explained. “Chris showed him at the Snaffle Bit, and we went to watch—we weren’t watching for the horse, but I noticed him right away. I went home and told Trevor, ‘Chris Dawson had the rope horse down there. He had one he could fly and was just quick.'”

But nothing came of it that fall, and Baker just tucked his affinity for the stud in the back of his brain.

“Then sometime after the first of that next year—2023—Ty and Melanie called and were like, ‘Hey, there’s a stud that we need to go look at. He did pretty good down at the Snaffle Bit Futurity.’ And I was like, ‘Which horse was it?’ And they said, ‘The one that Chris Dawson rode, his name was Pride And Joyy, and I got so excited because that was the horse that I picked out.”

Baker didn’t need to go try the horse, he told Ty Smith. He’d already picked the horse out, and he knew he wanted to own and ride him.

“I knew what it was going to feel like. And Ty was like, ‘No, go get on him and ride him.’ And so I went over there and I was on him for maybe two minutes tops, and I just knew that I knew what he was, and so that’s how we got him.”

Show Time

Baker has won big money on the stud over the last two years at the Riata and at jackpots, but Brazile has done most of the piloting at the futurities. When Brazile had shoulder surgery after Christmas 2023, PRCA World Champion Heeler Jeremy Buhler jump rode Pride And Joyy to wins at the Royal Crown in Buckeye, Arizona, and the ARHFA in Houston.

“I mean, if you stuck any of the top heelers in the world on him, they could back him in the box at the BFI and win on him that day without ever running one at home,” Baker said. “That’s what I think is one of the things that makes that horse so good.”

But Brazile had been back on Pride And Joyy since his mid-year comeback, and Baker hadn’t ridden the horse at home in months before the week of the World Show. Brazile prioritized his daughter Style’s high school basketball game over showing the team roping horses in Oklahoma City, and he gave Baker a few day’s notice to get ready.

“I got on them about four days before the World Show,” Baker said. “I’d run two or three on Kilo before or every day leading up to it. And I went down and roped with JohnRyon the day before we went up there to run some way from home and make sure that I still knew how to set ’em up and show ’em. But they were good. It was definitely not a tough transition.”

Results: AQHA World Show 2024

Full story on Pride And Joyy? We’re dropping it on The Score with Miles Baker next week. You won’t want to miss it.

The post Miles Baker Rides Pride And Joyy to 2024 AQHA Junior Heeling World Championship appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Hall of Fame horseman J.D. Yates added yet another AQHA World Championship to his career with Sue C Royalty, the 2020 mare owned by Tearney Ranch and by One Time Royalty out of Sue C Lena.

The mare marked a 229.0, worth $25,298.85 for the win against 76 other 5-and-under horses in the Level 3 Championships.

Watch J.D. Yates ONLY on Roping.com

“Luke Jones started her as a colt,” Yates explained. “Then Tate Kirchenschlager’s mother-in-law owned her, and Phil Tearney knew of the horse. She came up for sale, and Phil bought her. I’ve had her for about six months. Tate had her started roping, and I put my own spin on her.”

Yates had his son and NFR average champion Trey on the back side, and Yates said he made more of a jackpot-style run than a flashy horse-show run for the win.

“I guess that’s what the judges were looking for this year,” Yates said. “I mean, I don’t have her where I feel like she should be yet, but I mean, she does two things really good. She scores and she can run. She let me catch up there good. She just did what she did. The senior horse that I had really drug his ass. I didn’t win on him, and I thought he was a winner. So I don’t know. I guess it’s what sitting up there when you got the pencil is what they decide they like. I mean, after all, it’s what we call a horse sale and what we’re doing is just selling the horse to the guys up there with a pencil.”

Yates won the Reserve World Championship in the Junior Heading on Drag All That, a 2019 gelding by All That Boon out of Double R Dragtime for $20,781.20, and he won the Reserve World Championship in the Senior Heading on 2017 stallion Cee My Special Nite, by Gunners Special Nite out of Cee Dun It Do it, for $19,687.45.

More on J.D. Yates:

• J.D. Yates Sends Five Horses to the High School Finals
• At Home With: Dick Yates
• No Doubt About It: J.D. Yates’ Still Got It with Royal Crown Heeling Win on Probably A Shiner

The post J.D. Yates and Sue C Royalty Reign Supreme as 2024 AQHA Junior Heading World Champions appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

CD Lights, the former NCHA World Champion and $2 million NRCHA sire, will have two offspring in the finals of the 2024 Junior Heeling at the AQHA World Show Nov. 4, with JohnRyon Foster bringing back Jonezin For My Boss and Casey Hicks showing Shiney Candle Light.

Trey Yates will bring the most horses back with three: Hermosilla Blue, Flashed Out and Shiney Nu Sparkle.

Joseph Harrison will show both Copperton and Nu One Time Blues, his two highest earning horses of 2024, while Miles Baker will ride two Relentless Remuda stallions Pride And Joyy and The Darkk Side, who’ve earned six figures each this year.

The post Legendary CD Lights is Only Sire with Two Offspring in 2024 AQHA World Show Junior Heeling Finals appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The 2024 AQHA Junior Heading World Championship clean-slate final round is a who’s who of head horse training, with Casey Hicks, Clay Lewis, J.D. Yates and Dakota Kirchenschlager each bringing two horses back to the Finals of the 77 horses shown in the Level 3 in Oklahoma City.

Yates will show Drag All That at first out, the same horse he won the heeling prelims aboard on Nov. 2. The winningest horse entering the Finals is The Darkk Side, last year’s Junior Heading World Champion with Trevor Brazile. Miles Baker will pilot the horse this year.

The post Here’s Who Ropes Today in 2024 AQHA Junior Heading Finals appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Tate Kirchenschlager and Starlight Oak 017 is the 2024 AQHA Senior Heading World Champion, while his cousin, Dakota Kirchenschlager, and DT Hickorys Playtime, are the 2024 AQHA Senior Heeling World Champions.

Both men helped each other to win the title in Oklahoma City Nov. 3, with Dakota, 33, winning in a rope-off against Cade Rice and Roll Your Nickles, in which Tate headed for both men aboard Starlight Oak 017, too.

For the Senior Heading, Tate, 32, won owner Inderman Schaffner LLC $23,967.33 for the 2017 stallion by Starlights Gypsy out of Lenas Oakling.

The Senior Heeling title paid Dakota and owner DT Horses $26,154.82 for the 2017 mare by Hickory Holly Time out of Play Like Clay.

All AQHA World Show Results

The cousins—who grew up an hour and a half from one another in Yuma and Kersey, Colorado, respectively, both train horses now after their ProRodeo careers took them to the Finals. Tate lives in Stephenville, and Dakota lives north in Whitesboro, but they rarely help each other in the show pen.

“I would honestly say if you ask both of us, we probably try too hard for each other,” Tate said, explaining why they don’t often help one another. “I want to see everybody win, but I do want to see Dakota win probably more than anybody in the heeling, and I’d say he’d probably say the same about me in the heading. I know when I back in there heading for him, there’s extra pressure. I can say that.”

“We love each other and we hate each other,” Dakota added, joking. “We both give each other more crap than anybody. We’re our biggest fans, and we’re the hardest on each other. When one of us thinks it looks good and the other one tells it looks horrible, we know we’re honest with each other. I mean, I bounce ideas off of him all the time. He bounces ideas off of me. He’s a great horse trainer. I mean, we love each other. We truly do. And for him to do that today, and I was helping him. That was amazing.”

AQHA Senior Heading World Champion: Starlight Oak 017 and Tate Kirchenschlager

Starlight Oak 017 had won $63,324 (per QData) before picking up the big check in the AQHA’s Senior Heading on Nov. 3, but still, the stud had flown relatively under the radar. That’s in spite of being a full sibling to American Greed, Lari Dee Guy’s horse who Trevor Brazile showed to high-money futurity horse status back in 2021, and Parker County Oak, the gelding Jake Cooper rode at the NFR in 2015, then let his sister, Jill Tanner, ride to win the $100,000 American Rodeo breakaway title on in 2021.

Watch Tate Kirchenschlager’s Full Training Program, ONLY on Roping.com

“I don’t even think Tyler started roping on this horse until he was almost 5 years old,” Tate said. “He just kind of used him as a ranch horse. Then the futurity deal was here and he thought, well, we better get to roping on him. And Tyler’s honestly done everything with him. I’ve had a chance to show him a couple times, and that’s about. He didn’t have a fair shake at being a futurity horse. It wasn’t like he got started in the roping as a 3-year-old and shown as a 4-year-old.”

The sorrel stud has mostly been a help horse for Tate, running dozens of steers at the American Rope Horse Futurity Association World Championship in October.

“He stays at Tyler’s most of the time,” Tate said. “Honestly, before the Fort Worth Futurity, shoot, Tyler used him outside ranching on him. This horses, I guarantee he’s been more miles outside than he has steers in an arena. And then Tyler brought him to me two days before the Rope Horse Futurity and I practiced on him once. I bet I made 40 help runs on him at Fort Worth, then Tyler took him back. He brought him in my house one day before the World Show. I ran five steers on him, and we brought him up here. So I mean, he’s going to work the way you ride him. If you want to make a rodeo run or a help run, ride him that way. If you want to show him, ride him like you’re showing, and he’s going to work.”

The good-minded stud comes by it naturally, with his cross producing some of the winningest horses in the sport of team roping over the last decade in the Starlight Gypsys raised by JoAnn Parker.

“Tyler’s wife could literally rope on him the day he gets home,” Tate said. “He, he’s just a good, good horse. He don’t have to be stalled up. You can turn him out. He’s just a good all-around horse. He wasn’t raised in a show barn or nothing like that, and he didn’t go through the Snaffle Bit sale. I mean, he was raised on a working ranch and yeah, that’s what he is.”

AQHA Senior Heeling World Champion: DT Hickorys Playtime and Dakota Kirchenschlager

Dean Tuftin’s DT Hickorys Playtime was, alternatively, an NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity standout as a 3-year-old, winning $30,000 for sixth in 2020, having earned $59,891 in her limited career leading up to the 2024 AQHA World Show.

Watch Dakota Kirchenschlager’s Full Training Program ONLY On Roping.com

“We got her when she was 6 in July of last year,” Dakota said. “They had roped on her a little bit at Dean’s. I don’t know exactly how much, but she was definitely started, and we just kind of took off with her from there.”

Her only other team roping check came in Rock Springs this past year in the jackpot held alongside the Royal Crown, picking up $3,450 for first in the #16. She made the finals in the Platinum Medal as a 6-year-old, but they had bad luck. She was good on two in Fort Worth in 2023, too, but again had tough luck with a third-round no-time. So, while Dakota has plenty of big-name horses in his program, this mare, like Tate’s stud, flew under the radar in the heeling.

But she’s a Hickory Holly Time, and that counts for something, because they’ve been proven winners in the team roping. The former World’s Greatest Horseman champ is 2024’s leading sire of money earners across all roping disciplines, with $474,301 won before the World Show. He’s second all-time with $1,252,974 in progeny earnings, behind only Metallic Cat—who has nearly twice the performers on record per QData’s leaderboards as of Nov. 4. Dakota won the first Riata Open on a Hickory Holly Time mare, too—DT Hickorys Mistycat.

“At the end of the day, at the end of an event, whether it’s the World Show, the Riata, the Futurity, it takes a horse that is very special to have the stamina to go for four days,” Dakota said. “I mean, we’ve been here for three, four days now. It’s cement everywhere. You put 10 bags of shavings in there and they’re still going to get sore and tire and them horses, they’re always there. There’s something about ’em. I’ve had great success with ’em, whether it’s heading on ’em or heeling on ’em. I look up sometimes and I’ll have 10 or 15 Hickory Holly times at my house, and we got some we haven’t showed any yet. We’ve been roping calves on them other people own. I think the horses are going to do some huge things. I’m very excited for the future of everything Dean’s done for me with the Hickory Holly Times. And I think that it’s just a good horse is a good horse, and they’re very exceptional that they can go hard and you can take ’em and haul ’em across the world, and they can still—when most horses are getting tired and giving up—them horses, they’re right there ready to finish the job.”

—TRJ—

The post Kirchenschlagers Help Each Other to 2024 AQHA World Titles in Senior Heading, Heeling on Starlight Oak 017, DT Hickorys Playtime appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Cade Rice will compete in the AQHA World Show’s Senior Heeling Finals on four head—the most of any competitor—when it kicks off Nov. 3 at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City.

Full AQHA World Show Results and Working Orders

Of the 88 horses entered, Rice will show in the Finals Jungle Cat, Roll Your Nickles, Sevens Star Glo and Chic O Dual in pursuit of the AQHA’s golden globe, with Chic O Dual also working earlier in the day in the Senior Heading Finals.

Chic O Dual’s sire, Dual Spark, is one of two studs with two progeny back in the Finals. Hall of Famer J.D. Yates will show another son of Dual Spark, Big Smokin Time out of Big Smoking Wonder. Lil Joe Cash also has two sons in the Finals, with Trey Yates showing Travalin Joe and Dustin Rogers showing Johnnys Lil Cash—a horse that’s also making it back on the head side.

Of note, DT Sugar Chex Whiz will compete with Billie Jack Saebens. She’s a former AQHA World Champion in the tie-down roping with J.D. Yates, and Saebens won the Heel Horse of the Year title on her for Dixon Flowers Quarter Horses in 2019. Since then, the mare has become roping’s blue hen broodmare of this generation as the dam to DT Hickorys Blue Steel who will compete in the senior heading finals, as well as The Darkk Side, who led the junior heading prelims and will compete in the junior heading and heeling finals with Miles Baker.

2024 AQHA World Show Senior Heeling Working Order

The post Cade Rice Leads Count with 4 in AQHA World Show’s Senior Heeling Finals appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

When the AQHA’s Senior Heading Finals kick off Sunday afternoon, Nov. 3, Brad Lund will be a busy man.

Lund will show Playmates Blue Blood, Hat Six Okie Jonez, DT Hickory Blue Steel and Senoritas Holly Time—bringing back four horses in a class of 73 in the Level 3 heading.

Watch Brad Lund’s Full Program on Roping.com

Hickory Holly Time is the only sire with two offspring in the Finals, and Lund will show both: DT Hickory Blue Steel and Senoritas Holly Time.

AQHA World Show Heading Finals Working Order

The post Brad Lund Brings Four Back to 2024 AQHA World Senior Heading Finals appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Treston Brazile one-upped himself in the ARHFA World Championship Non Pro Heeling in 2024—winning both first and second place to 2023’s first-place—earning a total of $14,580.

“I was a little more nervous than I usually am because I was on [Pride And Joyy],” Brazile, 16, said. “I’ll usually ride one or two of Miles [Baker’s] and he couldn’t care less if I messed up on them. But I really wanted to do good for the stud’s owners.”

Brazile did just that, topping Round 1 on Woody Be Spotted and Round 2 on Pride And Joyy, entering the short go as first and second high call. From there, it was time to execute with his dad Trevor Brazile on the head side spinning the steers for him.

No. 1 Woody Be Spotted

With scores of 229.34, 229.11 and 230.06 for an aggregate of 688.51 on the flashiest horse in the pen, Brazile won the Non Pro Heeling for the second year in a row.

“I’ve showed [Woody Be Spotted] since I got him, and I won it on him last year,” Brazile said. “He loves this arena and has won a lot at the US Finals and things. A lot of people would think [the judges] don’t like Appaloosa’s, but he’s so flashy, and when he stops he frames up. He’ll take a hit and that’s the main part of the run.”

Owned by Relentless Remuda, Woody Be Spotted added $8,100 to his ledger with the win.

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No. 2 Pride And Joyy

Brazile had the opportunity to ride one of the hottest rope stallions going in the Non Pro Heeling, too, finishing with an aggregate of 686.97 following scores of 227.99, 231.7 and 227.28. With the effort, “Kilo” won $6,480.

Owned by a partnership including Relentless Remuda, Solo Select and Kaleb Terlip, Brazile admitted there was more pressure with “more people in my corner.”

“I think I get more nervous on a horse that’s so talented because they know their job, and I just have to do my job,” Brazile said. “It’s like a Ferrari on autopilot. He’s a super amazing horse and I’m super blessed to get to ride him.”

Brazile thanked the stud’s owners for the opportunity to ride him as well as his dad Trevor for heading for him all day. Trevor had shoulder surgery earlier in the year, meaning that Baker headed for Brazile while Trevor healed.

“When my dad got back it was like he never left,” Brazile said. “They handle cows very similar, but there is something different about roping with dad. He doesn’t like to help, but I make him help me all the time.”

As for roping goals, Brazile says he plans to make it to the ARHFA Open Heeling Short Go in 2025 before turning his attention from the horse show business to rodeo.

The post Treston Brazile Beats Nerves, Goes 1-2 in 2024 ARHFA Non Pro Heeling on Woody Be Spotted and Pride And Joyy appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Beto Cisneros clinched the 2024 ARHFA Non Pro Heading Championship by nearly four points, garnering more than $8K with his aggregate of 687.69 points.

Astride the Lisac families’ 4-year-old bay gelding Time To Travel, known in the barn as “Hotdog,” Cisneros scored a 229.11 and 229.56, winning Round 2 for $1,300. With Billie Jack Saebens on the heels, Cisneros sent himself to the Short Go in the high callback position.

From there, Cisneros was primed to do what he’d driven down from Colorado to do—win the roping. With a 229.02 he did just that, earning $7,340 for a total of $8,640.

“Winning this is huge,” Cisneros, 23, said. “The last run, I just knew I needed to keep clean. I went in the box, and talked to myself, ‘I need to score, rope and face good.’ I scored good, and everything went well. I was a little late off the barrier but I roped him and Billie Jack did the rest.”

Cisneros says the gelding sired by Hickory Holly Time and out of Travelin Miss Jonez (by Travelin Jonez) was started in a cowhorse program before being purchased by Cisneros’ girlfriend’s family, Wade and Timmi Jo Lisac.

“Hotdog is real good and easy to rope on,” Cisneros said. “He’s been easy since day one, he just goes with the flow and is very honest.”

Cisneros is an electrician by trade, and plans to continue showing Hotdog in the roping futurities as his side hobby. He thanked the Lisac family, Singleton family, Billie Jack Saebens as well as Jay and Lu Wadhams for putting on the Futurity.

2024 ARHFA Non Pro Heading Average Results

The post Beto Cisneros and Time To Travel Capture 2024 ARHFA Non Pro Heading Championship appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Grayson Colt Bolejack, 1, died Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Wichita Falls, Texas, after a fire engulfed the family home.

Grayson Colt, who would have turned 2 on Christmas, was the son of 23-year-old rope horse futurity trainer Clyde Bolejack and partner Sierra Branson.

“To know Grayson Colt or ‘JR’ to many was to love him,” Branson wrote on Facebook. “Boy was he crazy for his cows and making you laugh.. and boy oh boy did he LOVE to sing. He was so intelligent, loving and most of all my whole world… I will never get the image of my whole world burning to nothing right in front of me out of my head, my baby boy… my home… every single thing.. all gone. I will ask God till it’s my last day on earth to give me strength to get through another day. Grief terrifies me.. I’ve never lost a family member, I’ve never dealt with a loss of any type. All I ask is prayers for my family.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to support the family, who lost everything in the fire just days after the conclusion of the American Rope Horse Futurity Association World Championship.

Clyde and Sierra lost everything in the fire, and family is accepting donations at 1200 Adell Circle in Weatherford, Texas, 76088. Sierra’s clothing sizes are small (shirts), 00/1 x 36 (pants), 8 (shoes), while Clyde wears a large shirt, 31×36 in jeans and 10.5 in shoes.

Bolejack’s personal Venmo account is @Clyde-Bolejack for direct contributions. The family requests privacy at this time as they process the loss.

We will continue to update this page with news on how to contribute.

The post Grayson Bolejack, 1, Dies in Wichita Falls House Fire appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Offspring of stallion Gunners Special Nite carried Trevor Brazile to his long-awaited first ARHFA World Championship and Joseph Harrison to his fourth, marking the first time in ARHFA history that two colts from the same sire swept the titles.

Both horses also won the 4-&-Under World Championship earlier in the day, another first at the $200,000-added event in Fort Worth’s John Justin Arena.

