Craig Thompson

Lincoln, Ill., husband and wife cutting horse breeders, owners and riders Patrick and Laura Collins also bred and raised Oh Cay Felix. This is the second time in six years they’ve headed home from Borden Milk/NCHA Futurity Open as Champion owners and breeders. It’s also the second time Thompson has ridden a Champion horse for them.

“I was just thrilled to get a horse in the finals. This is the first time since 'Felix' we’ve had a horse in the finals, and we’ve had some [horses compete at the Futurity] every year.”

He expected to drive back to Ilinois with his wife “on Cloud Nine,” Collins said. "It’s only 900 miles. I guarantee it will be the shortest 900-mile drive I’ve ever taken."

Laura & Patrick Collins

“I came here to cut. Regardless of what happened, I wanted it to be known that I came here to win,” Thompson said. “If it would have gone bad, so be it. We’d have gotten ready for the next one. I just trusted God to get me through it. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.”

It was meant to be. The third cow provided a strong challenge, and herd helpers including past Futurity Open Champions Paul Hansma, Winston Hansma and Shannon Hall, plus rising star Steve Oehlhof, helped keep that cow going. Oh Miss Caroline also moved quickly and efficiently enough to rack up every extra point that she needed. Stephenville, Texas, cutter J.B. McLamb, one of Thompson's nearly full-time herd helpers, wasn't able to assist him as a rider this time, but he sat and helped the rider pick out the cows that helped him earn his second NCHA Futurity Open Championship in six years.

It was a remarkable effort, especially for a horse that made Saturday night’s Futurity Open finals with solid but far from spectacular 215.5, 216.5 and 216.5 efforts in the first two rounds and Friday’s Open semifinals.

“She’s always been a nice horse but just a touch immature,” Thompson said. “As we came in, she got more mature and better minded. She just gave 200 percent and I’m so proud of her.”

Nearly all spectators in a jam-packed Will Rogers Coliseum cheered loudly for veteran Weatherford, Texas, cutting trainer Tom Dvorak. He had lost his wife Cyndy to cancer Friday night. Thompson noted a family member was also on his mind when he competed Saturday.

“First and foremost, I thank God for allowing me to get my horses shown. My grandmother couldn’t make it here. I hate that her and my mother couldn’t make it. She [his grandmother, Lucille Nichols] has been sick. It meant a lot to get my horse shown.” -MT

Ronnie Rice

Jewel Bars Cat and Ronnie Rice Reserve Champions

Jewel Bars Cat (High Brow Cat x Sprats Dualin Jewel x Lenas Jewel Bars), a gelding owned by Center Ranch, Centerville, Texas, and shown by two-time NCHA Futurity Open Champion Ronnie Rice, Grandview, Texas, set the bar high from the opening run by marking a first-set, first draw 225

That held up for a Reserve Championship finish to earn $121,082 and extended Rice’s all-time career earnings solely at the NCHA Futurity to more than $1.5 million, according to Equi-Stat records. That’s more money than any other rider has earned at the Borden Milk/NCHA Futurity which started in 1962.

“I’d have loved to have won it but it is what it is. That’s why we’ve got the training on these judges. That’s what they seen and I accept it,” Rice said. “I’ve got the two best cow pickers in the business, my son [Tag Rice] and Eddie Flynn, and it couldn’t have worked out any better. They were right where we needed them. I came cutting tonight, drove up out of there and showed my horse. And he is a good little horse. I want to thank Ed and Tag for knowing those cattle.”

Ronnie Rice, a veteran of the sport, said he didn’t mind cutting first. The draw doesn’t matter when you make it to the finals, he said.

“You can set the bar and if they beat you, they beat you. I’ve drawn everywhere you can draw in here and it don’t bother me. I’m just proud to get my horse showed.”

Jae Bar One Time (One Time Pepto x Jae Bars Fancy Cat x High Brow Cat), ridden by Michael Cooper, Bucyrus, Kan., and owned by James Hooper, Decatur, Ala., finished third with a 224 to earn $104,170. Cooper also tied for fourth with a 218 aboard Im Smart And Smooth (Smooth As A Cat x Chiquita Shorty x Shorty Lena), a gelding owned by Rose Valley Ranch, Vail, Colo. That horse earned $70,349, and he gave Cooper combined show earnings totaling $174,519. -BK

Bet On A Cat and Tom Dvorak Finish Strong Show

Crowd favorite Tom Dvorak and stallion Bet On A Cat (High Brow Cat x Bet On Houston x Peptoboonsmal) struggled early but rallied late during their run to mark a 213.5. That earned them a 14th-place tie in the 25-horse finals and a $40,925 check. Chad and Amie Bushaw’s Crown Ranch, near Weatherford, Texas, owns Bet On A Cat.

Despite receiving a phone call with the news he’d been dreading several days, at 10:40 p.m. Friday, Dvorak said he never considered not competing Saturday. Cyndy “prepared” him and the couple’s two daughters for her death, and to move forward after it, he said.

“I’m at peace,” Dvorak said. “It was nice to be able to do well. It [spectator’s strong positive reaction to his riding into the arena and competing well] was unbelievable. That’s why I was able to do it. Everybody was pulling for me. After watching my wife fight [cancer, for about the past 5 ½ years] there wasn’t any way I wasn’t going to show.” -MT

Time To Hangem & Austin Shepard

Time To Hangem and Austin Shepard Lead Semifinals

Time To Hangem and Austin Shepard went for broke during the Dec. 9 semifinals at the Borden Milk/National Cutting Horse Association Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas, and they made today’s 6 p.m. big-money round thanks to a fearless 222 effort.

Im Short And Smooth and Michael Cooper marked a second-best 221 during the semifinals. Cooper, 35, Bucyrus, Kan., had sit and watch last year’s Futurity Open finals due to a knee injury as other trainers compete aboard two horses he’d primarily trained. The 2009 NCHA Futurity Reserve Champion made the finals this time with two horse

Im Short And Smooth (Smooth As A Cat x Chiquita Shorty x Shorty Lena), a gelding owned by Gary Rosenbach, Vail, Colo., and Cooper’s other finalist, Jae Bar One Time (One Time Pepto x Jae Bars Fancy Cat x High Brow Cat), owned by James Hooper, Decatur, Ala., have been with him from the start. Darol Rodrock, Bucyrus, Kan., Cooper’s former boss, sold both horses, but both new owners kept Cooper in the saddle.

This has been a standout year for Cooper. He headed to Fort Worth with well over $100,000 earned this year. After recently topping the $1 million mark in career cutting earnings, he’s feeling much better than he did in late 2010 and early 2011. Cooper missed last year’s NCHA Futurity and the first month of this year due to a severe knee injury. Dr. Tandy Freeman, famous for fixing up injured bull riders and rodeo cowboys, performed the surgery on Cooper that helped him return to top form in February.

“God has blessed us [he and his family] a lot,” Cooper said. “Last year, I had to watch my horses. Both of them made it [to the Futurity finals], but it’s not near as much fun.”

Austin Shepard

“He’s got that next gear. It’s there,” Shepard said. “I felt like on that first cow [in the semifinals] he went a little slow, so I went to kicking him. I never quit. I get a little nervous at this show and at this time of the week.”

The only thing worse than marking a score near the Futurity Open final-round bubble, which landed at 216 for this year’s 25-horse field, is falling slightly below it. Shepard prefers knowing where he stands after finishing his semifinals rides.

“I hung him out a little more than I should have probably, but you only get one shot at it. Why not do all you can?” Shepard said. “I feel like I’ve got a really good horse. I might have to slow him down a little bit.”

Time To Hangem (2008G, One Time Pepto x Hangem High Pep x Hickorys Indian Pep), bred and originally owned by Frank and Robin Merrill, Purcell, Okla., has been trained from the start at Shepard’s base in Summerdale, Ala. Shepard credits Randall Ward, until recently his assistant, for working well with the horse through his 2-year-old season. Shepard took over training as the horse turned three. Ward recently accepted a new job with Grace Ranch, Jennings, La. It owns Shepard’s 2007 NCHA Futurity Open Champion horse, standout stallion Highbrow CD.

Kayla Norris, Hattiesburg, Miss., owns Time To Hangem, a horse Shepard calls “Frank.” Acting for Norris and her father, Allen Morgan, Shepard spotted him as a yearling at an NCHA sale. The horse didn’t walk through due to a paperwork problem.

“I tried to buy his mother when Frank [Merrill] was showing her. I never got her bought,” Shepard said. “Frank brought him out and we bought him. I liked him so much as a 2-year-old, Frank called me and wanted to sell his mother and a full brother that’s 2. And she was bred. Chris Tibobeaux [who owns Grace Ranch] and I bought the whole package. So I have a 2-year-old named Tyler [after Frank’s son, Tyler Merrill, who trains cutting horses in Poolville, Texas]. He’s a full brother [of Time To Hangem].”

Jonathan Rogers

“My first cow was good, my second cow was a little bit better, but it got a little bit close to me and made me nervous. It didn’t bother him any. The third cow was really good as well and it all came together at the end. It was really fun,” Rogers said. “He stops so accurately and he wants to lay down. I have to keep my feet to him a little bit because he crawls like a cat.”