Full Results: 2024 ARHFA World Championship

“We’re super excited, and we’ve been a fan for a long time of the rope horse business,” said Tom McCutcheon, who stands Gunners Special Nite and who won $235,000 on him in his reining career. “It’s really exciting for me to see it and be successful. His colts are so good minded, it’s not a surprise to me. We’ve been fortunate to get some nice colts in the right hands. We’ve never pushed him toward the roping because he’s one of reining’s top sires, but I guess that might change.”

RR Gunners Affair & Trevor Brazile

In the eight year history of the ARHFA World Championships, Brazile has been high call in exactly half of the Open heading short rounds. But the King of the Cowboys finally walked out of the arena with the title Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, on RR Gunners Affair, a 4-year-old, owned by Jared Wittwer, in just his third trip to town, and $51,000 for his efforts. (That’s $6,000 in go-round winnings, plus $20,000 for the 4-&-Under title and $25,000 for the Open title. Chrome Cash and Royal Crown Stallion Incentive earnings aren’t posted yet.)

“This thing has always been good to us, but it is, it’s nice to finally win it,” Brazile said. “I don’t know that you ever—even once you win it—you don’t want to win it any less because this is a great win. They’ve got a great crowd, and it’s just a culmination of a big year for these horses, and it’s a new group annually, and so they go against their peers and it’s a lot of fun…We really take pride in this and when we do come to town, we want the horses to look and ourselves to look like the work we’ve been putting in.”

Watch: How Miles Baker Started RR Gunners Affair

RR Gunners Affair is a maternal sibling to WND Affair, the horse Brazile and Baker owned who won the ARHFA World Championship on the heel side with Harrison in 2021.

“That dam is old-school reining-bred,” Brazile said. “She’s worked for our industry. They’ve all had plenty of gas, been stone-cold soldiers in the box and been big with good structure.”

Because he made the short rounds in both the 4-year-old and Open divisions, RR Gunners Affair had to make two short-round runs under the bright lights with the big crowd and loud music. But he wasn’t phased, marking a 236.71 and 233.56 in both short rounds and finishing with a 944.55 in the 4-&-Under and a 941.40 for the Open win. In the Open, Brazile bested himself on RR Buckles Clubhouse (by Show Me The Buckles out of Hail Olena) at second place, for $20,000 with a score of 938.8.

“We had a great day in the prelims of the heading. We had a terrible day in the prelims of the healing, so it was definitely a roller coaster as far as that goes, because we went from one day where we were, I felt like the horses were great. Me and Miles had good days, and then to the next day, 24 hours later, we couldn’t do much right. So it’s just part of it, and I love it for the horses when we win. I hate it for the horses and the owners when we don’t, but it’s not from lack of effort.”

The irony of two Gunners Special Nite siblings getting the titles isn’t lost on Brazile.

“You would’ve probably lost a lot of money in a bet on that,” Brazile said. “In the heeling, I see it a lot, but that mare they crossed him on was kind of old-school reining. I think she goes back to a Major Vaquero, and they said it was just a bigger, grittier line. Whatever it was, they tapped into something that dang sure had enough zing in the run, and the size and grit that it is no surprise to see him in the heeling win. But that’s the only Gunners Special Nite that I’ve ever headed on.”

Brazile had the help of two-time and reigning World Champion Wesley Thorp on the heel side.

“Wesley was perfect for me, and I was less than perfect on the goes I gave him a lot of times too,” Brazile admitted. “I mean, the steers were not ideal to heel sometimes, and you would’ve never known it with him. I mean, he literally was perfect. He got two feet every time I turned him and didn’t take long to do it.”

One Nite Special & Joseph Harrison

Joseph Harrison brought his string of seasoned futurity horses to town for the ARHFA World Championship, but his youngest—the 4-year-old One Nite Special—came out on top when the dust settled Friday night.

“We say this about all the ones that we do good on, but he really is pretty special for a 4-year-old man,” Harrison said. “To be honest, he’s still a hair immature. I think some of those horses as 4-year-olds, especially those Gunners Special Nites, have a little bit of a reputation for being just a hair immature when they’re young, but they’re extremely talented. They’re pretty horses, and they’re fun horses. That little horse there, he is just fun.”

One Nite Special placed in the first round for $1,500, and then won the third round for another $4,000 to come back high call in both the 4-&-Under and Open short rounds. For the 4-&-Under, Harrison and One Nite Special won $20,000, and for the Open, they picked up $30,000. When Chrome Cash and Royal Crown Incentive money is added into the mix, the horse’s earnings for the two days in Fort Worth will top $60,000.

This is Harrison’s fourth Open title at the ARHFA, but his first since 2021.

“He’s honestly a little cowy,” Harrison said. “I mean, just a little bit. Not bad cowy, but pretty kind of good cow. He really wants to hook you into the cow in a good place and stuff like that. So I mean, for a 4-year-old I can kind of put my hand down on him more so than I can some of the other 4-year-olds.”

The post Brazile on RR Gunners Affair, Harrison on One Nite Special Sweep ARHFA World Championships on Gunners Special Nite Colts appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

JohnRyon Foster was the first and second high call in the Open Intermediate Heeling Finals on Buffalou and Wood You Know, executing under pressure to hold his positions and win $20,000 and $15,000, respectively.

He picked up another $8,000 when he finished eighth in the Open Finals on Buffalou, and $3,000 more for finishing in the top 20 on both Jonezin For My Boss and Wood You Know.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little nerve wracking,” Foster, 27, said. “I was trying to keep everything together and stay focused since I had multiple in the short round. I knew that if I did my job on my horses that we could get it done. Besides, at this point, everything that went into [training] is harder than doing your job in the finals. I’m just happy to be here.”

In addition to his total of $56,000 won between four horses in the Intermediate and Open Finals, Foster also collected the 2024 ARHFA Year-End Intermediate High Money Earner Superior Trailer.

2024 ARHFA Intermediate Heeling Champion: Buffalou

The 5-year-old son of cutting stallion Cattalou, Buffalou proved he had the grit to hold his No. 1 callback position and score an aggregate of 937.5 on four head to earn $20,000.

“Me and my dad are partners on him, and I showed him part of his 4-year-old year before he got hurt,” Foster said. “I only got him back this year and started showing him at the end of the year. He’s always been really good, but we’ve finally starting to put all the pieces together.”

According to Foster, Buffalou sustained a left hind suspensory injury that needed a lot of time off and rehab. But when he came back—aside from being fresh—Buffalou was ready to work.

“He’s good minded, easy to train, stops good and does a lot of things correctly,” Foster said. “I just have to do my job.”

Foster plans to show Buffalou his 6-year-old year in the futurities before keeping him as a personal jackpot horse.

2024 ARHFA Intermediate Heeling Reserve Champion: Wood You Know

With an aggregate of 933.43 on four head, Wood You Know (Woody Be Tuff x Little Bow Knows) garnered $15,000 in winnings for owners Nancy Galbreath and Dee Merritt.

Now 4 years old, Wood You Know was in cutting training with $2 million rider R.L. Chartier until he was 3 years old.

“He’s special and a really talented, mature 4-year-old,” Foster said. “R.L. did a great job with him. He was really broke, so it was an easy transition to rope horse. Some of the cutters can be a little cowy in the roping but he’s been easy. I think he likes this job a little better.”

2024 ARHFA Intermediate Heeling Results

The post JohnRyon Foster Goes 1-2 on Buffalou and Wood You Know in ARHFA Intermediate Heeling Finals appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Larry and Bobbie Rice’s Flag Ranch will have four representatives of their illustrious breeding program in the ARHFA heading short round when it kicks off at 7 p.m., ridden by the likes of Miles Baker, Kaleb Driggers and Colby Lovell.

At sixth call, Baker will show Lunchbox, owned by Ryan and Kristen Morrow. The 2019 gelding out of Young Laneys Paint by Smart Painted Lena has won $82,650 according to QData, including a third-place win at the Riata Championships in the Open in 2024. He’s a 701.25 on three.

“Larry Rice was ahead of his time, crossing the race horses on the cow horses,” Baker said. “He was taking good cow horses on good race horses and crossing them so he’d have really good ranch horses, and they ended up turning out to be good rope horses. Now we’re all trying to breed the same horse he had a vision for 10 years ago. We’re seeing the outcome of it now. There’s so many he bred and raised because we’ve had to go buy them from him because we wasn’t raising them ourselves yet.”

At eighth call, Driggers is on Blowin In Time, a mare he owns with partner Jake Cooper in Kingpin Genetics. She’s a 4-year-old mare by One Fabulous Time, who stands at the Lazy E, out of Blowing Withthe Wind by Fury Of The Wind. The mare has no performance earnings to date. She’s a 698.46 on three.

“The one we have is just a good cross,” Driggers said. “She’s got sting to her—in a good way. She can run so I’m not scared to be off the barrier a little bit. She’s got really good footwork. The most important part to me is that she has the speed but doesn’t get long through the turn. She collects up and uses her feet right.”

Relentless PYC, the champion 4-year-old of the Old West Futurity, will be 11th call with Baker with a score of 697.86. She’s won $106,521 per QData in her short career already, all with Baker. By First Prize Diver out of Chars Gun by Playgun. She’s owned by the Relentless Remuda, Solo Select and Bob Tonkin.

Lovell will ride Pepinstep at 13th call with a 697.2, a 2018 son of One Time Pepto out of Better Sue by Bet On Me. The stallion won the Riata’s #14.5 in 2023, and he’s already got $100,593 won with very limited hauling for owners at the Theorem Ranch.

“Mr. Larry studies the game,” Lovell said. “There’s an art to breeding horses and he’s got it penciled in.”

The Flag Ranch also bred Chics Magic Corona, the gelding Rhen Richard won the 2022 ARHFA World Championship aboard.

The post Flag Ranch Brings Four Horses to ARHFA Heading Short Round appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The 2024 ARHFA World Championship Heeling Short Round is set with 25 handy horses and riders ready to make their bid at the World Championship—and these are the bloodlines that built them.

Woody Be Tuff has three offspring in the 2024 ARHFA short round, the most of any stallion. A Savanah Cat has two colts in it, and one of them—Cheyenne Red Cat—is also in the heading short round. Bet Hesa Cat has two offspring in the top 25 as well.

They will compete Friday, Oct. 18. The day kicks off with Intermediate Heading and Heeling, followed by the 3-and-4-year-old finals and finally, the Open Finals starting at 7 p.m.

In the heeling finals, they’ll run slow to fast time, with Jonezin For My Boss and Bet Hesa Shiner tied for the No. 24 position.

2024 ARHFA Short Round Heel Horses

1. One Nite Special

Gunners Special Nite x Thelmas Whiz

Rider: Joseph Harrison

Owner: Chris Young

Breeder: Mike Michelle Preston

Score: 709.07

2. Canteburys Cherry

Centebury Cat x Cherrey

Rider: Hunter Koch

Owner: JD and Lindsey McGuire

Breeder: Rodney Wrinkle Cutting Horses LLC

Score: 706.59

3. DT Hickorys Eyecandy

Hickory Holly Time x Esperanza

Rider: Dakota Kirchenschlager

Owner: DT Horses LLC

Breeder: DT Horses LLC

Score: 704.82

4. JKC Smart Playen Sis

Playen Spades x Lectric Jerry

Rider: Shay Carroll

Owner: Shay Carroll

Breeder: John Coltharp

Score: 704.81

5. DF Bet Hesa Legend

Bet Hesa Cat x Gunna Be A Legend

Rider: Billie Jack Saebens

Owner: Patrick Gideon

Breeder: DF Rope Horses

Score: 704.71

6. Buffalou

Cattalou x Kitty Merada

Rider: JohnRyon Foster

Owner: Rob Foster

Breeder: Glenn and Shari Hirt

Score: 703.71

7. Rockk Star

Peptoboonsmal x Aristocratic Star

Rider: Hunter Koch

Owner: JD and Lindsey McQuire

Breeder: Star C Land and Cattle

Score: 703.24

8. Copperton

Spots Hot x Copperish

Rider: Joseph Harrison

Owner: Cox & Moore Partnership

Breeder: Jimmie Smith

Score: 702.67

9. Cheyenne Red Cat

A Savanah Cat x Harpers Holly Tucker

Rider: Kaleb Driggers

Owner: Kaleb Driggers

Breeder: Joe Hutchison

Score: 702.51

10. Sippin Patron

Dual Patron x Vahalla Foxy Shiner

Rider: Joseph Harrison

Owner: Justin Ochs

Breeder: Rylee Ochs

Score: 701.95

11. Wood You Know

Woody Be Tuff x Little Bow Knows

Rider: JohnRyon Foster

Owner: Nancy Lynn Galbreath

Breeder: Alexa Stent

Score: 701.6

12. A Nu Kinda Cat

A Savanah Cat x Ima Dallas Chic

Rider: Steve Orth

Owner: Don Bradshaw

Breeder: Don Bradshaw

Score: 701.38

13. Smart Rey Movin

Dual Smart Rey x Catsa Movin

Rider: Kaleb Driggers

Owner: Kaleb Driggers

Breeder: Lakeside Ranch

Score: 700.37

14. Mayhemm

Metallic Rebel x Katniss

Rider: Dakota Kirchenschlager

Owner: TNT Performance Horses

Breeder: Beau and Ashley Galyean

Score: 700.23

15. The Notorious B I G

CD Lights x DT Sugar Check Whiz

Rider: Billie Jack Saebens

Owner: Southern Ranches

Breeder: Dixon Flowers Rope Horses

Score: 699.8

16. CR Woody Be A Dual

Woody Be Tuff x ARC Catty Dual

Rider: Rhen Richard

Owner: A/C Racing & Roping

Breeder: Center Ranch

Score: 697.52

17. Elon Von

Stevie Rey Von x Shineydiamonsjackie

Rider: Bubba Garcia

Owner: Tripp Townsend

Breeder: Salt Fork Cattle

Score: 696.78

18. Playing Tuff

My Playinstylish x My Books Are Tuff

Rider: Lane Reeves

Owner: Hard Way Land and Livestock LLC

Breeder: Kit and Charlie Moncrief

Score: 696.49

19. The Spook Dun Time

Shine N Spook x Ice Cold Dunit

Rider: Steve Orth

Owner: Sara Hudson

Breeder: Clark Reining Horses

Score: 695.82

20. Reyzin With Grace

Woody Be Tuff x Reyzin

Rider: Cade Rice

Owner: Shane Walters

Breeder: Gale Force QH

Score: 695.4

21. SJR Diamond Ombre

CD Diamond x SJR Stylish Marilyn

Rider: Rhen Richard

Owner: A/C Racing & Roping

Breeder: San Juan Ranch

Score: 695.22

22. Probaby Smart N Nu

Smart Nu Shiner x Probably Red Buck

Rider: Daniel Reed

Owner: Chris Sutton

Breeder: Mike Van Egdom

Score: 695

23. Not White At All

Not Ruf At All x Snappy Lil Spook

Rider: Trevor Brazile

Owner: Relentless Remuda LLC

Breeder: Vaughn Zimmerman

Score: 694.31

24. (tie) Jonezin For My Boss

CD Lights x Travelin Miss Jonez

Rider: JohnRyon Foster

Owner: Randy & Theresa Quarne

Breeder: Stephen Roseberry

Score: 693.62

24. (tie) Bet Hesa Shiner

Bet Hesa Cat x Nic A Shiner

Rider: Ryan Motes

Owner: Gianna Hansen

Breeder: Gianna Hansen

Score: 693.62

The post Pedigrees of the Top 25 Heel Horses in 2024 ARHFA World Championship Short Go appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The $7.8 million sire Gunners Special Nite—who himself earned $235,000 in the reining—is the first horse to sire both heading and heeling high-call horses in the Open division of the American Rope Horse Futurity Association World Championship.

ARHFA Short-Round List on CHC

The 4-year-old gelding One Nite Special and Joseph Harrison hold a 2.48-point over the second-place team of Canteburys Cherry and Hunter Koch—setting Harrison up to vie for his fourth ARHFA heeling championship. Meanwhile, on the head side, Trevor Brazile will rope for his long-eluded title on the Relentless Remuda’s RR Gunners Affair, also by Gunners Special Nite.

“To be honest, Miles (Baker) had good luck a couple times with Gunners Special Nites,” Harrison said of the stud owned by Turnabout Farm Inc.. “Steve Orth had a buckskin and had good luck. I had said something in an interview that maybe I hadn’t rode a Gunners Special Nite, and I wanted to.”

Arizona’s Chris “Gucci Man” Young heard the interview, and he called to tell Harrison about a 3-year-old bay he should try.

“He sent him to me, and here we are,” Harrison said. “He’s the first one I’ve ever rode. Miles told me they could be a hair immature minded. I noticed right away with mine, that he plays all the time. He’s playing when you catch him, he’s playing while you saddle him, he’s always playing. He’s playing when you school on him and ride him at the house. But when you get to town, he’s not playing.”

Brazile pointed to the skills of the small herd of Gunners Special Nite horses that have found their way into the Remuda string over the last few years, including Gunners Nite Train who Baker’s shown the last two years, and RR Gold Starr, who Baker showed for the first time this week.

“They naturally want to have their butts down and their shoulders up,” Brazile said. “That comes easy for them.”

Gunners Special Nite is the No. 8 all-time leading reining sire with $7.8 million, and he’s No. 50 on QData’s all-time leading rope horse sire list with $201,744.

Harrison will first go for the 4-&-Under Heeling title at 2 p.m., followed by the Open finals at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18.

“He’s had a touch of bad luck,” Harrison said of the horse who placed at the ARHFA Sun Circuit this March and second at the Royal Crown in Guthrie. “I should have won way more on him than I have. I’ve messed up on him from second or third high callback or better. He’s just a good horse. He’s big enough, he’s strong enough. All of Miles’ have been good bodied, strong. They’re all big, strong, pretty horses.”

Harrison has had the help of Clay Smith, while Brazile will count on Wesley Thorp.

The post With Harrison & One Nite Special, Gunners Special Nite Dominates High Call Spots at 2024 ARHFA World Championship appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Up-and-coming rope horse trainer Mike Kunzler gathered the 2024 ARHFA Heading Limited Championship on Briena “Bri” Wells’ gelding Celtic Tuff, worth $7,500 for a score of 692.07 on three head in Fort Worth’s John Justin Arena.

Roping against one of the most consistent groups of futurity head horses ever put together, Kunzler and Celtic Tuff narrowly missed the Open Finals by 0.58 of a point, but he’ll enter the Intermediate finals Friday, Oct. 18 at high call.

“This horse is consistent,” Kunzler, 25, originally from Park Valley, Utah, said. “He lets me compete against guys that rope a lot better than me. When he has a choice to [short you] or let you do good, he always chooses to do good. Today, I think I could have scored better on my first steer and that would have helped my score.”

In Celtic Tuff’s blood

Bred by the iconic Center Ranch, sired by Woody Be Tuff and out of High Brow Cat daughter Sucha Smartlookn Cat (a full sister to WR This Cats Smart), all of Celtic Tuff’s siblings have been cow horses. It’s only fitting that one of his biggest career wins comes with the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity unfolding in the background of the Will Rogers Memorial Center.

“I’ve rode a couple of Woody Be Tuffs, and I really like them,” Kunzler, who now lives in Whitesboro, Texas, said.

Now 6 years old, Celtic Tuff has been in Kunzler’s string for three years. The ARHFA World Championship is his last kick at the roping futurity game—and he’s garnered $78,932 in QData earnings doing it—but his owner Wells plans to jackpot on him going forward.

Kunzler trained for J.D. Yates and Dakota Kirchenschlager before going out on his own. Now, he rents stalls from Kirchenschlager and the pair practice together every day. Kunzler said that being his own boss has its challenges, but aims to keep between eight and 12 horses in training to continue building his business.

2024 ARHFA Heading Limited Results

The post Mike Kunzler Captures 2024 ARHFA Limited Heading Championship Aboard Celtic Tuff appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The 2024 ARHFA World Championship Heading Short Round is set with 25 handy horses and riders ready to make their bid at the World Championship.

They will compete Friday, Oct. 18, starting at 9 a.m. with the Intermediate Heading and Heeling. In the heading finals, they’ll run slow to fast time, starting with No. 25 The Darkk Side.

2024 ARHFA Short Round Head Horses

1. RR Gunners Affair

Gunners Special Nite x Cowgirl Affair

Rider: Trevor Brazile

Owner: Jared Whittwer

Breeder: LIL EQUINE LLC

Score: 707.84

2. Cheyenne Red Cat

A Savanah Cat x Harpers Holly Tucker

Rider: Andy Holcomb

Owner: Kaleb Driggers

Breeder: JOE HUTCHISON

Score: 703.71

3. Tia B French

Frenchmans Fortune x Tia B Girl

Rider: Kaleb Driggers

Owner: K4 Partnership LLC

Breeder: JOE GOETZ

Score: 703.26

4. RR Buckles Clubhouse

Show Me The Buckles x Hail Olena

Rider: Trevor Brazile

Owner: Bryan Beaver

Breeder: MICHAEL O COE

Score: 702.34

5. Yes Im Sassy

Mr Sassy Frenchman x Full A Irish Whiskey

Rider: Kaleb Driggers

Owner: Neal or Jody Wanless

Breeder: BILL MEYERS

Score: 701.98

6. Lunchbox

One Time Honor x Young Laneys Paint

Rider: Miles Baker

Owner: Ryann and Kristen Morrow

Breeder: FLAG RANCH LLC

Score: 701.25

7. Foose Is Smoking

Reys Smokin Dually x Runaway Foose

Rider: Rhen Richard

Owner: A/C Racing & Roping

Breeder: AC RACING AND ROPING

Score: 699.25

8. Blowin In Time

One Fabulous Time x Blowing Withthe Wind

Rider: Kaleb Driggers

Owner: Kingpin Genetics

Breeder: FLAG RANCH LLC

Score: 698.46

9. SJR Bet He Sparks

Bet Hesa Cat x CD Sparkle

Rider: Tate Kirchenschlager

Owner: Belo Wiley

Breeder: SAN JUAN RANCH

Score: 698.34

10. Dun Diamond Cat

Dun Diamond Tom x SR Matilda Cat

Rider: Colby Lovell

Owner: Jerry Crowell

Breeder: RAY SMITH

Score: 698.34

11. Relentless PYC

First Prize Driver x Chars Gun

Rider: Miles Baker

Owner: Relentless Remuda/Solo Select/Bob Tonkin

Breeder: FLAG RANCH LLC

Score: 697.86

12. Time To Glo

Hickory Holly Time x Look At Her Glo

Rider: Trevor Brazile

Owner: Time To Glo Partners

Breeder: BOBBY LEWIS

Score: 697.7

13. Pepinstep

One Time Pepto x Better Sue

Rider: Colby Lovell

Owner: Theorem Ranch

Breeder: FLAG RANCH LLC

Score: 697.2

14. Stylin Bill

Stylin Cat x Billie Sue Canoso

Rider: Miles Baker

Owner: Relentless Remuda LLC

Breeder: GREG NITE

Score: 696.71

15. PC Suncashin

Judge Cash x PC Sophia Frost

Rider: Miles Baker

Owner: Relentless Remuda LLC

Breeder: COWAN BROTHERS LLC

Score: 696

16. Chex Out My Finey

One Fine Vintage x Tangys Last Checks

Rider: Kaleb Driggers

Owner: Kingpin Genetics

Breeder: ROBERTSON RANCHES

Score: 695.18

17. Mr HH Badger

CC Blue Ten x HH Smart Holly

Rider: Chad Masters

Owner: Mitchell Bazzell

Breeder: DON STUDDARD

Score: 694.79

18. Seven S Blackjack

Catty Hawk x Seven S Cattle Kate

Rider: Andy Holcomb

Owner: Cowan Ranch, Inc.

Breeder: TERRY STUART FORST

Score: 694.7

19. Kynis Brookstone

Brookstone Bay x Skinny Kyni

Rider: Rhen Richard

Owner: A/C Racing & Roping

Breeder: AC RACING ROPING

Score: 693.71

20. Joe Jack Cash

Lotta Shineycash x Red Joe Missy

Rider: Chad Masters

Owner: Chad Masters

Breeder: CALVIN CAMPBELL

Score: 693.4

21. Tin Cat Ghost

Gunners Tinseltown x Elans Smarty Ghost

Rider: Colby Lovell

Owner: Paul Eaves

Breeder: JAMES G COWLES

Score: 693.38

22. DCC Fools Gold

Metallic Echo x DCC Smooth Sugar

Rider: Tate Kirchenschlager

Owner: Dasco Cattle Co.

Breeder: DASCO CATTLE CO

Score: 693.28

23. A Tru Painted Cat

High Brow Cat x Paulas Lady Rolex

Rider: Jojo Lemond

Owner: Heather Hankins

Breeder: MARK CROSS

Score: 693.04

24. Doc Red Gipsy

Hairpin Gipsy Blue x Goldies Lady Doc

Rider: Chad Masters

Owner: Chad Masters

Breeder: MARTIN L HAGGARD

Score: 692.71

25. The Darkk Side

Once In A Blu Boon x DT Sugar Chex Whiz

Rider: Trevor Brazile

Owner: The Darkk Side Syndicate

Breeder: DIXON FLOWERS QUARTER HORSES

Score: 692.65

The post Pedigrees of the Top 25 Head Horses in 2024 ARHFA World Championship Short Round appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Trevor Brazile will get another chance at the one title in his $7-million-and-then-some career that’s eluded him—the ARHFA World Championship—when he ropes in Fort Worth Friday, Oct. 18 at high call in the Open heading short round on 4-year-old gelding RR Gunners Affair.

Full Results: 2024 ARHFA World Championship

Brazile and RR Gunners Affair, owned by Jared Wittwer, enter the short round with a score of 707.84 on three head, a full 4.13 points ahead of Andy Holcomb and Cheyenne Red Cat at second call.

“He feels really pure right now,” Brazile said of the 4-year-old. “Obviously all these young horses go through stages and you want them peaking on these big stages. Sometimes it’s not your timeline. But this one is really pure right now. I had a good feeling about it going into it.”

Must-Watch: RR Gunners Affair and Baker at 90 Rides

The gelding—by reining stallion Gunners Special Nite—is a maternal sibling to WND Affair, the horse Brazile and Relentless Remuda partner Miles Baker owned that won an ARHFA World Championship on the heel side with Joseph Harrison. The unassuming sorrel that Baker started in the Remuda program as a 2-year-old will give Brazile another chance to head a steer for the ARHFA World Championship, a spot he’s been in three times before but has yet to sealed the deal.

Watch: Miles Baker Rides RR Gunners Affair as a 2-Year-Old with 90 Rides

“This is a big deal because it’s not just me,” Brazile said. “It would pay more to win second and third than to win first, but it’s cool for horses and owners. It’s a complicated scenario. There’s a lot of people, you know, involved. And it’s fun when they get recognized too.”

The Relentless Remuda is team roping’s all-time leading owner, having won $975,553 on horses they own alone since QData started tracking roping numbers. Brazile and his wife, Shada, also own Treda LLC, which has won another $459,413 as owners—much of that on BoomBoom Firecracker, a horse Brazile was high back on at the Futurity but never quite sealed the deal with in his show career.

Brazile also was high back aboard Lari Dee Guy’s American Greed and the Remuda’s Tuckin Away Buckles, but both came up short.

The Remuda won $413,393 of that $975,533 in 2024—but a mere $33,537 of that money was on RR Gunners Affair, perhaps the least decorated of the horses the Remuda has entered in Fort Worth at the ARHFA World Championship. Brazile and Baker bring eight horses back to the short round of the nine they brought to town in the heading.

“We said it from the start that it was going to be a dog fight,” Brazile said. “Everybody executed really well yesterday. You look through that list, it’s just tight. The game has elevated so much—I remember making the short round with a great chance with a barrier. Now, a barrier is the cutoff to get out of the first round. This year, I don’t think a leg made it back. That’s tough.”

There were no legs for Brazile and Baker, who had the help of reigning and two-time World Champion Heeler Wesley Thorp.

“When you heel as good as Wesley does the only negative to it is people expect it day in day out,” Brazile said. “It’s awesome, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

Brazile already picked up $2,000 on RR Gunners Affair for third in Round 1 and $4,000 for the Round 3 win to solidify his spot in the short round.

Baker started RR Gunners Affair as a 2-year-old in Decatur at the Remuda’s headquarters, a foundation that Brazile sees as critical to what the horse is doing now.

“This is the third one we’ve had out of this mare line,” Brazile explained. “And to have it started there on the place, by Miles, means a lot. It makes a big difference when they’ve had the same goal in mind from when they’re 2 to when they’re 4.”

The post RR Gunners Affair & Trevor Brazile Will Rope High Call in 2024 ARHFA Open Heading Short Round appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The ARHFA World Championship runs from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas’s John Justin Arena at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, in an event that will pay out $818,900 over four days.

The Open Heading Futurity—for horses 6-years-old and under—has 192 entries, beginning at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, paying out $327,000 across the Open heading, the 4-&-Under Heading, Intermediate and Limited divisions.

The ARHFA World Championship’s Open Heeling Futurity, with its 212 entries, begins at 7 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, with a payout of $348,500 across the Open, 4-&-Under, Intermediate and Limited heeling divisions.

What is the 2024 ARHFA World Championship Payout?

Open Heading

Open Heeling

What are the differences between the Open, Intermediate, Limited and Non-Pro Classes in the ARHFA?

•OPEN, LIMITED, AND INTERMEDIATE FUTURITY TEAM ROPING: 

— Horses 6 years of age and younger only. 

•INTERMEDIATE FUTURITY RIDER ELIGIBILITY:

— Header- US/WS #6E to a 6. 

— Heeler – US/WS #8 to a 6E

•LIMITED FUTURITY RIDER ELIGIBILITY:

— Header- US/WS #5E or lower. 

— Heeler – US/WS #6 or lower. 

•NON-PRO:

— Any age horse and rider must be a current USTRC/WSTRC member holding a #5E or lower card. 

How does the ARHFA scoring work?

Each horse will start out with a 70 score and go up or down from there. Judges score each maneuver from -5 to +5, and each penalty from 1 to 5. Eye appeal will be scored from -1 to +1. There is a 10-second penalty for any broken barrier and a 5-second penalty for roping a leg. 

The maneuvers judged in the heading are: Box & Barrier, Run & Rate, Setting & Handling, Facing, Degree of Difficulty and Eye Appeal. 

The 5-point heading penalties are given for Refusal to Enter the Box, Rearing, Running into the Steer and Refusing to Pull the Steer. The 1-5 point penalties are Turning Around in the Box, Getting Out Ran and Failure to Face Completely. 

The maneuvers judged in the heeling are: Box & Barrier, Run & Rate, Position, Stop & Jerk, Degree of Difficulty and Eye Appeal. The 5-point heeling penalties are Refusal to Enter the Box, Rearing Up and Running into the Steer. 

Time is the “third judge”, subtracting the total time from 80 to provide the third score. 

Who’s Judging?

Jody Ramer, Robbie Boyce, Roger Branch, and Justin Johnson

How Can You Watch the ARHFA World Championship Futurity?

It streams on NextGen.

More Details

• It’s ARHFA World Championship Time: Here’s What You Need to Know
• The Who’s Who of the 2023 ARHFA Sun Circuit Futurity
• How to Watch the 2021 American Rope Horse Futurity Association World Finals
• Tightened Up: 2023 ARHFA Intermediate Trailer Race Standings Update
• No Wolves Allowed: Intermediate, Limited and Numbered Futurities are Next Gen of Team Roping

The post Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 ARHFA’s World Championship appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Solo Select Founder Melanie Smith joins host Chelsea Shaffer to talk through the new Solo Select Stallion Incentive, which promises hundreds of thousands in new added money annually to the rope horse industry. Plus, they preview the Solo Select October Yearling Sale—the premier online yearling sale, offering the industry’s top Western performance prospects across roping, cutting, cow horse and barrel racing.

The sale features 112 premium lots, from Woody Be Tuff, Show Me The Buckles, Dirty Fling and Stevie Rey Von yearlings to three-in-one broodmares and ready-to-go show horses. Shaffer and Smith talk through which horses may turn out the top sellers, which are barn favorites and what crosses are ones to watch.

The post How the Solo Stallion Incentive Will Work PLUS the Select Online October Yearling & Mixed Sale Preview appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Whitesboro, Texas breeding operation Solo Select announced Oct. 4 the launch of its own exclusive stallion incentive for 2025, making available hundreds of thousands of new dollars to ropers, owners and breeders.

The first event—held Oct. 1-2, 2025 at the Clay Logan Open to the World—will pay out an estimated $330,000 in added money in its first year. Beginning with bookings for the 2025 breeding season, a portion of each stud fee will go into a dedicated account to fund the Solo Stallion Incentive.

Here’s How the Solo Stallion Incentive works:

To build an incentive to benefit the breeders of a relatively young roster of stallions, Solo Select decided to split the program into two phases: Phase 1 will take place from 2025-2029, and Phase 2 will begin in 2030. 

For Phase 1, the heading, heeling, breakaway and calf roping futurity—held October 1-2, 2025, during the Clay Logan Open to the World with the location to be announced—is open to ANY 4-year-olds whose AQHA-registered owners or riders have purchased a breeding to one of the stallions standing at Solo Select. 

The foals resulting from breedings in 2025 will exclusively be eligible for the 2030 Futurity Incentive as 4-year-olds, the first year the event will shift to Phase 2, focusing solely on the offspring of Solo Select Stallions.

In Phase 2 of the incentive, beginning in 2030 (the year the foals resulting from 2025 breedings will be 4-year-old futurity horses), the incentive will be exclusive to horses sired by Solo Select Stallions in the incentive. As a result, breeders of these foals will be able to advertise them as “Solo Select Stallion Incentive-Eligible,” competing only against other foals exclusively by Solo Select Incentive Stallions for an incredible amount of money in 2030 and beyond. 

“Our core motivation is to bring more money to the rope horse industry for the breeders and owners and trainers,” Ty Smith, Solo Select CEO, said. “We want this to be simple: A portion of each stallion fee at Solo will go to the added money. To enter the 2025 futurity, you must buy a breeding to a Solo Select stallion. Ride any horse that you want as long as it’s 4 years old, and each rider can only enter four horses on each side.”

Stallions Standing at Solo Eligible for the Solo Stallion Incentive

The stallion lineup at Solo Select is exclusive yet diverse, with a price point for every level of breeder in the industry: 

• Woody Be Tuff
• Boons Reflections
• Metallic Cattack
• Metallics MVP
• Pride And Joyy
• Meteles Cat
• Plain Catty
• Sheik Jean Fly HTT
• The Notorious BIG
• The Animal
• This Catt Shines
• Time To Glo

“This takes a lot of the burden off of the idea of a stallion incentive, and, in a world of complicated futurity systems, it makes it simple,” 26-time PRCA World Champion Trevor Brazile said. “For 2025, just by buying a breeding to any of those studs, you’re eligible to run at a lot of money. As a bonus, your resulting foals will be the first crop exclusively eligible in 2030. As much opportunity as there is in the futurity industry, there are a lot of stipulations. This incentive seems to be one of the simplest. They’re thinking about the future.”

Clay Logan will play host to the event at his Clay Logan Open to the World that runs Oct. 1-5. 

“This is a new venue to put a lot more money out there for these horses, breeders and ropers their 4-year-old years,” Logan said. “It makes the value of these horses higher. Once they go to that show, they’ll be able to go to other events their 5-year-old and 6-year-old years, too, but this will showcase the best 4-year-olds there are for esimated $70,000 checks on each end.”

Southern Ranches’ Shane Boston, who owns The Notorious BIG, has worked with Smith and Logan to make this futurity come to life because he’s passionate about the long-term growth of the rope horse business. 

“If we can get more of these higher-dollar futurities, and get more people coming to see what we offer, and take care of the sponsors and the VIPs, we’ll see real growth,” Boston said. “We’re a lot closer than we were five years ago. We’re another five away from really seeing the big money and big players. The payouts have to be big. I’m not going to spend $5,000 for a chance to win $15,000. I’m going to put $5,000 down if I can win $100,000.”

A breeding to any stallion in the Solo lineup will allow one entry to the futurity. The entry fees will be $1,000, with three judges and a fourth score based on time. With both an Intermediate and Open short rounds, the payout will be based on four head. The intermediate will be capped at a 6.5 header, 8 heeler. It will be $500 to enter the intermediate, and they will be roping for 100% of their money. If a horse makes it back in the Open short round but the rider is also eligible for the Intermediate short round, the horse will go straight to the Open short round with his score rolling into the Intermediate. 

“We’ve worked tirelessly to make sure we’ve got the very best stallions, vets, breeding specialists, mare offerings, recips, marketing and customer service in the industry,” Melanie said. “So providing an incentive for customers who truly believe in maintaining that level of excellence in partnership with us is the next step. If you believe in doing your business this way, we want you to be part of our program, too.” 

The post Solo Select Announces $330K Added “Solo Stallion Incentive” Starting with 2025 Breeding Season appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Kolton Hunter and Aaron Stout topped the Riata #8.5 with a time of 44.16 on four head, winning $25,000 aboard two horses sired by Show Me A Song Joes.

On the head side, Kolton Hunter was aboard Show Joe Duchess, an 8-year-old gelding by Show Me A Song Joes and out of Red Eyed Dutchess. On the heel side, Aaron Stout rode Quest Two Best, a 10-year-old stallion by Show Me A Song Joes and out of Miss Trippers Red.

Although they are both from Utah, Hunter and Stout had never roped together prior to arriving at the Lazy E.

“We had never met until yesterday,” Stout said. “We roped for the first time together in the #9.5 yesterday.”

Stout’s family owns Stout Performance Horses, owners of the stallion, Quest Two Best, that Stout rode in the #8.5. Stout Performance Horses also owns the gelding Hunter rode, Show Joe Duchess.

The stallion Stout rode in the #8.5 is a half-brother to 2021 AQHA Heading World Champion, CT Show Me Your Guns, and the full brother to standing Pitzer Ranch stallion, Oh Hell Yes.

“Pitzer Ranch owned and showed him (Show Me A Song Joes),” Stout said. “They showed him at the World Show and won the world on him in the heading. Both Show Me A Song Joes we have are very similar in the way they act and their mannerisms. They’re both built very similar, too. They both are really good, strong to the horn, let you handle them in the bridle.”

Hunter and Stout switched ends in both the #8.5 and #9.5 to maximize their entries.

“I stayed on Quest Two Best, our stud and he (Stout) stayed on Show Joe Duchess,” Hunter said. “We just kept switching back and forth on each end. These horses are just so nice.”

The Utah team roped four head in 44.16, roping a leg in the third round.

“We came out and caught the first one,” Stout said. “We were clean on him and good. On our second one, we caught and were clean. On the third one, I legged him. I thought I missed him, so I was glad to see I at least got a leg.”

On the head side, Hunter knew he needed to stay clean to come back to the final round.

“I wasn’t going to miss one today,” Hunter said. I knew I needed to give Aaron a chance because he would clean it up. I just tried to make sure I got him roped around the horns. I slowed a few down for Aaron (Stout) too much but he was patient with me. The horses worked good, so it was awesome.”

Hunter is the son of two-time NFR qualifier Nancy Hunter. Nancy qualified for the Finals in 2014 and 2015, but shortly after her last NFR qualification, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Nancy lost her battle with cancer in 2016.

“My mom was very successful,” Hunter said. “My dad has been a horse trainer his whole life and has had some really nice horses. He still has nice horses. I have to thank Riata for all you guys are doing. I think it’s very important that this is about the horse, that’s the coolest part.”

As for the $25,000 the team won, they haven’t quite decided what to do with it yet.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do with the money, I haven’t got that far yet,” Stout said. “It’s a nice chunk of change. I will probably feed some horses, pay some bills, but I know we’re going to dinner to celebrate.”

The money will come in handy for the Stouts, who ranch in Utah.

“My wife trains horses full-time, and I help her a little bit,” Stout said. “I also day work on ranches and build some fence. I also have a welding business. I just do whatever I can to keep the lights on.”

Hunter, for his part, is the associate vice president of instruction at a technical college.

“So, I help in education,” Hunter said. “We teach all kinds of trades at our school that are so important. I help the instructors in education at the technical college.”

The post Kolton Hunter and Aaron Stout Win the Riata #8.5 for $25K Aboard Show Me A Song Joes Horses appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The Metallic Cat son Stevie Rey Von jumped back atop the stallion leaderboard at the Riata after Day 4, with earnings on his offspring topping $267,780 in the team roping and steer stopping at the Lazy E.