Rogers has had Spoonfulla Cat the entire time that he’s been in training for the horse’s breeder/owners Robert and Carrie Tiemann, Pflugerville, Texas.

“He’s been a fun horse. You have to work him, but he’s always wanted to bend in places I’ve never had a horse want to bend. He’s real cow smart and moves good, he’s been very fun to train.”

Rogers’ plan for the finals is to get showed clean and see what happens.

“I’ll just do the same thing, I work him round and around in a round pen like a 2-year-old.”

Grant Setnicka

“On the second one (Cat Belue, who made the finals with a 218.5) everyone was laughing at me because, you know we go up there and we write all the cows down and we plan. Well, on the first horse (XXS And OHS), I didn’t cut one cow that we talked about. I just went down there and I just cut three cows.”

“So after the first one, Boyd Rice, who helps me and has been a great friend and mentor said, ‘The good thing about it is that all the cows we want to cut are still fresh, because you didn’t cut one [with his first of two horses in the same cattle set]!’” Setnicka said.

Cat Belue (High Brow Cat x Lil Lena Long Legs x Smart Little Lena), owned by Charles Burger, Chatsworth, Georgia, is a horse with a lot of eye appeal.

“He’s got so much look about a cow that he can steel points, but he can go gather one up if you need to cut a fast cow too but on those slow cows. It takes a lot of pressure off because you can show him a little safer and still advance.”

For the finals, Setnicka said, “It’s Ricky Bobby – first or last!”

Lloyd Cox & his daugther Leighton

“Dustin could have done just fine on him. He doesn’t need me or anyone else to train his horses. He can do a dang good job of his own. On the other hand, I was extremely happy that he sent him to me,” Cox said. “When he bought this horse, I had some people interested in buying him as a yearling. It ended up that Dusty got there first and got him bought. I was giving him crap and said, ‘Don’t forget me. I was wanting to ride that horse.’ I’m just lucky that he didn’t.”

Cox liked the stud from day one.

“He’s always been a real good mover and stopper. He gets low to the ground and does a lot of nice stuff,” Cox said. The horse and rider worked just two cows in the semis.

“That second cow stopped and stood there and I was a little bit long on it," Cox said. "I felt like it was a judgment call about whether to get off or stay. I felt like if I’d quit it wouldn’t have looked good.” -MT, BK

Kade Smith

Kade Smith and Lean This Rey Win Non-Pro Title

Kade Smith, 22, Burleson, Texas, son of longtime West Coast cutter Greg Smith and brother-in-law of Texas trainer Jamie Snider, guided Lean This Rey to a 222 during the Non-Pro finals at the Borden Milk/National Cutting Horse Association Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas, to earn $33,692.

Smith worked with his father in Utah before moving to Texas last November. He took a job as a loper to work with his brother-in-law Snider and his sister, Ashley Smith Snider.

“I wanted to be down here where the action is,” said Smith, who finished as a Reserve Champion Derby Non-Pro rider at early spring’s NCHA Super Stakes a few months after the move. “I like being down here and coming to all these major events.”

Lean This Rey (Dual Rey x Mis Smart Rey Jay x Smart Little Lena), bred by Linda Holmes, Longmont, Colo., is a horse Smith bought in early spring, based on advice from his boss and brother-in-law.

“Jamie [Snider] flew up there [to Holmes’ horse ranch] in April after the Super Stakes and tried a lot of horses and had a couple he really liked,” Smith said. “This was one of them. Linda sent him to Texas, we tried him and really liked him, so I bought him.”

Working with Snider and getting advice about his Non-Pro riding has been “awesome,” Smith said. He also credited Lean This Rey’s trainer in Colorado, Cody Hall, with doing a great job

Patrick Collins

Collins won a 2006 NCHA Amateur title with his 2003 gelding Oh Cay Felix (High Brow Cat x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena). “Felix” also won the 2006 NCHA Open title with Buffalo, Texas, trainer Craig Thompson. This was the first time that the former feedlot operator and feed supplement company co-owner had qualified for a Non-Pro final at the NCHA Futurity. He’s competed at the NCHA Futurity the past seven years, all with horses produced by a Shortly Lena mare that he and his wife Laura own, Oh Cay Shorty.

“All four of my sons and I showed her,” Collins said of the now 21-year-old and still active broodmare. “All five of us showed “Shorty” and she won $60,000 at weekend events, $100 and $200 at a time. She did it the hard way.”

Oh Miss Caroline, a full sister to 2006 NCHA Futurity Open Champion Oh Cay Felix, competes in today’s Open semifinals with Thompson, Collins’ trainer since he started first started competing at limited-age cutting in 2005.