[[All numbers and results are unofficial]]

1. Stevie Rey Von: $267,780

Craig Moore and You Rey—by Stevie Rey Von out of You N Me Baby by Smart Mate—won first and second in the #9.5 on Saturday, Sept. 28, plus first and second in the futurity incentive, worth a massive $99,700 for Moore’s 5-year-old head horse.

Stevie Rey Von’s other colts winning at the Riata include Seven S Razmataz, out of Seven S Dixie Chic and CJ Sugar Lena, and Christian Dewbre’s colt, who earned $47,250 for second place in the #12.5 and $4,000 for first in the futurity incentive. Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker heeled on stallion Pride And Joyy, by Stevie Rey Von, out of Fun N Fancy Free by Peptoboonsmal, earning $6,480 in the #14.5 and $27,000 in the #12.5, respectively. Pride And Joyy, owned by the Relentless Remuda, Solo Select, and Kaleb Terlip, has lifetime earnings of over $273,724 at just 5 years old.

Fults Ranch owns Stevie Rey Von, the 2015 NCHA Futurity Champion with over $420,000 in career earnings. The stallion stands at Beau Galyean Stallion Station, with a fee of $10,000 for 2025. He is by Metallic Cat and out of Miss Ella Rey by Dual Rey.

2. Bet Hesa Cat: $203,480

Bet Hesa Cat is a 2006 Riata stallion from 6666s Ranch, and through four days, Smartlookncat is still his highest Riata earner. This 2019 red roan, ridden by Cord Forzano on the heel side, clinched first with Reed Boos and third with J.D. Yates in the #14.5. Smartlookncat is out of Miss Plain Plain, a full sibling to Plain Catty, the 2017 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion.

On Saturday, Bet Memorials Zacks and Cayce Lewis won second in the #9.5, worth $36,700 for the biggest Bet Hesa Cat check of the day. Plus, Riata stallion Bet Hesa Freckledcat—a son of Bet Hesa Cat—earned another $10,200 for eighth in the Riata #9.5 with John Coltharp and $19,440 with Denton Parish for fifth in the #14.5 earlier in the week.

Former Riata Champ Jessica Koppitz won $11,000 on her Bet Hesa Cat horse, Gold Six Cat, while Bet Memorial Zacks and Cayce Lewis won $8,300 for 11th in the #12.5.

Born in 2006, Bet Hesa Cat is by High Brow Cat and out of Bet Yer Blue Boons by Freckles Playboy. His own performance career in cutting amassed $272,151.

3. CD Diamond: $172,125

CD Diamond has had a banner week at the Riata, with the 7-year-old mare SJR Diamond Metalica and Tauna Alcorn continuing to win over four days. On Saturday, Alcorn won second in the steer stopping, too, for another $7,375 to add to CD Diamond’s progeny earnings.

CD Diamond, the 2012 NCHA Futurity Champion, earned $153,320 in his career. He sired NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion SJR Diamond Mist, who earned $179,883. CD Diamond is by CD Olena and out of Shiners Diamond Girl by Shining Spark. He is also the sire of SJR Diamond Billy, the futurity head horse Cody Snow aims to qualify for the NFR on in 2024. CD Diamond’s stud fee is $3,000, standing at Weatherford Equine.

4. Hickory Holly Time: $102,555

Devin Coleman and DT Hickory Blue Steel helped jump Hickory Holly Time back into the top five Riata stallions of 2024’s event with $8,150 in the #9.5 All-Ages.

Hickory Holly Time, owned by DT Horses, is by One Time Pepto and out of Hickorys Holly Cee, by Docs Hickory. The horse won the World’s Greatest Horseman title and the NRCHA Derby, and he earned over $231,052 in his performance career. 

Editor’s note: DT Horses provides a $50,000 bonus to ropers competing at the Riata. Plus, Dean Tuftin is offering a $500 discount to any purchaser that has a current World Series of Team Roping membership.

5. Metallic Malice: $98,465

Metallic Malice continues his breakout performance as a sire at the 2024 Riata coming out of Day 4 with $98,465.

Metallic Malice, owned by 70 Ranch Performance Horses, is by Metallic Cat out of High Boon by Mecom Blue. At this year’s Riata on Day 2, he earned $76,200 in produce earnings.

Clay Hurst won third and $33,250 in the #12.5 heeling on Metallic Remodel, while Metallic Lee Hot and Rodney Wilson placed 11th on the head side, earning $8,300. Wilson and Metallic Lee Hot also earned $6,000 for second in the #12.5 Heading Futurity Incentive, and Jordan Allyn got $4,000 for third in the same incentive. Hurst earned another $6,000 on Metallic Remodel for second in the futurity incentive on the heel side in the #12.5.

The post Stevie Rey Von Offspring Top $267K in Earnings in Four Days of ’24 Riata Championships appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Kylie McLean and her 5-year-old gelding, DMC Rey N Playboy by Reynshine, topped the inaugural Cowgirl Steer Stopping at the 2024 Riata winning $10,326.

The Canadian-cowgirl-turned-Arizona-resident was 10th callback aboard DMC Rey N Playboy and fourth callback on DT Doc Holly Day. McLean missed her fourth callback short round steer but cashed in on her 10th callback run to be 17.17 on three.

McLean practiced stopping on DMC Rey N Playboy at home, but this was the first place they entered since she purchased him two months ago (and since this was the first place holding a timed, three-head steer stopping in recent memory on a major stage).

“He’s a 5-year-old Reynshine that I bought two months ago,” McLean said. “I found him on Facebook, and he’s really good to head on.”

The Arizona cowgirl says she isn’t a fast roper, but the 4.84-second run she clocked in the short round says otherwise.

“I’m a catcher,” McLean said. “I thought, well, if the opportunity’s there, I’m going to take it and see how it works out. And it just worked out.”

McLean has been roping on the 5-year-old gelding at the Riata all week, but so far, has only found luck in the Cowgirl Steer Stopping.  

“On the first steer he stopped, but he didn’t stop very good,” McLean said. The second one, he was kind of like, okay, I kind of know what I’m doing. And the third one, he worked really good. He scores good and runs hard, he’s a kind boy. He lets me do whatever.”

The Perfect Storm

McLean trains rope horses for a living so when she rode DMC Rey N Playboy for the first time, she knew she needed to buy him without even roping a steer.

“I saw him on Facebook right before we left for the Spicer Gripp,” McLean said. “I called the kid who had him, Raider Mendenhall, who has a place up in Big Forks, Montana. I called him and asked if he still had him and he said yes.”

The Arizona cowgirl told Mendenhall if he still had the horse in two weeks when she got back from the Spicer Gripp, she would fly to Big Forks and try him.

“On the Friday before we headed home, I called him and told him I was still interested and he told me he still had him,” McLean said. “So, I booked my flight for the next Wednesday and told him not to sell him before I got up there.”

The gelding being in Big Forks played into McLean’s favor. Her mom, only lives four hours from Big Forks in Alberta, Canada. McLean’s mom met her in Big Forks to hang out and try the horse.  

“My mom drove down,” McLean said. “My hairdresser, that I absolutely love moved to Big Forks two years ago. So when I went up there, I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, I get to see my mom, get my hair done and maybe buy a horse, this is great!”

When McLean showed up to try the horse, they didn’t have any steers to run.

“When I showed up to try him, they told me they didn’t have steers,” McLean said. “So I loped some circles and he was nice and quiet. He was so nice I didn’t even need to rope on him. If I like their stride, then I’m going to do what I want to do on them.”

As fate would have it, McLean ended up buying DMC Rey N Playboy.

“It worked out so perfect,” McLean said. “The kids (Raider Mendenhall and family) go to school in Provo, so they drove him from Big Forks down to Provo. They were going to the first University of Albuquerque game and told me they could meet me in Cortez. So, I met him in Cortez, which is only 50 minutes from my house and got the horse. It was all a meant to be deal.”

Family Ties

McLean grew up riding horses on her families ranch in Nanton, Alberta.

“My mom halter broke a bunch of colts when she was pregnant with me,” McLean said. “She always said she just wanted me to be a little cowgirl. She had me on a horse before I could even walk. At three I had an old horse that I could put a bareback pad on and go ride. My mom always said she didn’t know what I was doing, but I was gone, on the back of a horse, all day.”

McLean has been dreaming of making a career out of riding and training horses her entire life.

“My mom brought me to Arizona in 2003,” McLean said. “After we spent that week in January roping outside, I went home and wrote down a goal that I wanted to live in the United States and train horses for a living.”

It may have taken McLean 10 years to achieve her goal that she wrote down that day, but she achieved it.

“I found a partner down there, Roger Sorenson,” McLean said. “He sent me a horse to ride. Then, I had a horse come up for sale. I asked him if he wanted to go in as partners, buying and selling horses. He asked if that’s what I wanted to do and I told him that was the biggest dream of my life.”

With the help of Sorenson, McLean got started in Bar Diamond.

“I was going back and forth (to Canada) too much and having to pay GST on all those horses,” McLean said. “Roger asked if I wanted to live with him in the United States and I told him that was my biggest dream in the world. So, he stepped in and sponsored me and I moved to Arizona. That’s when my biggest dream came true.”

The post Kylie McLean Wins $10K Inaugural Cowgirl Steer Stopping at Riata on DMC Rey N Playboy appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Craig Moore and Bobby Simmons pocketed $106,000 between the 2024 Riata #9.5 win and the head and heel horse incentives on You Rey and Sundae Rebel.

The Texas team took the win Saturday, Sept. 28, after roping four steers in 36.88 seconds. Moore and You Rey also picked up second for $73,400.

“This means everything,” Moore said. “The biggest thing for me is I’ve been around people my whole life and the passion that all of these guys have with this sport, I think they’d be here even if this kind of money wasn’t here. How family-oriented all of this is, for me, I just have a passion for it. The money’s wonderful, don’t get me wrong—we’re all all about it. But I’d be here if it was just giving a buckle away.”

Both Moore and Simmons were entered up in the Riata, starting the #12.5 for Moore and the #14.5 for Simmons, but hadn’t had the luck they were hoping for until the #9.5. The win is added redemption for Simmons, who’s been adjusting to roping after three surgeries.

“When when we made the short round I was like, ‘Just don’t mess up Bobby,'” Simmons said with a laugh. “It’s awesome just to get to win, and to win at any level is fun. I’m the type of guy that If I’m pitching quarters out, I’m all in to try to win. It’s all about competition.”

You Rey

By Stevie Rey Von out of You N Me Baby, Moore bought You Rey almost two years ago from Cody Wheeler who trained the 5-year-old stallion and took him to futurities. Moore turned You Rey out with no intentions of riding him for the next two years, until the Riata opportunity presented itself.

“I was not going to ride him until he was 7,” Moore explained. “But all this with the Riata here, I was like, I’m going to enter. I pulled him out and Martin Lucero helped me get him ready.”

You Rey is Moore’s first Stevie Rey Von progeny, and he won’t be his last as he appreciates how he can handle so many runs in one day.

“He is the sweetest, he just stays in your pocket all the time,” Moore said. “I’ve rode a bunch of horses where you go to throw your rope bag over them and they’ll jump plum through their skin. But it doesn’t matter, he is just calm about everything.”

Moore’s had some a-list help, too. From 16-time NFR qualifier Martin to three-time World Champion and ProRodeo Hall of Famer Tee Woolman.

“I would’ve been nothing in this industry without Tee,” Moore said. “Tee has helped me for 11 years, and he’s like a brother, dad, uncle—whatever—to me. He has been really good to me.”

Sundae Rebel

Simmons bought Sundae Rebel, the 6-year-old stallion by Metallic Rebel out of Starstruck Ichi, through the Select Online Sale.

“I bought quite a few horses from [Melanie Smith], and I called her and she goes, ‘Bobby, quit buying horses, I’ll call you when I got one that you’ll like,'” Simmons recalled with a laugh. “She called me and said, ‘You’re going to like this one.'”

While Moore and Simmons haven’t roped much together, they have a common friend in Lucero, who helped ride Sundae Rebel after Simmons bought him. He then went to TyDaniel Haller, who has had him since April after Simmons’ back surgery, and he’s become a versatile horse.

“He’s just easy,” Simmons said. “He’s good at my age; he’s soft, gentle and he doesn’t do anything but just his job. You can ride him at the open level or you can ride him in the #8 roping.”

As his first Metallic Rebel baby, Simmons likes the conformation and laid back attitude of Sundae Rebel.

“I like the bone of Metallic Rebel horses,” Simmons said. “This horse has a lot of bone, and his mind is just exceptional. He’s exceptional.”

Riata #9.5 results

The post Craig Moore and Bobby Simmons Bank $106K for Riata #9.5 Win and Incentives on You Rey and Sundae Rebel appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Colorado’s 16-year-old Hogan Kelley struck big on his 8-year-old A Smooth Guy gelding Wicked Smooth Guy to win first and fast-time in the Riata Buckle #10.5 Junior, banking $19,600.

The Golden, Colorado, native was 32.91 on four with his cousin, Klayt Staudt, who rode a proxy horse.

Kelley also rode Bethesalilbitcat on the heel side to win fast time in the short round his dad, Luke, on the head side aboard Wicked Smooth Guy.

In total the 16-year-old won $20,600 on two different horses.

“We have another A Smooth Guy at home, he is a palomino we got from Jesse Jolly,” Kelley said. “Both horses are great, we really like them.”

Kelley Family Ties

Roping is in the family for Kelley, who roped with his dad and cousin both in the #10.5.

“Not everyone gets to rope with their family every day,” Kelley said. “We (Kelley and Staudt) have always won good together, and today we just had good runs.”

Despite roping a leg in the first round, the young team made quick runs to bring them back in the No. 3 position.

“Our first one, we didn’t draw the best and he (Staudt) got a leg,” Kelley said. “We drew a great one on our second steer and we were 5.90. On the third one, I just went and caught him and Klayt made up time. On our short round steer, we wanted to put a lot of pressure on the next two teams, since we were third callback. We did just that. Klayt heeled the last one perfect and we were 6.63.”

This isn’t the first time Wicked Smooth Guy has seen the bright lights of the Riata Buckle.

Average Results

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San Juan Ranch’s CD Diamond jumped atop the 2024 Riata Championships stallion leaderboard after a sweeping performance by Tauna Alcorn’s SJR Diamond Metalica, who won both the #12.5 and #10.5 and picked up a third-place check in the #12.5, too.

Watch the Riata Championships on Roping.com

1. CD Diamond $164,750

Tauna Alcorn and SJR Diamond Metalica won over $140,000 across two ropings in two days at the Riata, skyrocketing the 7-year-old near the top of the leaderboard of all-time earning mares in a hurry.

CD Diamond, the 2012 NCHA Futurity Champion, earned $153,320 in his career. He sired NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion SJR Diamond Mist, who earned $179,883. CD Diamond is by CD Olena and out of Shiners Diamond Girl by Shining Spark. He is also the sire of SJR Diamond Billy, the futurity head horse Cody Snow aims to qualify for the NFR on in 2024. CD Diamond’s stud fee is $3,000, standing at Weatherford Equine.

Full 2024 Riata Championships Results

2. Stevie Rey Von $143,530

Stevie Rey Von held at $143,530 in earnings after a quiet day on Day 3 for his offspring at the Riata Championships.

Stevie Rey Von’s colts include Seven S Razmataz, out of Seven S Dixie Chic and CJ Sugar Lena, and Christian Dewbre’s colt, who earned $47,250 for second place in the #12.5 and $4,000 for first in the futurity incentive. Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker heeled on stallion Pride And Joyy, by Stevie Rey Von, out of Fun N Fancy Free by Peptoboonsmal, earning $6,480 in the #14.5 and $27,000 in the #12.5, respectively. Pride And Joyy, owned by the Relentless Remuda, Solo Select, and Kaleb Terlip, has lifetime earnings of over $273,724 at just 5 years old.

Fults Ranch owns Stevie Rey Von, the 2015 NCHA Futurity Champion with over $420,000 in career earnings. The stallion stands at Beau Galyean Stallion Station, with a fee of $10,000 for 2025. He is by Metallic Cat and out of Miss Ella Rey by Dual Rey.

3. Bet Hesa Cat $133,310

Bet Hesa Cat is a 2006 Riata stallion from 6666s Ranch, and through three days, Smartlookncat is still his highest earner. This 2019 red roan, ridden by Cord Forzano on the heel side, clinched first with Reed Boos and third with J.D. Yates in the #14.5. Smartlookncat is out of Miss Plain Plain, a full sibling to Plain Catty, the 2017 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion.

Former Riata Champ Jessica Koppitz won $11,000 on her Bet Hesa Cat horse, Gold Six Cat, while Bet Memorial Zacks and Cayce Lewis won $8,300 for 11th in the #12.5.

Born in 2006, Bet Hesa Cat is by High Brow Cat and out of Bet Yer Blue Boons by Freckles Playboy. His own performance career in cutting amassed $272,151.

4. Once In A Blue Boon $91,450

Once In A Blu Boon, with offspring earnings over $12 million, added $91,450 to his produce record after three days of the Riata Championships. Mike Bacon won $61,000 on Once In A Blu Boon’s 6-year-old daughter Play Like Boon for winning the #12.5, plus another $8,000 in the futurity incentive. Shawn Gray won $8,300 in the same roping on the Once In A Blu Boon colt Neato, and Jessie Nelson won another $1,600 on Once In A Blu Boon horse Boons Yer Daddy.

Once In A Blu Boon, by Peptoboonsmal out of Autumn Boon by Dual Pep, earned $316,564 in his performance career. He stands at Brightstone Ranch, with a stud fee to be determined.

5. Metallic Malice $87,250

Metallic Malice, owned by 70 Ranch Performance Horses, is by Metallic Cat out of High Boon by Mecom Blue. At this year’s Riata on Day 2, he earned $76,200 in produce earnings.

Clay Hurst won third and $33,250 in the #12.5 heeling on Metallic Remodel, while Metallic Lee Hot and Rodney Wilson placed 11th on the head side, earning $8,300. Wilson and Metallic Lee Hot also earned $6,000 for second in the #12.5 Heading Futurity Incentive, and Jordan Allyn got $4,000 for third in the same incentive. Hurst earned another $6,000 on Metallic Remodel for second in the futurity incentive on the heel side in the #12.5.

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Tauna Alcorn and SJR Diamond Metalica have had a historic two days inside the Lazy E at the 2024 Riata winning $140,800 between the #12.5 and #10.5.

Alcorn and the 7-year-old mare by CD Diamond out of SJR Missin Metallica won first and fourth in the #12.5 Thursday, Sept. 26, and followed it up with the #10.5 win for $109,600 with Taylor Pettigrew on Call Me Mr Jonez Sept. 27.

“There are no words,” New Mexico’s Alcorn said. “All I can say is it’s on everybody’s time and when it’s your day, it’s your day and hopefully mine just continues to go.”

SJR Diamond Metalica is the first CD Diamond baby Alcorn has had in her herd, and they purchased her off of Facebook as a 2-year-old on track for the Snaffle Bit. Alcorn credits her husband, Travis, for the foundation he put in the mare.

“If it wasn’t for Travis’s Foundation and the foundation that she got started on, I don’t think I’d be where I’m at today,” Alcorn said. “My husband’s done a great job with her, keeping her athletic for me and keeping her behind my hand.”

Pettigrew’s 5-year-old gelding by Travelin Jonez out of Last Drop O Rocky MC also won the 6-year-old heel horse incentive for $8,000. Like SJR Diamond Metalica, Call Me Mr Jonez was a Facebook buy. Pettigrew bought him as a 4-year-old, and he’s spent the last year and a half getting where he is today.

“I just worked on getting him broke and getting soft,” Pettigrew said. “Just lots of miles. I’ll breed some mares to [Travelin Jonez] next year though. I like him—he’s big and he’s fast. This horse is also fast.”

That speed also makes Call Me Mr Jonez a solid head horse, making him versatile in Pettigrew’s lineup.

“He’s a nice head horse,” Pettigrew said. “He’s fast, and that’s good to head on. He’s broke good, likes to stop—he’s just a good horse.”

Familiar partners

Alcorn and Pettigrew came back second high call, and their 8.87-second run in the short round sealed the deal on their win putting them 34.87 seconds on four steers. The team lives just an hour apart in New Mexico, so they have some prior experience roping together.

“There really wasn’t a plan, I don’t think,” Alcorn said with a laugh. “We both made the short go in the # 12.5 yesterday, so we were kind of just like, let’s do it again.”

Call Me Mr Jonez will be able to make another roper’s $100,000 dreams come true as he will be in the Dec. 8, Riata Showcase Horse Sale in Las Vegas.

“I’ve got a 4-year-old at home and I’ve got a bunch of colts, and I’m just getting older and can’t ride as many,” Pettigrew said. “I’ve just been camped out on him and, now, I’m going to have to camp out on the next one.” 

#10.5 Total Payoff: $645,600

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The NCHA Futurity Champion Stevie Rey Von leads all stallions in offspring earnings after two days of competition at the Riata Championships in 2024 at the Lazy E with $143,530.

1. Stevie Rey Von

Stevie Rey Von’s colts were headlined by Seven S Razmataz, out of the mare Seven S Dixie Chic and CJ Sugar Lena, and Christian Dewbre’s $47,250 check for second in the #12.5 and $4,000 check for first in the futurity incentive in that roping. Trevor Brazile and Miles Baker also heeled on stallion Pride And Joyy, by Stevie Rey Von, out of Fun N Fancy Free by Peptoboonsmal, to $6,480 in the #14.5 and $27,000 in the #12.5, respectively. (The Riata pushed Pride And Joyy, owned by the Relentless Remuda, Solo Select and Kaleb Terlip, over $273,724 in lifetime earnings at just 5 years old.)

Fults Ranch owns the Stevie Rey Von, who won the 2015 NCHA Futurity and earned over $420,000 in his career. The stallion, whose fee is $10,000 for 2025, stands at Beau Galyean Stallion Station and is by Metallic Cat out of Miss Ella Rey by Dual Rey.

2. Bet Hesa Cat

Bet Hesa Cat gained on Day 2 of the Riata, moving to $133,310 in earnings but slipping to second in the earnings list.

The Riata stallion from the 6666s Ranch still counts Smartlookncat as his highest earner. This 2019 red roan, ridden by Cord Forzano on the heel side, clinched first with Reed Boos and third with J.D. Yates in the #14.5. Smartlookncat is out of Miss Plain Plain, a full sibling to Plain Catty, the 2017 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion.

Former Riata Champ Jessica Koppitz won $11,000 on her Bet Hesa Cat horse, Gold Six Cat, while Bet Memorial Zacks and Cayce Lewis won $8,300 for 11th in the #12.5.

Born in 2006, Bet Hesa Cat is by High Brow Cat and out of Bet Yer Blue Boons by Freckles Playboy. His own performance career in cutting amassed $272,151.

3. CD Diamond

CD Diamond leapt into the top five with $103,100 after a dominate performance by SJR Diamond Metalica and Tauna Alcorn in the #12.5. Higgins won first and fourth in that roping on the San Juan Ranch-bred 7-year-old daughter of the mare SJR Missin Metallic by Metallic Cat. (When Sept. 27’s earnings are calculated, CD Diamond will jump higher thanks to Alcorn winning the #10.5 on the same horse.)

CD Diamond was the 2012 NCHA Futurity Champion who won $153,320 in his career, producing NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion and earner $179,883, SJR Diamond Mist. CD Diamond is by CD Olena out of Shiners Diamond Girl by Shining Spark, and he’s also the sire of SJR Diamond Billy, the futurity head horse Cody Snow is poised to qualify for the NFR on in 2024. CD Diamond’s stud fee is $3,000.

4. Once In A Blu Boon

Once In A Blu Boon—who already has offspring earnings over $12 million—added $91,450 to his produce record after Day 2 of the Riata Championships. Mike Bacon won $61,000 on Once In A Blu Boon 6-year-old daughter Play Like Boon for winning the #12.5, also winning another $8,000 in the futurity incentive. Shawn Gray won $8,300 in the same roping on the Once In A Blu Boon colt Neato, while Jessie Nelson won another $1,600 on Once In A Blu Boon horse Boons Yer Daddy.

Once In A Blu Boon, by Peptoboomsmal out of cutting’s blue hen mare Autumn Boon by Dual Pep, earned $316,564 in his performance career himself, and he stands at Brightstone Ranch, with a stud fee to be determined.

5. Metallic Malice

Metallic Malice, owned by 70 Ranch Performance Horses, is by Metallic Cat out of High Boon by Mecom Blue, exploded onto the earnings scene at this year’s Riata in Day 2, banking $76,200 in produce earnings.

Clay Hurst won third and $33,250 in the #12.5 on Metallic Remodel in the heeling, while Metallic Lee Hot and Rodney Wilson were 11th in that roping on the heads side worth $8,300. Wilson and Metallic Lee Hot picked up another $6,000 for second in the #12.5 Heading Futurity Incentive, and Jordan Allyn got $4,000 for third in that same incentive. Hurst got another $6,000 on Metallic Remodel for second in the futurity incentive on the heel side in the #12.5.

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UNOFFICIALLY, Bet Hesa Cat offspring earned $109,860 at the Riata Championships, leading the pack of Riata Stallions in a roping that paid $1 million on just Sept. 25 alone.

1. Bet Hesa Cat

Bet Hesa Cat, the Riata stallion owned by 6666s Ranch, leaned on the double-dipping earnings of Smartlookncat, the 2019 red roan ridden by Cord Forzano on the heel side to first with Reed Boos and third with JD Yates in the #14.5. Smartlookncat is out of Miss Plain Plain, a full sibling to Plain Catty, the 2017 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion.

The 2006 stallion Bet Hesa Cat is by High Brow Cat, out of Bet Yer Blue Boons by Freckles Playboy, and the horse won $272,151 in his performance career in the cutting. He was an NCHA Open World Champion who’s sired NCHA World Champions.

2. Hickory Holly Time

Hickory Holly Time’s offspring won $72,000, led by Douglas Rich’s Cee The Lights, a 5-year-old mare out of the CD Lights mare Bossie.

Hickory Holly Time, owned by DT Horses, is by One Time Pepto and out of Hickorys Holly Cee, by Docs Hickory. The horse won the World’s Greatest Horseman title and the NRCHA Derby, and he earned over $231,052 in his performance career.

Editor’s note: DT Horses provides a $50,000 bonus to ropers competing at the Riata. Plus, Dean Tuftin is offering a $500 discount to any purchaser that has a current World Series of Team Roping membership.

3. MR Sassy Frenchman

MR Sassy Frenchman sired the #14.5 winner Yes Im Sassy, the 6-year-old mare that’s dominated the rope horse futurity industry the last two years with the likes of Colby Lovell, Dakota Kirchenschlager and Kaleb Driggers.

The Myers Ranch’s MR Sassy Frenchman, by Frenchman Guy out of the Mr Jess Perry daughter Jess Sass Me, earned over $45,000 in his own performance career. His dam produced earners of $1,153,425, and she herself had a speed index of 107.

4/5. Metallic Gray and DD Docs Irish Badger

Metallic Gray and DD Docs Irish Badger sired the winners of the Open futurity—Metallic Katrina and DD Denvers Badger—tying them for fourth and fifth in the Riata Championships Day 1 earnings with $42,500. Metallic Gray, owned by the Cudd Ranch, is by Metallic Cat out of Smooth Sage by Over Osage.

DD Docs Irish Badger, a 2015 bay stallion owned by Eliason Performance Horses, is by Paddys Irish Whiskey out of My Little Sugar Babe by Sons Doc O Sugar.

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Tauna Alcorn double-dipped on her 7-year-old mare SJR Diamond Metalica to win first and fourth in the Riata #12.5, banking $172,000 between herself and partners Mike Bacon and Miles Baker from first and 30th callback Sept. 26 at the Lazy E in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

New Mexico’s Alcorn was 33.65 on four with Oklahoma’s Bacon, who rode 5-year-old Play Like Boon to also win the futurity incentive for an extra $8,000. She was 36.68 on four from last call with Texas’s Baker, who rode the Kaleb Terlip/Relentless Remuda/Solo Select-owned stallion Pride And Joyy.

Perfect Strangers

Before arriving at the Lazy E in Guthrie, New Mexico’s Alcorn and Oklahoma’s Bacon had never met. 

“I had never met Mike before yesterday,” Alcorn said. “He came up and introduced himself, but we’ve known each other. We have a lot of mutual friends, so I called him up. It was more like, oh my gosh somebody can rope behind me?”

“That’s ridiculous, right? She makes it easy,” Bacon said. “It was easy to rope behind her. We’re going to do it more often now I bet.”

Marepower

Alcorn made eight runs on the 7-year-old mare SJR Diamond Metalica in the #12.5 earning $86,000 total for her share. 

“She’s not a stranger to pressure,” Alcorn said. “I’ve kind of put it (pressure) on her. My husband took her to the Snaffle Bit Futurity when she was three and then I ran barrels on her, her five year old futurity year. Then we went straight to the rope horse futurities. So, she’s solid.”

The setup at the Lazy E was perfect for the 7-year-old mare. 

“This is just her thing,” Alcorn said. “She likes the smaller cattle. She’s not a huge horse so if I get into the lower numbered ropings with her, she does struggle a little bit. In the higher numbered ropings, she’s quick footed. I’ve never had to worry about the start with her. She’s short, compact and quick footed. 

Bacon struck gold when he started Play Like Boon in 2023. 

“This is my first Once In A Blu Boon,” Bacon said. “My buddy, Brad Spann raises them and that’s his horse. I started her in February 2023 and went to heeling on her in March. Then I took her to Vegas that December. She was just easy to train, you know.”

“She was started as a cutter but they said she was just too big to cut,” Bacon said. “She’s been really easy. She went right to work, really. I mean I put her in the World Series roping, just threw her in there and she went to doing it.”

Related:

• Switchender: Colby Lovell’s and Kory Koontz’s Abby
• SJR Diamond Bond and Rhen Richard Win Second Consecutive Royal Crown 4-&-Under of 2022
• SJR Diamond Billy & Billie Jack Saebens Get 6-&-Under *Heading* Win for $39K at First Gold Buckle Futurity
• Richard and SJR Diamond Bond, Rice and First Class Vintage Claim Royal 4-Year-Old Titles in Buckeye
• NOPE, Different Buckskin: Cody Snow to Debut Southern Ranches’ Futurity Standout SJR Diamond Billy at Bob Feist Invitational

The Riata Buckle has been full of winning mare power this week. 

“Every good horse I can think of has been a mare,” Alcorn said. “I don’t know if it’s just ‘bad luck’ that I always end up with mares, but I’ve never had them turn their nose up at me. So I’ve put up with the little silly quirks. This mare, she acts like a gelding, so I’ve been lucky on that part.”

“I’ve had a couple of good ones (mares),” Bacon said. “They’re just gritty. You can ride them every day if you want to, there’s no quit. I mean, they’re mean, mines mean. She kicks stuff standing in a stall, kicking the stalls. They’re all good, though. I like that stuff, I guess, because all my horses are good.”

#12.5 All – Total Payoff – $792,000

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Reed Boos added his name to a growing list of ropers who’ve had success on the back of Yes Im Sassy, winning the 2024 Riata #14.5 with Cord Forzano on Smartlookncat.

Boos and Forzano raked in $103,680 Sept. 25, in their first outing together after roping four steers in 29.39 seconds.  

Watch the Whole Riata Championships on Roping.com

“I’ve never won that much money,” Boos said. “I’ve never even had a chance to win that much money, but the owners and the breeders and everybody, we’re very grateful.”

Raised by the Myers Ranch and by their stallion Mr Sassy Frenchman and out of their Paddys Irish Whiskey daughter Full A Irish Whiskey, Yes Im Sassy is owned by Neal and Jody Wanless. Since joining Dakota Kirchenschlager’s program her 3-year-old year, she’s shown her versatility, winning with Kirchenschlager, Colby Lovell, Kaleb Driggers and now Boos.

“I just think that anybody can ride her,” Boos said. “There’s been a lot of different headers win on her. She just scores good, runs hard and finishes strong—she gives you a good chance to win.”

The 24-year-old from White Cloud, Kansas, worked for Kirchenschlager for almost two years, and he got to know the 6-year-old mare well.

“I rode her a bunch when I was there and then I went out on my own now and kind of go back and forth to Dakota’s some, and I get to ride her every time I’m around,” Boos said. “When I’m rodeoing in the summer I watch all the futurities and watch if they’re winning on her just because I have gotten to ride her quite a bit, and I’m thankful they let me ride her. She’s a good horse.”

On the heel side, Smartlookncat—owned by Kevin Cantrelle—has success in his blood. The 5-year-old by Bet Hesa Cat and out of Miss Plain Plain is a full brother to 2017 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open champion Plain Catty.

“I’ve had [Smartlookncat] since he was a 3-year-old, and he’s a big, strong, athletic horse but he doesn’t take your shot away,” said Madera, California’s Forzano. “He just doesn’t get in your way. You can go be fast on him, but if you need to just go catch, you can go catch on him. That’s a hard thing to find.”

Forzano and Smartlookncat also picked up third in the average for $56,160 and won the 5-year-old incentive for $8,000. Forzano just focused on letting him work.

“These horses are so smart these days and I feel like we can override or under ride,” Forzano said. “I just try to stay out of the way and if they mess up, don’t beat them up and let them figure it out. Like a little kid—if they mess up, you can’t crucify them, and after a while they’ll figure out what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. He kind of trained himself.”

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Boos, Forzano and their equine partners battled it out over four steers to come back high call. A 7.70-second run in the short round sealed the deal on the win.

“I’ll be honest, I really didn’t know how fast we had to be,” Forzano said with a laugh. “I tried not to pay attention. I just tried to do my job, honestly. I’ve had heck here lately on high teamers, so I tried to blank it out and it all worked, honestly.”

#14.5 Total Payoff: $620,000

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The Riata Championships kicked off with its $200,000-added Riata Open, with Cash Duty riding Metallic Katrina and Dylin Alhstrom riding DD Denvers Badger to the title, worth $72,600 for their time of 38.22 on five head.

Watch the Whole Riata Championships on Roping.com

They also placed third in the overall fast-time from the qualifying rounds with a 6.37, worth $2,500.

Metallic Katrina—by Metallic Gray out of Aristocrat Goldseeker by Herman Goldseeker—is a 2019 gray mare that 21-year-old Weimer, Texas header Duty hadn’t run a steer on before getting to Guthrie and roping at first-out in the Riata.

“I’ve got to see the horse go practicing a few times, but I’ve never gotten to ride her until today,” Duty, This is the first time team one. It’s a little scary, but that just goes to show how easy and how good she is. I’ve never gotten to be on her back.”

The mare—consigned to this December’s Riata Stallion Showcase Horse Sale Dec. 8 at the South Point Equestrian Center in Las Vegas—is owned by TL Horse Holding LLC and was bred by Cudd Ranch.

“Trent Hartley owns her and they had a guy break, but Jace did all the roping on her pretty well,” Ahlstrom, who set up the deal for Duty to ride the mare, said. “And she’s just one of those mares that just wants to be good all the time. She’s a good horse.”

Utah’s Ahlstrom, 26, was new to his mount, too, but the horse wasn’t a freshman at the Lazy E despite being just 5. DD Denvers Badger by DD Docs Irish Badger out of Denver Red Buck daughter Miss Frosty Red Buck came from the late, great NFR switchender and belongs to former Resistol Rookie of the Year Caleb Hendrix.

“Quinn Kesler trained him, rode him last year and then a good friend of mine, Caleb Hendrix, bought him,” Ahlstrom said. “And the horse I was supposed to ride and kind of fell through a week ago and I was with Caleb in the truck, and he said, ‘Just take him. He’s good enough.’ And so he’s so easy. Just simple. Quinn and Caleb’s done a great job with him. He’s so good. The Double Dollar horses are so easy, everybody can get along with them. I mean from the Open to down, they placed on same horse here last year. He’s just simple. “

Those two horses stayed solid over the grueling five head on strong cattle and a longer start at the E, including a Round 3 run that tested the horses’ minds with some trick-dallying by Duty.

“Our third one was pretty hairy,” Ahlstrom admitted. “It was a little rough, but it was a ‘just survive’ moment.”

Regardless, they drew a good steer in Round 4 that let them edge out the rest of the field to enter the short round high-back with 8 seconds and change to move to the lead ahead of returning champs Jake Smith and Douglas Rich.

“I like to just have to catch the cow, because my thought about it is if somebody told me I could come out here and run one steer for as much money as there is, who wouldn’t want to come run one steer and just have to catch?” Duty said. “I would love to do that every day. I like to throw fast.”

When they came tight in 7.62, a summer of tough-luck rodeoing washed away with the Riata payday.

Pro Futurity Total Payoff: $350,000

Incentive Head Horse

Incentive Heel Horse

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Joseph Harrison has proven the king of the rope horse business in 2024, entering the American Rope Horse Futurity Association World Championships having won $199,000 at the Old West Futurity in Utah and helping other ropers to another $225,000. 

Harrison has won $706,042 in ARHFA competition, and he’s ridden horses that have sold for hundreds of thousands to the industry’s hottest talents, Brazilian investors and everyday ropers. He’s set the standard for how people can make money in the new era of the rope horse business, and he’s shown a profitable path to success training horses and making a living with a rope—a path that didn’t really exist a decade ago. 

Harrison’s template for success isn’t the norm, though. But perhaps it’s the guiding light that horse trainers, and those who want to be trainers someday, model their programs after. 

At the same time, horse trainers who never had gold buckle dreams—like those who cashed big checks on homemade horses at the Riata—are realizing bigger payouts than ever before. They’re the guy or girl down the road who makes good horses easily accessible for the masses, selling affordable, safe, World Series-ready horses, too. Jim Bob Fritz, a 5.5 switchender from Nocona, Texas, has banked $250,514 in handicap ropings since 2021 on his Riata horse, Cat Man San, by Cat Man Do—providing yet another, more attainable model for ropers to aspire to.

So—is now the time to quit your day job and jump into training horses with all the opportunities the futurities and stallion incentives present? 

Growing Need for Trainers

Plenty of top talents made early moves into the futurity business. Trevor Brazile retired from ProRodeo just as the futurity industry took off, so he was poised to jump into it with the same work ethic he applied to winning 26 gold buckles. 

Harrison, for his part, had spent years honing his craft under Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Lewis in the AQHA show pen. He was sharpening up his roping to throw fast, making his first NFR the same year (2017) that Jay Wadhams hosted the first ARHFA World Championship in Fort Worth. Harrison accomplished what few others have, balancing ProRodeo with winning at the futurities, and he made six NFRs before stepping away from the rodeo trail in favor of full-time horse training after the 2022 Finals. 

But Brazile doesn’t ride for outside customers, and Harrison’s string isn’t always the easiest to get a spot in, with his barn full of longtime partners and a lengthy waiting list. With dozens of futurities now filling the schedule and millions in payouts, the demand for quality trainers is growing. 

“Seeing guys like JohnRyon Foster, who used to have three or four [horses in training] now having 10 or 12 in his barn, they’re all honing their craft,” Harrison said. “He could have 20 horses in training. Him, Luke Atchison, they’re all doing better and better and learning how to win. And the more they win, the better they get. They’ve been training and learning how to train their whole lives. I’m not saying the rodeo guys haven’t, but they’re the kind of good talent who can make money at this game.”

Foster, who recently won the ARHFA’s Cowtown Classic Intermediate Heeling title on Wood You Know, didn’t grow up in the roping or rodeo world, but his dad, Rob, trained Western pleasure horses in the AQHA, so he had spent two decades working on his horsemanship before moving into the rope horse world. 

“A lot of people I knew growing up through the AQHA gave me an opportunity,” Foster said. “At first I was just riding 2-year-olds for my dad. Then I’d get some more people wanting me to ride rope horses and I’d take a few less 2-year-olds. Then I had a lot of people who wanted a nice jackpot horse. People don’t realize I ride horses I don’t show, whether it’s for people who just enjoy having a horse in training or want one ready for roping in lower-numbered ropings. And now, I have a couple horses for Travis Graves, Coleby Payne and JC Flake. They can’t ride their young horses while they’re gone rodeoing over the summer.”

Horsemanship First 

It’s guys like Foster who’ve made it their mission to study the finer points of horsemanship—and then stepped up their roping game to match—that the Relentless Remuda’s Miles Baker says are the future of the industry. He was one of those guys himself, who spent most of his life learning the horse training art before the roping part of the game. When he and Brazile began their partnership in 2021, Baker carried a 5.5 heel card—the same number he’d been since 2014. Three years later, Baker is a full partner in the Remuda, now with an 8 heel card to complement his 7 head card. 

“Good roping makes good horses, so you need to expose a horse to good roping,” Baker explained. “I can make them better now because I’ve worked hard enough on my roping. The sport is growing enough, like any other industry, that it’s getting to where guys can make a good living doing it. There’s guys who can train horses well who can get to roping better to be competitive, and there’s guys who rope good who need to work on their horsemanship more. 

“I told Junior (Nogueira) the other day, I wish I had worked on the roping more when I was younger. I had to work on it so hard in my late 20s, I was behind. But he said I am making more money to make a good living than guys who can just catch two feet, so I did something right. You can improve your roping a lot faster than you can learn how to feel a horse.”

Riata founder Denny Gentry sees the need for deeper understanding of horsemanship expanding into every corner of the rope horse industry. 

“Clay (Cooper) just said it in this magazine: ‘Horsemanship is equally if not more important than the roping,’” Gentry said. “That is going to be the case with the numbered ropers as more emphasis is placed on the horses. This movement will no doubt have an impact on the sport at some point.”

Opportunity

While there are more and more competitors opting to become rope horse trainers, fewer and fewer are wanting to train 2-year-olds, creating a bottleneck at the colt-starting stage of the training game. 

Baker used to start all the Relentless Remuda colts, but with rising numbers of show horses in the barn and increased money to be won, he found himself starting his days riding year-round at 4 a.m. and still not having time for the 2-year-olds.

“There’s a big calling for guys who are good 2-year-old guys for rope horses, specifically,” Baker said. “We were letting reiners ride our 2-year-old rope horses, and I had to check myself because I had a reiner telling me which ones were good and which ones weren’t. I went to ride through them after 90 days, and the main one they wanted to cull was the best one, for me. I’m listening to a guy who doesn’t rope tell me which ones were good head horse prospects. There’s a disconnect there. 

“If somebody could call me and Trevor and say, ‘This 2-year-old feels like a head horse,’ and be right about it, we’d send that somebody all the 2-year-olds we could ride. To this day, we’ve only found a guy or two who understand what we’re looking for and can put that feel on them.”

ProRodeo Hall of Famer and AQHA Hall of Famer J.D. Yates once rode all his own 2-year-olds, but at 64, he’s not really craving that part of it anymore. 

“Nobody wants to do it anymore,” Yates said. “Everybody wants to send their horse somewhere to get started. A lot of us who did it are getting old, and it hurts. There are just not a lot of guys who enjoy doing it. They all want to show, and I don’t blame them.”

The 2020 PRCA World Champ Colby Lovell, who’s sold as many high-dollar futurity horses as anyone else in the business, still rides his own 2-year-olds whenever he can. 

“I ride the ones I think have the longevity, the ability to be a stud,” Lovell said. “I like to put my own passage of time in them and depend on myself. Most of the 2-year-old guys are cow horse guys, and they have more passion in that industry. We want head horse prospects big, strong, with a lot of run. Those aren’t usually cow horses, and they’re a lot of horse to start and a lot of horse to want to ride. There are 2-year-old guys, but the kind that make good rope horses can be a lot to handle.”

Darren Johnson, who owns CR Better Be Tuff, one of the horses Harrison has won big bucks on in 2024, also starts his own 2-year-olds before putting them in the hands of guys like Harrison, Cade Rice and Dakota Kirchenschlager. Johnson owned X My Ich, the horse Kirchenschlager won the ARHFA World Championship on in the heading in 2020. 

“I start my own 2-year-olds,” Johnson said. “That’s what I like to do, obviously. It started with Dakota, and I had two nice colts I started, and I used them, roped on them outside, then I sent them to Dakota in July their 4-year-old years. And then it evolved into this rope horse deal. I rope, obviously, and I just think that horsepower is everything now. 

“A lot of people can rope nowadays, so the difference is in the horsepower. I ride them, use them, hand them off to Joseph, Dakota, Cade, and when I get them back, I have a great, quality-trained horse I can take to the roping, and the last thing I worry about is the horse.”

WATCH ON ROPING.COM: Colt-Starting Series with Miles Baker

Show Me the Money 

The best trainers in the world are bringing in $1,500-$2,000 a month per horse, and that money might seem like it adds up fast. For some, it does. 

“I’ll be real honest with you, it makes money, even for the customers, if the horses are good enough,” Harrison said. “There are three or four horses in my barn that we’ve been showing this year that their owners are making money doing it. They might not be making a living, but they’re in the clear on those horses.”

But even for the owners of the best horses in the show-horse business, that doesn’t always make sense when you put pencil to paper. Shane Boston owns The Notorious BIG, the 2018 stallion by CD Lights out of roping’s blue hen mare, DT Sugar Chex Whiz, whose earnings have topped $100,000 in three years of competition with Billie Jack Saebens. 

“Why it doesn’t work, is that you take your average hard-working American who loves team roping,” Boston explained. “He goes and buys himself a $30,000 reject cow horse or cutter or reiner. He sends him to any of the top trainers, and that horse will stay there for a year before he’s ready to compete at a top level, averaging $1,500 a month. So, you have another $17,000 to $18,000 in that horse. Now you’re at $50,000. Then he’s 4 and you start showing him. Well, you’re going to show, possibly winning $15,000 to $20,000, and that’s rare to win that big of a paycheck on one of them. So from a standpoint of putting pencil to paper, you pay your trainer, then your helper, then out of a $20,000 day, you’re going to get maybe less than half of it. You’ve won $10,000. The math isn’t there.”

The Old West Futurity in Wallsburg, Utah, had a payout that topped $1 million, with two $100,000 paychecks going to first place on each end in the 6-&-Under and two $50,000 checks going to the champs in the 4-&-Under. Produced by A&C Racing and Roping’s Richard family and Redgie Probst, it was the highest-paying judged event in the sport’s history.

“The payouts have to be big to make people want to play,” Boston said. “That’s why we’re putting up added money when we can. Now, if you have a program, and you’re trying to promote a mare or a stud or sell colts, it’s getting to be where it’s worth the investment. But at the end of the day, we’re probably still five years away from being where we need to be to get more players in the game.” 

Recreational ropers, however, are used to playing for big payouts every weekend at the jackpots, and Riata has opened a door for tracking those earnings, too—showing the lifetime profitability of a rope horse. That profitability is unlike what horses can win in any other discipline, over a much longer career, with many horses competing well into their 20s. Now, with QData and EquiStat working with Riata and the Equine Network to track those horses’ earnings, rope horses are finally just beginning to show their multi-million-dollar annual impact on the official records.

Sleeping Giant

While the judged end might be still playing catch up and following the template of NCHA, NRCHA and NRHA, the time-only side of things at the Riata are trying to awaken the masses to a new angle in jackpot team roping. With the use of big added money from stallion owners, they have become the third richest jackpot in the world in their first 24 months. It’s catching the attention of everyday ropers on the do-it-yourself end of the horse training spectrum.

“The futurities, the Open guys, they get the press because they’re the best and they win a lot,” Pitzer Ranch’s Jim Brinkman said. “But the 4s, the 5s, the 6s, the younger end of those guys, they pretty much make their own horses and they rope on their horses. At our sale, that’s where the majority of ours go. We have 5% that wind up with Open guys.” 

That’s saying a lot, since Pitzer has two large sales each year and will sell nearly 400 at their coming fall sale.

“The biggest growth is all in the middle,” Brinkman continued. “And consequently, the futurities will eventually be maxed out, entry-wise, on the upper divisions, because you’ll simply run out of guys. The 6s down to the 4s, that’s where the cowboy kids and the ranchers are. If they get a nice horse, they have somewhere to use them for great money at the Riata. That’s our biggest growth area. The majority of the work on those horses at the Riata was done by the owner/operator. If we can keep that middle big, there’s growth. As a breeder, raising horses, I have to shoot 90% of my horses toward that middle to make it economically right for me. I get a few that could go to Trevor, but the guy who’s a 5 is who will pay the bills for us every year.”

The strategy for Riata from day one has been targeting that market. The Riata Mini-Qualifiers were introduced this year to offer cash-incentive sidepots at major jackpots for more opportunities with the horses. Riata scheduled a half dozen of these sidepots in 2024 and has a dozen on the schedule for 2025. Even more telling is the wide-open experimental #8.5 at the Riata Championships that only requires one Riata per team. They call it experimental, but it’s pretty clear they plan to remove nearly all their filters and go hard at the 4s in the #8.5. If it is successful, the #9.5 will be next in line for that same treatment in 2025. With no ceiling to be cracked, Riata is trying to open the door into a sea of low-number ropers.

Jesse Jolly, a Colorado rancher who won the Riata’s #12.5 on the heel side in 2023, said most of the guys he knows who are gearing up for the Riata are do-it-yourselfers like him, putting in the time on their own colts to get them ready for the jackpots. 

“A lot of the guys I know around here have had bad experiences with trainers,” Jolly said. “They send one off for six months, and the horse barely gets rode. Most of them are trying to do it themselves. A lot of trainers are $1,300 to $1,500 a month, and that adds up in a hurry.”

That DIY training approach can take time, something that the average low- to mid-numbered roper working a day job doesn’t have a surplus of. But the word from the Riata nomination office has the number of horses from individuals with a single nomination passing the number of horses from ranch and breeding operations. That was the original plan: to get thousands of ropers to breed to great stallions and build the program from the ground up. It’s possible their proxy program to sell Riata breedings and colts may be providing a false sense of reality in their numbers. But false or not, the colts bought to allow a proxy are going to be hitting the roping arena or horse sales in the next couple of years. 

“This year we have heard repeatedly,  there are guys getting horses ready for two to three years from now,” Gentry said. “These are your average ropers making their own horses. We set the futurity incentives up to encourage the training of young horses. And we set the age of those futurities where, as a horse gets older, we create a horse market down the number divisions. It’s still too early to be making conclusions, but it appears that most of the mid-level ropers can’t compete on futurity horses, or can’t afford them. They will make their own.”

Full Circle

As the saying goes, all ships rise on a high tide. While the highest end of the futurity rope horses sell for hundreds of thousands—whether they go as breeding stock, rodeo mounts or big-time jackpot horses—the middle-of-the-road horses in the judged futurity industry more often than not make stellar horses in the jackpot world. That provides another revenue source for trainers and owners, and that separates roping from other disciplines, where average horses end up culled or out to pasture. Team roping, with its hundreds of thousands of competitors and tens of millions of dollars in annual payout and World Series barrier, once again provides a massive growth opportunity in the Western performance market. 

—TRJ—

The post All Ships Rise appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The Riata Open will play host to some horse/rider and team combinations you’ll never see again when it kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 26 from the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and streaming live on Roping.com starting at 8 a.m.

Full Draw Available on TimeTracker with a Global Handicaps login

The whole roping is stacked top to bottom with 49 teams vying for $200,000-added and a $50,000 futurity incentive, but some teams we’re running to the fence to watch:

Watch the Riata on Roping.com

Draw 8: Tyler Wade and Wesley Thorp

The reigning world champs are ducking into Guthrie before heading to Sioux Falls’ Governor’s Cup Thursday, with Wade heading on Good Timin Lorrie by The Goodbye Lane, and Thorp heeling on the Once In A Blue Boon son Neato.

Draw 15: Andy Holcomb and Dakota Kirchenschlager

These two futurity trainers will get to let their hair down and go fast on five head at the Riata, with Holcomb on the Isaac Starlight son, Isaacs First Cody, with Kirchenschlager on the stallion Mayhemm by Metallic Rebel.

Draw 16: Colby Lovell and Jade Corkill

Lovell will head on Mr Seven Come Eleven by Quails Dun Remedy for Corkill, who’s riding two full siblings in the Riata Open. For Lovell, he’ll heel on Little Big Blue, by Seven S Big Valley.

Draw 18: Tate Kirchenschlager and Daniel Reed

Kirchenschlager will go at em on five head on Hes Misleading Dude, by Lazy E stallion Bucks Hancock Dude. He’s partnering with Daniel Reed, who’s excelled on Probably Smart N Nu to $92,762 at the futurities the last two years, winning the ARHFA Sun Circuit and TX Best Futurity on the son of Smart Nu Shiner.

Draw 21: Dean Tuftin and Jeremy Buhler

The iconic Tuftin will swap ends and head for World Champion Buhler. Tuftin will ride his home-raised DT Hickorys Zinger by Hickory Holly Time, while Buhler is on another Hickory Holly Time, DT Get Yer Mask On.

Draw 22: Clay Smith and Joseph Harrison

A day after the loss of great stallion Winners Version, Smith will ride one of his colts, Sammis Version, for Harrison on the elite stallion Nu One Time Blues, by One Time Pepto.

Draw 28: Wesley Thorp and Will Woodfin

French Streakin, by the late A Streak Of Fling, will carry Thorp on the head side, with Will Woodfin on Stylish Hawk LB by Catty Hawk on the heels. Thorp won $40,000 at the RFA in 2023 on this horse on the head side.

Draw 33: Miles Baker and Colby Lovell

Miles Baker will ride Lunchbox, by One Time Honor, while Colby Lovell will climb aboard Time To Glo, the leading rope horse earner trained by Bobby Lewis. Time To Glo is a son of Hickory Holly Time.

Draw 37: Tate Kirchenschlager and Jade Corkill

Kirchenschlager will use his second bullet on Lazzertag, by Hashtags, heading for Corkill on Valleys Red Delta, a full sibling to his other mount by Seven S Big Valley.

Draw 45: Cody Snow and Wesley Thorp

The past NFR average champs will reunite at the Riata, with Snow on the Jesses Topaz offspring Jesses Bella Cat, while Thorp rides DT Hickorys Diego by Hickory Holly Time.

Draw 48: Trevor Brazile and Paul Eaves

Brazile will ride syndicated Riata stallion The Darkk Side, by Once In A Blu Boon, while Eaves will be aboard the Metallic Rebel, Chiquita Rebel.

The post Riata Open Brings Out Horse/Rider Combos You Won’t See ANYWHERE Else appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Lazy E Ranch in Guthrie, Oklahoma, is proud to announce bookings for 2025 foals by the winningest stallion in professional heeling—Patrick Smith’s former rodeo horse, WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena. 

WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena is a Riata stallion and also enrolled in Royal Crown, Gold Buckle and The Diamond Classic futurity incentives.

Book to WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena

“When it comes to rope-horse stallions, he’s at the top of the list,” said David Zito, who purchased “Rooster” this March. “When it comes to sheer legacy, this horse has been there and done that. No other stallion holds a candle to him, where he’s been to the NFR with several different heelers. And he’s 20 and qualified for the World Show this year. That’s just a different kind of horse, with this kind of longevity.”

Watch the 2024 Riata Championships

Bred by Western States Ranches and started in the cutting, Rooster was so good-minded that World Champion Heeler Randon Adams was heeling on him as a 3-year-old. Over the following years, the stud carried elite heelers Adams, Dakota Kirchenschlager, Cesar de la Cruz, Russell Cardoza and Smith to huge rodeo and jackpot wins and multiple NFR qualifications. Smith, a two-time world champion heeler, describes the stud as “one of the most amazing heel horses of all time.”

The 2004 dun by Hesa Sonofa Dun out of Paulena by Doc Olena has lifetime pro heeling earnings well over half a million dollars. de la Cruz, who rode Rooster in several go-rounds at two NFRs, said the stud’s honesty and ability to slide on his hind end sets him apart. Smith was still winning paychecks on Rooster last season before selling him to Zito’s Colorado-based 1957 Quarter Horses. Zito, who started roping two years ago and is entered in this weekend’s Riata Championships, said his family couldn’t wait to send Rooster to the Lazy E. 

“We went to the Riata last year and just couldn’t believe the atmosphere at the Lazy E Arena,” Zito said. “To be part of something as special as the legacy of the Lazy E and have Rooster in that barn alongside those other caliber stallions they have, it’s special.”

With a fee of $1,750, Rooster will join other Riata incentive stallions in Guthrie including A Streak Of Fling, Big Lew, Bucks Hancock Dude, Coronado Cartel, Dirty Fling, Fiestas Gotta Gun, Hez Our Secret, One Fabulous Time, Oz Ona Hot Streak and Show Me The Buckles. Offspring of Riata stallions are invited to compete annually at the $3.5 million Riata Championship team roping–one of the top-three richest ropings in the world.

“WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena is a legend in the roping industry, bringing an unmatched grit and bone and performance record to the Lazy E,” said Monty McNair, a manager at the Lazy E. “No stallion has ever won more in team roping, and his longevity as a performer is unbeatable. It’s an honor to add him to the E’s stallion lineup, bringing his career full circle and allowing us to introduce him to the thousands of visitors who tour our stallion barn annually.”

For more information, visit lazyeranch.com.

The post Lazy E Adds NFR Stallion WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena to Lineup appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Where to watch the 2024 Riata Championships

The Riata—the premier team roping stallion incentive program—kicks off its third Championships in Guthrie, Oklahoma, at the Lazy E Arena, poised to pay $3.5 million in 2024 and streaming live on Roping.com. 

By providing stallion owners and breeders with a unique marketing advantage, the program enhances the value of participating horses’ progeny, ultimately shaping the future of the roping industry. Riata brings together stallion owners, mare owners, breeders and ropers, offering competitors of all skill levels the chance to win unprecedented prize money in the roping futurity world. This innovative program is defining and creating the next generation of elite rope horses. 
 
The Riata kicks off with its  Pro Futurity with $200,000 in added money, plus $50,000 in guaranteed payout to the 4-year-old incentive on a $1,000-per-roper fee. The Pro Futurity is scheduled as early in the week as possible to allow PRCA cowboys at the end of their regular season to fit both the Riata Open and Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Cinch Governor’s Cup that starts Sept. 26.  
 
Every roping will have $200,000 in added money with a $50,000 futurity incentive, with the age on that incentive bumping to 5-and-under in the #14.5 and #12.5 All-Ages to 6-and-under from the #10.5 down to the new #8.5. Proxy horses in those divisions will be eligible for equal payoff, minus a 20% commission—a change from previous years when the Riata horse received all the added money.  
 
Riata will reintroduce its breakaway roping as a $250,000-guaranteed event, combining Riata, Pink and Ruby Buckle horses on a three-head average with two full rounds and a short, splitting the short round in half, with one short round featuring the fastest half of the two-head times, and the other featuring the bottom slowest half.  

A #5.5-and-under Cowgirls Steer Stopping will join the Riata lineup in 2024 with $40,000  
guaranteed on a $500 fee.  

Key Card Max holders can watch for free on Roping.com

A Roping.com membership is included with a KeyCard Max purchase. KeyCard Max Membership also includes a USRoper subscription, the most comprehensive roadside service for trucks and trailers and passenger cars alike, run-delivery at major USTRC and WSTR events, double WSTR accumulated earnings and unlimited entry discounts at the USTRC’s Cinch National Finals of Team Roping (if timelines are met) and more. A KeyCard Max is at least a $1,500 value for only $500.  To renew or upgrade visit WSTRoping.com. 

Is your horse Riata eligible?  

Find out! If your horse is by any of these stallions, OR by a past stallion and has been paid into the Riata program, you CAN enter. Horse changes are open until the day before each roping.   

About Roping.com 

Roping.com is the home of team roping’s masterclasses. In addition to thousands of videos, exclusive roping films and livestream footage in your back pocket, members get private access to World Champion coaches like Jake Barnes, Clay O’Brien Cooper, Matt Sherwood, Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith. Join now for only $29.95/month and take advantage of step-by-step tutorials, run critiques, private members-only Facebook group, live video demos and other benefits available exclusively to Roping.com members.  

The post Watch the $3.5 Million Riata Championships Live on Roping.com Sept. 25-29, 2024 appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Trevor Brazile had a $20,715 day Friday, Sept. 6 at the TX Best Futurity, winning both the Open Derby heading and heeling on two stallions—Time To Glo and Pride And Joyy—who now have amassed $407,211 in earnings a year and a half into their show careers.

Brazile rode Time To Glo, by Hickory Holly Time out of Look At Her Glo by CD O Cody, to the Texas Best Open Heading Derby title with a score of 623.48 on four head, worth $7,125. He won the Open Heeling Derby on Pride And Joyy, the son of Stevie Rey Von out of Fun N Fancy Free by Peptoboonsmal, with 618.30 on four head, worth $8,050.

Brazile also won second worth $5,540 in the heading derby on the syndicated stallion, The Darkk Side, the 2019 son of Once In A Blu Boon out of the blue hen mare DT Sugar Chex Whiz.

“Usually people think riding a stud is a disadvantage,” Brazile said. “But I think all those misconceptions about stallions have been from the wrong kind of stallion. Now I forget they’re studs because they are so easy to be around, and I just think breeding that disposition and mental focus into the next generation is the real advantage.”

Time To Glo, raised and trained by Bobby Lewis, is now owned by Time To Glo Partners, led by Solo Select CEO Ty Smith with Las Tunas Cattle Co., Kaleb Terlip, Redgie Probst and the Relentless Remuda in partnership. The black stud—a two-time Gold Buckle Futurity Super Horse—has $183,567 in earnings, including money in the tie-down roping, heading, heeling and breakaway. He joined the Relentless Remuda’s string in late June.

“Bobby Lewis did an amazing job with this horse, and so I’m walking the line of trying to change certain aspects of his style of competition without hurting the great horse that they made him. He doesn’t need to do anything different because he was trained great. Obviously that’s why we’ve sought him out for this program, but mainly just trying to make him fit my show style without using the pizazz that people are used to seeing with that horse.”

Joseph Harrison, who originally showed Time To Glo for Lewis, helped Brazile in the victory.

Pride And Joyy was first an NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Finalist—finishing third in the premier reined cow horse event with Chris Dawson—before joining the Remuda. He has $223,644 in lifetime earnings, and he’s been shown by World Champs like Paul Eaves and Jeremy Buhler. Relentless Remuda partner Miles Baker does the heading when Pride And Joyy competes.

“That horse in particular has just been successful in every endeavor, whether it be in the cow horse or in the roping,” Brazile said. “He took to the roping so fast that we automatically thought we would get the heeling down and then go on to the next event. But we thought what those other guys had mentioned that this horse is so real at heeling, why would we have him do something else? Because he has that extra thing that makes him real, in every environment, every situation.”

Related Stories:

The post Trevor Brazile Sweeps 6-&-Under Heading, Heeling on Studs Time To Glo, Pride And Joyy appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

In just its third year, the Riata is now the Ariat World Series of Team Roping’s largest qualifier, and when it concludes its Sept. 25-29, $3.5 million event at the Lazy E in Guthrie, Oklahoma, it will be one of the top three largest ropings in the world. 

Is my horse Riata eligible? Find out! If your horse is by any of these stallions, OR by a past stallion and has been paid into the Riata program, you CAN enter. Entries must be postmarked by Aug. 31, 2024, but horse changes are open until the day before each roping.  

The Riata Revolution

Riata began as a vision to bring together team ropers—who make up the largest recreational market in the horse industry—and the breeding business. In just three short years, Riata has doubled in size, all while maintaining entry fees that are a fraction of its competitors’. This accessibility has not only democratized the sport but also expanded interest in breeding to Riata sires—fueling the growth of the rope horse business. 

“I truly think we are on the road to something great,” co-founder Denny Gentry said. “I really don’t think I was expecting Riata to have much impact for four or five years. I clearly wanted to build one of the biggest ropings in the world, and I understood that once that was done and ‘regular’ ropers started buying colts and riding Riatas, the stallion owners would be ecstatic. Within 36 months we have offered the full spectrum of divisions to ropers of all numbers, and it took me six years to do that with the World Series.” 

The 2024 Riata

Moved to Sept. 25-29 to give ropers more time between the event and the Ariat WSTR Finale, the Riata kicks off with its Pro Futurity with $200,000 in added money, plus $50,000 in guaranteed payout to the 4-year-old incentive on a $1,000-per-roper fee. The Pro Futurity is scheduled as early in the week as possible to allow PRCA cowboys at the end of their regular season to fit both the Riata Open and Sioux Falls, South Dakota’s Cinch Governor’s Cup that starts Sept. 26. 

“The Open brings more people in, and young kids want to be those guys,” said Monty McNair, breeding manager at the Lazy E Ranch. “Just like me, 95% of your ropers are lower-numbered ropers, and they’re the ones with the jobs with the money that can afford to be breeding mares. Without the lower number guys, it’s nothing. But they need to see those Open guys riding whatever horses they’re riding, sired by Riata stallions, bringing attention to those stallions. If the Open boys are going to ride them, someone wants to breed to them. When those guys get their hands on them, that gets into people’s brains they want to breed to that horse. And that’s what stallion owners want.” 

New in 2024, only Riata horses can compete in the Pro Futurity, eliminating proxy horses in that division alone. 

“It’s the only futurity we have, and the 4-year-old incentive more than covers the young horses, so proxy is unnecessary,” Gentry said. 

Every roping will have $200,000 in added money with a $50,000 futurity incentive, with the age on that incentive bumping to 5-and-under in the #14.5 and #12.5 All-Ages to 6-and-under from the #10.5 down to the new #8.5. Proxy horses in those divisions will be eligible for equal payoff, minus a 20% commission—a change from previous years when the Riata horse received all the added money. 

“We have dropped the requirement that both horses meet the incentive age requirement in the futurity incentives,” Gentry said. “Instead, the futurity incentive money will be split evenly between head horses and heel horses, and positions paid based on their respective rankings.”

Ladies Only

Riata will reintroduce its breakaway roping as a $250,000-guaranteed event, combining Riata, Pink and Ruby Buckle horses on a three-head average with two full rounds and a short, splitting the short round in half, with one short round featuring the fastest half of the two-head times, and the other featuring the bottom slowest half. 

A #5.5-and-under Cowgirls Steer Stopping will join the Riata lineup in 2024 with $40,000 guaranteed on a $500 fee. 

“We are putting the big money up for the breakaway, but that steer stopping has got us twice as many phone calls,” Gentry said. “We might be on to something with it. We’re excited to see how that develops.”

NEW! 
For the 2024 season and beyond, the 10% Breeder Bonus changes to Nominator Bonus. The 10% Nominator Bonus is paid to the first person or entity that nominates a Riata-eligible offspring.

The junior roping age cap has been lowered to 16 years as of Sept. 15, 2024.

Riata has dropped the requirement that both horses meet the incentive age requirement in the futurity incentives. Instead, the futurity incentive money will be split evenly between head horses and heel horses, and positions paid based on their respective rankings.

—TRJ—

The post RIATA: 2024’s Richest Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale Qualifier appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Dustin Rogers proved the stallion Johnny’s Lil Cash’s ability to swap seamlessly between heading and heeling when he earned titles in both the Jerry Bailey Memorial limited heading and heeling at the Platinum Medal Rope Horse Futurity in Rapid City and took home $19,050.

Johnnys Lil Cash is a 2017 stallion by Lil Joe Cash and out of Joses Little Uno by Pale Face Josie. He is bred and owned by M Bar W Ranch.

“He carried the team (in the heeling),” Rogers said. “I made some mistakes and honestly didn’t do my job as well as I’d like, but he always shows up and gives 110%. From standing great in the box to how he finishes a run, he just stands out.”

His Limited heeling performance helped him earn his first win of the week in Rapid City in 894.28 on four runs, worth the single largest check of the week at $10,150.

• DT Sugar Chex Whiz Stallions The Darkk Side and The Notorious B I G Go 1-2 in Platinum Medal Heeling
• Billie Jack Saebens Capitalizes on Lone Platinum Medal Heading Entry, Wins $10,000 on Bonny Freckles T4
• ARHFA Limited Heeling World Champions: Metallic Lookin and Dustin Rogers

The following day, Rogers followed up the performance with another high callback position to the short round in the Limited heading. He clinched it in the short round and took home the $8,900 check for his first-place score of 889.40 on four runs.

Rogers had the opportunity to step aboard the stallion after he spent time with two of the top names from the reined cow horse realm.

“He came from Chris and Sarah Dawson and was started as a cow horse,” Rogers said. “I got him at the end of his 5-year-old year, showed him in the roping as a 6-year-old and now I’ve been able to continue on and get to show him in the intermediate and limited classes.”

With his Platinum Medal earnings, Johnnys Lil Cash will easily clear the $110,000 mark in QData lifetime earnings. Rogers insisted that although his training program played a part, the red stallion’s natural athleticism has carried him to success out of both roping boxes.

“He’s always been good on both ends,” Rogers said. “There’s a few stallions that can just look great on both ends. He might be talking to everybody back at the stalls, but the second you put his saddle and bridle on he’s all business. He’s just as perfect as can be on every run.”

Rogers’ training operation is now based out of Texas. The 35-year-old has worked to build a reputation as a trainer and is classified as a 6.5 header and 6 heeler in Global Handicaps.

“That was the whole point of pushing for money added and opportunities with our limited class,” Myers said. “Dustin trains horses as good as anybody I know on either end, but he doesn’t have the highest number. And there isn’t just a ton of space for those guys in the futurity game, so we made that a priority at Platinum Medal.”

Platinum Medal Limited Heading Results

1. Dustin Rogers and Johnnys Lil Cash, 894.28 on four, worth $10,150
2. Daniel Reed and Promably Smart N Nu, 889.49, $8,400
3. Taylor Thompson and SJR Diamond Playit, 888.67, $6,650
4. Bobby Mote and SBD Boons Frenchgirl, 887.12, $4,900
5. Bobby Mote and Mucho Natural, 883.54, $3,150

Elite Breeders Incentive

1. Daniel Reed and Promably Smart N Nu, $2,250

Non- Pro Sidepot

1. Levi Grimes and Zipanic Freckles, $3,060
2. Logan Allen and DJ Coles Peppy Cat, $2,040

Platinum Medal Limited Heeling Results

1. Dustin Rogers and Johnnys Lil Cash, 889.40 on four, $8,900
2. Nick Pullara and XXotic, 885.34, $7,300
3. Ty Spickelmier and Sport N Man, 879.21, $5,400
4. Dustin Rogers and Tuff N Style, 871.73, $3,500
5. Britt Williams and DD I Be Tuff, 869.65, $1,900

Elite Breeders Incentive

1. Nick Pullara and XXotic, $2,250

Non-Pro Sidepot

1. Tyus Olson and Stylish Reyzin, 848.24 on four, $2,260
2. Logan Allen and Playboys Patron, 643.94 on three, $1,500

The post Dustin Rogers and Johnnys Lil Cash Sweep Platinum Medal Limited Heading and Heeling appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

It was a battle of the brothers to the final round in the Platinum Medal Rope Horse Futurity in the Open 6 & Under heeling when The Notorious B I G and The Darkk Side, both out of the iconic mare DT Sugar Chex Whiz placed both first and second on Aug. 23, 2024.

Trevor Brazile was aboard The Darkk Side, a 2019 stallion by Once In A Blu Boon. For The Notorious B I G, a 2018 stallion by CD Lights, it was Billie Jack Saebens on top. The first round bragging rights went to Saebens, but Brazile answered back with the high score in Round 2. Saebens had to fight a leg in Round 3, but his judge’s markings helped compensate and he managed to enter a tough Platinum short round in the No. 4 position, behind Brazile aboard The Darkk Side, Time To Glo and Gunna Wanna, respectively.

When the dust settled, it was The Darkk Side who defended his No. 1 position with a 228.18 to bring his total score to a 903.15 on four runs, worth the $8,700 aggregate win. Notorious B I G marked a stellar 229.48 to raise his score to a 901.21 on four and earn the reserve finish, worth $7,200.

“This stallion’s great on both ends,” Brazile said. “It doesn’t matter what we do on him. And he’s just a kind horse. His temperment is outstanding, and he just wants to be good.”

The siblings put on an electric performance in Rapid City all weekend long. Brazile noted that the showdown represented the draw of the Platinum Medal Futurity and Elite Breeders Incentive program.

“We go to a lot of stallion incentives,” Brazile said. “But at the Platinum Medal, it’s unique. Stallions are great, but having this breeding program incentive does a lot for the mares. And it proves that there’s something in the marepower when you see maternal brothers winning first and second in the heeling. I already knew that, which is why we’re out here beating up the road and proving both the great stallions and mares that we have.”

The Darkk Side wasn’t just a standout in the Open heeling in Rapid City, he also earned the Elite Breeders Incentive win for the class, worth $4,500 for his scores on two runs. On the day prior, The Darkk Side won the $8,000 reserve Open Heading victory behind Saebens and Bonny Freckles T 4, plus another $4,500 Elite Breeders check, bringing his total earnings on the weekend to a cool $25,700. With his $139,000 previously recorded in QData, the week will push the 5-year-old officially over the $165,000 mark.

• Dixon Flowers’ DT Sugar Chex Whiz Adds Purina Heel Horse of the Year Title to Already Impressive Resume
• Horse of the Year DT Sugar Chex Whiz Set to Make NFR Debut With Worley in Round 7
• The Darkk Side & Miles Baker Reign Supreme in Heading at Houston ARHFA
• Dixon Flowers Quarter Horses
• The Notorious B I G is the 2024 Red Bud Spectacular ARHFA Heeling Champ with Billie Jack Saebens Aboard

The Notorious B I G boasts lifetime earnings over $100,000, while “Sugar’s,” third money-earning foal, DT Hickory Blu Steel has banked over $140,000. Combined with The Darkk Side’s earnings, the three athletes bring the mare’s progeny LTE to over $405,000 and climbing.

Owned by Dixon Flowers, the 2019 AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year beneath Billie Jack Saebens DT Sugar Chex Whiz also earned the title of 2015 AQHA Junior World Champion in 2015 with J.D Yates. “Sugar,” DT Hickory Blu Steel is an earner of over $140,000. The Notorious B I G has notched multiple futurity titles and earned nearly $100,000.

From Solo Select Horses’ Mel and Ty Smith seeing The Darkk Side’s early potential, to the time in the saddle Chris Littlefield and Miles Baker put into the athlete, to the entire team at events and home supporting the Relentless Remuda crew, the dedication is an exemplary example of the work that goes into many of the great training and breeding programs represented at the Platinum Medal futurity.

Remember that time Brazile was out on injury and Miles Baker earned his own title aboard The Darkk Side in Houston? If you don’t, you can read about it here.

The Platinum Medal format

The 6 and Under class in both heading and heeling was paid on three sections: the Silver division consisting of short round qualifiers No. 12 through No. 9, the Gold division representing No. 8 to No. 5, and the Platinum division, made up of No. 4 to No. 1. Each set of four competed solely against their section within the short round. See full results below.

The 3D format of both Open 6 and Under classes gave ropers mixed reviews of the event. Producer and Platinum Medal founder, Billy Myers weighed in.

“(The 3D format) worked great last year when we were trying to grow the industry,” Myers said. “The idea was to create more chances for middle numbered enthusiasts and trainers to compete and win. But the quality of horses gotten so good in such a small amount of time, and this format didn’t end up working out the best in the Open class. Next year, we will make changes to the limited heading and heeling to add even more opportunities for those middle numbered ropers in a more controlled environment, while still allowing the higher numbered trainers on outstanding horses to make money on the most deserving horses in the Open.”

Platinum Medal Open Heeling 6 and Under results

Platinum Division

1. Trevor Brazile and The Darkk Side, 903.15 on four, worth $8,700
2. Billie Jack Saebens and The Notorious B I G, 901.21, $7,200
3. Trevor Brazile and Gunna Wanna, 900.5
4. Trevor Brazile and Time To Glo, 896.67

Gold Division

1. Dakota Kirchenschlager and DT Hickorys Eyecandy, 890.63, $5,700
2. Billie Jack Saebens and DF Probablytheticket, 887.71, $4,150
3. Dakota Kirchenschlager and Mayhemm, 886.69
4. Trevor Brazile and Not White At All, 671.03 on three

Silver Division

1. Billie Jack Saebens and Diamond Eve, 889.16, $2,700
2. Dakota Kirchenschlager and CR Pepto Tuff Lena, 888.54 $1,500
3. Nick Pullera and XXotic, 885.25
4. Roper Goodsen and Dont Stopp Trackin, 881.6

4 and Under

1. Trevor Brazile and Gunna Wanna, 673.12 on three, $3,000
2. Billie Jack Saebens and DF ProbablyTheTicket, 664.72 on three $2,000

Elite Breeders Incentive

1. Trevor Brazile and The Darkk Side, $4,500

The post DT Sugar Chex Whiz Stallions The Darkk Side and The Notorious B I G Go 1-2 in Platinum Medal Heeling appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Just because a futurity is filled with top-notch horsepower doesn’t mean a trailer full of horses with popular papers is necessary, and Billie Jack Saebens proved that when he showed up with a single entry entry in the Platinum Medal 6 and Under Open Heading and earned the $10,000 win aboard Bonny Freckles T 4.

“(Bonny Freckles T 4) is the only one I had entered today,” Saebens said. “She had an injury this winter and isn’t eligible for incentives like Royal Crown, so she hasn’t had the chance to go much. I had faith that she’d do her job. That mare just has so much try.”

Saebens and the 2019 mare by Freckles Ranger and out of Ima Bonnie Girl N 4 by Twisselena defended their high callback position in the Platinum division of the short round with his best run of the day in 228.11 points to give him an overall score of 900.3 on four runs and the $10,000 grand prize. The event took place on August 21 in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The unique futurity format divided the short round qualifiers into three sections: the silver divison, representing those who qualified in the No. 9 to No. 12 positions, the gold division with No. 5 through No. 8, and the platinum sections with qualifiers No. 1 to No. 4. Saebens’ No. 1 position didn’t give him much breathing room in the platinum pool—he had less than four points separating him from Miles Baker and Relentless Honor at No. 4, and Trevor Brazile on both The Darkk Side and Time To Glo to best.

“My horse was prepared whenever I came here,” Saebens said. “But Miles and Trevor have some great horses. I couldn’t go in there just trying to beat them. I had to do my job and show the judges what we’ve trained her to do.”

Owned by Tana and Bart Hutton, Bonny Freckles T 4 represents their budding breeding program at H4 Ranches in Uvalde, Texas. With the steady hand of Saebens at the reins, the young mare represented the Huttons well.

“I think Bart and Tana should be very proud of this horse,” Saebens said. “They’re a smaller operation that’s up against a lot of big names, and her papers aren’t filled with the mainstream names everybody is talking about, but she’s a great representation of their breeding program and a talented horse.”

To watch the Platinum Medal Open Heading on-demand, plus all the action from the Platinum Medal Rope Horse Futurity 2024, head to Roping.com.

• Horse Market Report 2024: Billie Jack Saebens’ Industry Outlook on The Score Podcast
• SJR Diamond Billy & Billie Jack Saebens Get 6-&-Under *Heading* Win for $39K at First Gold Buckle Futurity
• Billie Jack Saebens: Balancing Training, Rodeo, Life

Platinum Medal Open Heading Results

Open Aggregate– Platinum Division

1. Billie Jack Saebens and Bonny Freckles T 4, 900.3 on four, $10,000
2. Trevor Brazile and The Darkk Side, 899.6, $8,000
3. Trevor Brazile and Time To Glo, 897.02
4. Miles Baker and Relentless Honor, 892.7

Open Aggregate- Gold Division

1. Britt Williams and Smokeing Trip, 892.47 on four, $6,500
2. Miles Baker and Lunchbox, 889.57, $4,250
3. Mike Kunzler and Celtic Tuff, 889.57
4. Jake Cooper and PR Curtiss Glo, 877.88

Open Aggregate- Silver Division

1. Dakota Kirchenschlager and Guyz Magic, 881.16 on four, $3,000
2. Britt Williams and Shiny Lil Peso, 879.9, $2,400
3. Dakota Kirchenschlager and Yes Im Sassy, 879.42
4. Miles Baker and Relentless PYC, 661.55

The post Billie Jack Saebens Capitalizes on Lone Platinum Medal Heading Entry, Wins $10,000 on Bonny Freckles T4 appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The Equinety Platinum Medal Rope Horse Futurity will stream live for free on Roping.com from Aug. 20-22, showcasing the best young horses in the country inside the James Kjerstad Event Center in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The 2024 Equinety Platinum Medal Rope Horse Futurity adds $45,000 plus $22,500 in Gold Buckle Futurities elite breeders bonus money.

New in 2024, the Equinety Platinum Medal Rope Horse Futurity will also feature the Jerry Bailey Memorial Limited Heading and Heeling, both for any aged horse.

“The Platinum Medal team is going above and beyond to put on an exceptional production catering to all ropers,” said Chelsea Shaffer, Editor of The Team Roping Journal. “We’re honored to be a part of that production, bringing multiple camera angles that will both entertain and educate.” 

How to Watch

The Equinety Platinum Medal Futurity will be streamed for free exclusively on Roping.com, the home of top training content, historic roping matches and live events.

Watch all the action Aug. 20–22, 2024, here.

Roping.com is the home of team roping’s masterclasses. In addition to thousands of videos, exclusive roping films and livestream footage in your back pocket, members get private access to World Champion coaches like Jake Barnes, Clay O’Brien Cooper, Matt Sherwood, Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith. Join now for only $29.95/month and take advantage of step-by-step tutorials, run critiques, private members-only Facebook group, live video demos and other benefits available exclusively to Roping.com members. 

The Equinety Platinum Medal Futurity Schedule

Monday, August 19
Stall office hours: Open 24 hours
Check in

Tuesday, August 20
After Range Days PRCA Rodeo slack – will not start before noon
$7,500 Added Judged All Ages Breakaway
$7,500 Added Judged All Ages Calf Roping

Wednesday, August 21
8 a.m. start time
$7,500 Added Platinum Medal 3-D 6 & Under Open Heading Presented by Elite Embryo
$7,500 Added Jerry Bailey Memorial Limited Heeling Presented by Myers Performance Horses

Thursday, August 22
8 a.m. start time
$7,500 Added Platinum Medal 3-D 6 & Under Open Heeling Presented by Kimes Ranch
$7,500 Added Jerry Bailey Memorial Limited Heading Presented by Myers Performance Horses

The post How to Watch The 2024 Equinety Platinum Medal Futurity: Schedule and More appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

The October 2024 issue of The Team Roping Journal will feature a special preview of rope horse stallions for the 2024 breeding season, with extra distribution at both the Riata Sept. 25-29 and the American Rope Horse Futurity Association’s World Championship in Fort Worth Oct. 16-19.

The Breeding Season Preview Issue will mail to all 44,000 subscribers of TRJ by Oct. 1, and it will have extra distribution on site at the ARHFA and Riata for the thousands of spectators and participants to see at the John Justin Arena and Lazy E. It will mail to subscribers poly-bagged with the TRJ’s coveted Arizona Guide, too, making this one of the magazine’s premier issues of the year.

“We’ve made a commitment to helping expand the rope horse business through our annual Breeder’s Guide, and we’ve already seen spectacular growth in that sector,” TRJ Editor Chelsea Shaffer said. “Giving stallion owners, breeders and trainers a special showcase to promote their programs in October will put these horses in front of the most engaged audience in the entire industry, at a time when breeding and training great horses is at the top of everyone’s mind.”

The issue will also feature a special section highlighting rope horse trainers and help horses, showcasing all sides of the rope horse industry.

The Team Roping Journal is the official media partner of the American Rope Horse Futurity Association and the Riata Stallion Incentive.

For booking space at the Futurity Preview special rate, contact Nick Griggs at 806-622-2225 or email ngriggs@equinenetwork.com; or Kayla Lombardo at 704-242-2553 or email at klombardo@equinenetwork.com.

The post October 2024 TRJ to Feature Special Breeding Season Stallion Preview appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Reys Of Pep, the American Rope Horse Futurity Association’s 2023 Head Horse of the Year, won the Old West Rope Horse Futurity’s Non-Pro Heading with Texas’s Halie Richey July 27 to the tune of $9,450.

Full Results: ARHFA’s Old West Futurity

The 2017 stallion is by Dual Rey out of Peppys Stylish Lena by Docs Stylish Oak, and he’s owned by NFR header Jake Cooper. Reys Of Pep earned $114,599 in his futurity career under the guidance of Colby Lovell, Kaleb Driggers and Kollin VonAhn, and he’s been in the breeding barn most of 2024. Richey, Cooper’s girlfriend, just started riding the stud a few weeks ago after a long hiatus from the roping pen.

“We heard about this show, and I just started practicing on him, and was hoping to do good,” Richey said. “I kind of retired for six years, and I’ve come back to two ropings now.”

Richey is in Texas Tech’s School of Veterinary Medicine, so while her family owns Premier Rope Horses championed by her brother-in-law Clay Smith (and headlined by their $100,000 Old West Champ Lead On), she’s been focused on academics. But Reys Of Pep is the perfect gentleman for a woman returning to the arena—just like he’s a fierce competitor at the Open level.

“He’s super gentle and super sweet,” Richey said. “I feel like a pro guy could go ride him, and then I can ride him, and he’s just the same. “

Reys Of Pep bred a diverse book of mares in 2024 in his first year standing full-time, fitting in drives to the breeding barn for collections between practice reps with Cooper. He bred NFR mares like Highpoint Performance Horses‘ Docs Gunslinger Chic and great dams like Miss N Frost, dam to Erich Rogers’ Salinas champ 5-year-old gelding, ER Miss N The Casino.

In 2025, Cooper plans to further limit Reys Of Peps’ books while he competes on the stallion at the ProRodeos and Open ropings, and while Richey competes on him at World Series of Team Ropings and judged competitions.

The post Stallion Reys Of Pep Resurges with Halie Richey in ARHFA Old West Futurity Non-Pro Heading Win appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Joseph Harrison etched his name in the rope-horse-futurity history books, winning over $168,000 at ARHFA’s 2024 Old West Rope Horse Futurity, taking the top three spots in the Open Futurity Heeling.

Harrison and Copperton, sired by Spots Hot and out of Copperish, took home the $100,000 win, followed by Harrison and Nu One Time Blues at second for $33,600 and Harrison on CR Better Be Tuff at third for $26,880, July 27. In its inaugural year, the Wallsburg, Utah, event paid out the largest purse in rope-horse-futurity history.

“I’m just very appreciative, honestly, for Rhen and the Richard family and the Probst family, and everybody involved with having this deal,” Harrison, a six-time NFR qualifier, said. “I’ve never even gotten to chase one for that much money at a futurity before, and it seems like I’ve done it three or four times this week—chase one for that kind of money in the same weekend. And it’s because they made it possible with all their help and their people and their sponsors. We roped a great set of steers, the weather’s been pretty spectacular, Mr. Probst has got a really, really nice place here. I’m just thankful.”

Tony

The 6-year-old gelding they call “Tony,” Copperton is owned by Cox and Moore Partnership. With cutting in his blood between Spots Hot and Copperish as his parents, and Lloyd Cox’s cutting horse operation, Copperton would have been perfect in the cutting industry as well.

“On paper, he’s the who’s who for the cutting,” Harrison explained. “He was supposed to be a cutter but, lucky for me, he’s a rope horse.”

Harrison and Copperton started the day with a 230.7 in Round 1, followed by second in Round 2 with a 235.66. With a 234.53 in Round 3, the two entered the short round second in the aggregate. They sealed the deal with a 236.51 in the short round.

“He felt good,” Harrison said. “Very first steer tried pretty good, and he handled it real good for the first steer of the day. Pretty cool out this morning and he did good, and then he got stronger as the day went on in his body. You can feel that he’s confident. He hit the turn in a good spot, ready but staying with me.”

Overall in the rounds, Harrison also pocketed $2,000 for second in Round 1 and $4,000 for the Round 2 win on Nu One Time Blues and $2,000 for second in Round 2 on Copperton. Going into the first round No. 1 on Nu One Time Blues, second on Copperton and third on CR Better Be Tuff, Harrison was confident any of the three horses could have walked away with the win.

“He’s just a talented sucker, man,” Harrison said. “All three of those horses are. All three of those horses are very nice horses, it could have went either way. At any time a draw here or there, anything could have changed it up. I’m just thankful that I had my three of them.”

As a 4-year-old, Copperton made his name known with wins like the Platinum Medal Futurity Heeling Preliminaries. In this 5-year-old year, he’s got size on his side.

“He just gets bigger and stronger,” Harrison said. “He can run more and is stronger in his body, more mature in his body. He’s just better, honestly; he’s a better horse.”

Proven program

With the top three horses at the largest-paying futurity, Harrison showed the legacy he’s building through his program while giving credit to the horses and owners.

“It always helps to get lucky, lucky’s good,” Harrison said with a laugh. “But they’re very good colts, all three of those colts are They’re very, very nice horses. I’m just grateful that the people that own them, they could have wanted to send them to someone else. So, that’s just lucky that I was the guy that they wanted to ride them; that’s awesome. I look forward to doing business with those people in the future and, hopefully, we’ll have some more horses like them.”

While every aspect of the run counts, Harrison focuses on establishing best positioning in each horse that comes through his program, teaching them to find the best position during the run.

“I want to be in good place down the arena where I can get in a good spot through the turn where I’m able to get my rope over the steer’s back and catch all the time,” Harrison said. “They’ve got the buttons on them—they’ve got the butt drag and stuff like that—but my main goal every time is to get in a good spot to be able to catch and let them show themselves the best I can.”

Harrison had the No. 4 header in the PRCA world standings Jake Smith heading for him in the Open Futurity Heeling, as well as a much-needed team on the ground for the other moving parts.

“I had my wife and Justin Ochs that stays with us quite a lot,” Harrison said. “He owns two of the 4-year-olds I rode [Friday]; the 4-year-old that I won second on [Friday], he owns. They helped me wrangle them all day, getting them ready. You can’t do it without a team. It takes a village. If you’re going to bring that many horses to town, it takes some help.”

The post Joseph Harrison Sweeps Old West Open Futurity Heeling with Historic $168K Outing appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

ARHFA World Champion Andy Holcomb rode the 2020 Pale Face Dunnit daughter Pale Liberty to the first-ever Old West Futurity 4-&-Under Heeling Title, worth $50,000 for the win July 26.

The mare, owned by Arizona’s Jamie Walters, is out of Lil Miss Pepto by Peptos Stylish Oak, and has been in Holcomb’s program since her 3-year-old year.

Full Results: ARHFA’s Old West Futurity

“I’ve ridden a few horses for her owners, and they’ve been heel horses—not to show, just for the husband to jackpot on,” Holcomb said. “Jamie rides reiners over there in Arizona, and this one just wasn’t quite making a reiner. She wanted to make it in a heel horse for her husband. We kind of got it going, and she’s just real, kind of pretty classy mare and took to it pretty fast. So we decided to show her a little bit.”

The mare has a great stop, reads the corner well and has a lot of go, Holcomb said, helping her stand out. But did he think he’d win the futurity? The long-time head-horse trainer and 8.5 heeler wasn’t sold.

“I was trying to win like, sixth,” Holcomb laughed. “That’s what usually happens. But I was just trying to rope. I wanted to rope aggressive, but, you know, smart, and take smart shots but don’t second guess my shots either.”

Pale Face Dunnit isn’t in the rope horse incentives, so Holcomb has only taken the mare to a few shows. Her only QData earnings so far came at the pre-futurity in Scottsdale, Arizona, worth $7,578 for second at the Sun Circuit. This was Holcomb’s richest futurity win to date as a rider, though as of July 12, he’d won $296,998.90 in ARHFA competition.

Holcomb has been taking his heeling seriously as of late, getting help from so many of the best in the world. Driggers set Holcomb up with two-time World Champion Kollin VonAhn for the assist.

“I just kind of started talking, calling on the phone and sending some videos,” Holcomb said. “I’ll kind of pick his brain and, and he’s been great and, and it made it real simple for me. He just really tried to change one thing—getting me to break my rope over on the left side of my horse, and that was it. And it took me like a year and a half to get to that. I still don’t think I really got it. I had a bad habit of turning my rope over kind of like a header, I’d turn my rope over on the right side and I’d come across the feet right to left versus turning my rope over on the left side where my rope’s just gonna come through and set, and the bottom’s going to come through better.”

Holcomb’s also tapped Shay Carroll and Paul Eaves, piecing together a heeling game that’s now got him the biggest check to date in the futurity heeling business. (Though, $100,000 will be paid out in a single check to the winner of the 6-&-Under July 27.)

—TRJ—

The post Pale Liberty & Andy Holcomb Cash $50K Check at ARHFA’s Old West Roping 4-&-Under Heeling  appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Clay Smith and 2019 gelding Lead On made history July 26, 2024, winning the biggest check in futurity history for $100,000 at ARHFA’s Old West Rope Horse Futurity.

Smith and the 5-year-old by Corona Cartel and out of Charm Dance by First Down Dash won the Open Futurity Heading with a 930.24 on four. Lead On and the two-time PRCA world champion kicked off the day with a 230.44 for fifth in Round 1. They followed that up with the second-round win with a 232.73 for $4,000 and their biggest score of the day in the third round of 236.5. After entering the 20-man short round high call, Smith and Lead On sealed the deal with a 230.57 in the short round.

“That’s awesome, anytime you get a chance to win that kind of money,” Smith, 33, said. “For futurity deals, this one is going to hopefully open the eyes to everything else. This is awesome.”

Lead On is owned by Smith’s younger sister-in-law, Miley Richey, and had just $19,300 in QData prior to the $100,000 payday. Smith and Lead On didn’t have much of a history together prior to the Wallsburg, Utah, event.

“My in-laws brought him out two days ago and I rode him the day before yesterday,” Smith explained. “I ran like five or six, and I’d ran two on him before that. But we had seen that horse with Bobby Mote riding him and we knew that was a great horse, and my little sister-in-law got him bought. That horse is amazing. Just don’t really make a mistake.”

Lead On came from Reliance Ranches and Bobby Mote, and the Richey family added him to their herd earlier this spring.

“He scores and he can run,” Smith said. “He is Corona Cartel and scores and really runs. Honestly, I mean, we were thinking about futurities, but we knew how good that horse was going to be. Like, that’s one of the best head horses we’ve ever seen, especially to be 5 years old is unbelievable.”

Given that Miley, just 14, and Smith, a professional header, are both able to have success on Lead On, the gelding’s talent isn’t up for debate.

“Well, a great horse, that’s how they are,” Smith said. “A great horse, anybody should be able to get on him and do it. That’s what he is; I think he’s a great horse. For him to be as fast as he is, and for him to be able to go to any kind of setup—World Series to regular barriers—I mean, that horse is just a great horse.”

Much like his dad Corona Cartel, Lead On isn’t lacking in the speed department. Compared to Smith’s Flinty, also an own son of Corona Cartel, Lead On may have him beat in speed.

“He’s a Corona Cartel, too, they both are, and so we love how they feel,” Smith said. “Speed means so much, and it seems like every one of them that can run, they score better. So, he scores great and he can run just as fast as anything that I’ve rode. I wasn’t even kicking him today, I was just trying not to mess up, honestly, and trying to get better at not using a rope but using the horse. So, today was just let the horse do it.”

Full Results: ARHFA’s Old West Rope Horse Futurity

Having come from the ProRodeo road, Smith had to make some adjustments in his roping to fit the futurity.

“I mean, you got to think about it a little bit more,” Smith admitted. “So like [Friday], I didn’t do as good a job. I’m learning and it’s a little harder sometimes to transition. You just got to slow down a little bit. You just really need to slow down on both and catch the cows.”

The post Clay Smith and Lead On Make History with $100K ARHFA Old West Futurity Heading Win appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.

Relentless PYC and Miles Baker got their third futurity win of 2024—this one worth a massive $50,000—at the historic, first-ever Old West Roping Futurity held in Wallsburg, Utah, July 25.

Full Results: ARHFA’s Old West Rope Horse Futurity

Relentless PYC, a 2020 Flag Ranch mare by First Prize Diver out of the Playgun daughter Chars Gun, took the lead in Round 1 and never looked back at the Probst Ranch. Owned by Solo Select, Bob Tonkin and the Relentless Remuda, Relentless PYC jumped to the lead on the first steer by three points with a 234.00, worth $2,500, then won the second with a 233.60, for another $2,500. She was 231.62 in the short round to seal the $50,000 win with an aggregate score of 699.22.

“I’m just thankful to be here,” Baker, 32, of Decatur, Texas, said. “I was riding around in the warm up arena thinking like, ‘If I hit this steer in the back of the head, you know, Trevor said on a podcast the other day, how many do or die situations are you in? I’m not in any. I thought I literally told myself out loud when I rode in the box, ‘This ain’t do or die. Don’t, don’t freak yourself out. It ain’t do or die.’ If I hit him in the back of the head, I’m going to say, thank you, Lord, for the chance to run a steer for $50,000. Who would have thought a kid from Oklahoma was going to get to rope a steer for $50,000 and, after this win, I’ve probably won close to a quarter million this year already and, who would have thought.”

Baker had the help of the ARHFA’s leading rider, Joseph Harrison, on the back side. Harrison was flawless behind Relentless PYC, having been on the heels for all of her wins—to the tune of $93,211—in 2024 alone.

“When you don’t got to worry about your man behind you, that’s nice,” Baker said. “Because I knew when I was heading to my short-round cow that there was $50,000 sitting on top of that sucker’s head because I just knew when I turned it, that was it, because Joseph was going to heel it.”

Relentless PYC’s Roots

Solo Select CEO Ty Smith bought the mare they call Nala when he bought her mom, and she was in utero. When Chars Gun foaled, Smith sold the baby back to Larry Rice of the Flag Ranch, who’d originally bred the mare.

“Larry Rice was ahead of the game breeding the racehorses to the cow mares,” Baker said. “Trev and I had a vision of riding better head horses and not just taking 10 and hoping that one or two of them actually had enough smoke.

“I was living in Oklahoma. I said, ‘There’s a guy up here in Purcell that raises really good horses we need to look at.’ And it was no secret. Rhen (Richard) had done really good on some. Cole Davison had a few good ones. Tate had a few good ones. And so I went up there, and I actually got to watch both of these mares on their first or second ride, and I left there and I told Trevor I was like I bought one that was super kind and looked like she moved good, but so gentle and easygoing, and then I bought one that was really stingy. And this one was the kind one.”

In the Practice Pen

Baker has put in the hours on the 4-year-old crop of Relentless Remuda horses, with partner Trevor Brazile having been out for shoulder surgery. But for Baker, Nala makes those reps easy ones.

Watch a Full Practice Session on Relentless PYC

“She gets so little,” Baker said. “I can’t tell you how easy that mare is. And she fires so hard away from home that like at home, I try to keep her enjoying life. I mean, Gracie rides her a lot in the pasture. I may rope on her a couple days a week. I score a few and maybe breakaway one or two, and just really not to get her better, so to speak, but just to keep her enjoying it, keep it easy. And then it’s crazy when you know that you can ask them for 50% all the time and all you got to do is smooch and it’s zero to 100.”

Baker spent $700 last Saturday in Granbury, Texas entering the Remuda’s head horse herd in the AQHA show at Clay Logan’s, but they didn’t run one steer there. Baker backed into the box every time his name was called and gave his horses a live score, knowing the amount of money on the line once they got to Utah.

“It’s going the extra mile,” Baker said. “You can score all you want at home, but at this point in the year, those 4-year-olds have been shown six or seven times, and every time we’ve went away from home, we’ve asked them for their lives. When you get the chance to rope for this kind of money, or compete at any futurity on young horses like that, it’s always worth spending the extra money. It’s priceless to get livescores away from home on these young horses just to ensure they don’t get smart away from home.”

Lasting Impact

Baker was the only one riding the Relentless Remuda’s head horses in competition for the start of the 2024 season, getting his first-ever futurity win on Relentless Honor in Buckeye, Arizona, at the Royal Crown in February. He’s won over $200,000 since then at the futurities—a far cry from where he was in 2020 riding colts for outside customers on his dad’s Oklahoma ranch for $650 a head, barely breaking even.

“Then, when I got the opportunity to ride for Trevor, I didn’t charge him nothing,” Baker said. “Literally, if I felt like I did a really good job and the horses really increased their value, I would charge him for feed. But I just knew that I had an opportunity, and I think the last two or three years I’ve, you know, pecked along and I’ve tried and get better and get better, and I won second at a lot of futurities, and I just knew I was getting there, and I’ve honestly not arrived yet.”

—TRJ—

The post Relentless PYC & Miles Baker Get First-Ever $50K Paycheck at ARHFA’s Old West Roping 4-&-Under Futurity appeared first on The Team Roping Journal.