Jeffrey Gough, Graham, Texas, and SLR Nitas Boon (Nitas Wood x Danelle Boon x Peptoboonsmal) finished third during the Non-Pro finals with a 219 to earn $31,928. That’s not bad for a gelding he picked up at an auction for $3,000 at a 2009 sale.

David McDavid, Fort Worth, Texas, won the Non-Pro Senior division with a semifinal-round 205 aboard DMAC Widows Heir (Widows Freckles x DMAC Sweet Spoon), a horse he and his wife, Stacie, own.

The 50th edition of the Borden Milk/NCHA Futurity continues today with the Open semifinals and ends with Saturday’s 6 p.m. Open finals at Will Rogers Coliseum. -BK

Jo Anne Carollo

Jo Anne Carollo and What A Rey Top Limited Non-Pro

Jo Anne Carollo, Atascadero, Calif., has more than $523,000 in reined cow horse earnings, so now she's taking a stab at cutting. The seasoned horsewoman took Fort Worth by storm, winning a Champion title at her first NCHA Futurity aboard What A Rey.

What A Rey (TR Dual Rey x Roosters Chicaroo x Gallo Del Cielo), owned and bred by Carollo and her husband Jim, marked a 214 from the first draw in the first bunch in the Limited Non-Pro finals. That score was enough to hold strong against the other 33 finalists, earning Carollo top honors and a $9,610 check.

While she is new to the cutting pen, Carollo has impressive experience in reined cow horse. She has won multiple titles at the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurities since she began competing in the 1980s.

Galyean competed in her first NCHA Futurity in 2009, and this is her best achievement at the event. She and Casey Catt qualified for the semifinals, so her trip to Fort Worth isn't over yet. The non-pro's Equi-Stat record reflects a little more than $13,000 in lifetime earnings, but with her $9,410 paycheck for Reserve, that is about to change.

Doug Pritchett and Justin Fuentes

Douglas Pritchett Leads Senior Limited Non-Pro

Douglas Pritchett, Quinlan, Texas, was named the Senior Limited Non-Pro Champion after he piloted his sorrel mare, Catdawg (Cats Merada x Moondawgs Mate x Smart Mate) to a 201 in the finals. Although he tied for seventeenth overall in the Limited, he was the only non-pro with senior classification to make it into the finals.

Pritchett has an Equi-Stat record of more than $62,000, and thanks to his new win, he is nearing $70,000. -KP

Kelsey Weeks & One Sweet Sis

Kelsey Weeks and One Sweet Sis Top Amateur Duo

Kelsey Weeks’ first trip to the Borden Milk/NCHA Futurity in Fort Worth worked out well as the Cotula, Texas, cowgirl won the Amateur division with a final-go 215 aboard One Sweet Sis to earn $6,630 and her second limited-age title this fall.

“This is my first Futurity to show at, ever, so I was pretty excited,” said Weeks, who also won a Derby Amateur title with another horse at September’s Cotton Stakes Classic. While confident in the horse and the mare’s trainer, two-time NCHA Open Futurity Champion Kathy Daughn, Weeks said One Sweet Sis (One Time Pepto x Star Of The Flo x Mr Peponita Flo) did surprise her a bit by peaking at just the right time.

“Two weeks ago, I really wasn’t sure about her,” Weeks said. “She was still a little green. My trainer, Kathy Daughn, was telling me to be patient with her. Her first run here, she was just phenomenal. Every run since then, she’s done better and better.”

The mare, bred by Matthews Cutting Horses, LLC, Weatherford, Texas, has only been owned by Weeks since April. She purchased her in April as a “replacement horse” after her original Futurity prospect suffered an injury that put it out of the running.

“My goal coming into this was to just go through nice, solid, clean runs and to just build her confidence, so I would have a really nice 4-year-old for next year. I think we accomplished that,” Weeks said.

She’ll give the horse about a month off and hit the show trail in February, she said.

Shawn Ogni

Sitting in the reserve hole since competing in the middle of the first herd, Ogni had to wait a long time to see if his score held for a No. 2 finish.

“I walked around, talked with friends and tried to stay calm. I just tried to relax and enjoy the moment. It’s a big deal to me,” Ogni said. “This means the world to me. I’d like to thank God for this. The horses have been an integral part of my life, and it means a lot to my life and my family. We’ve put a lot of hard work in to cutting. We’ve been in it for about 11 year and we ride as often as we can which is about every day and that’s what it takes is a lot of hard work and dedication,” Ogni said.

Ogni made the decision this year to take his young horse to the NCHA Futurity and show it. He started the gelding as a 2-year-old and felt like he had a nice horse. He then took it upon himself to study and learn the sport better, with help from friends in North Carolina.

Eventually, he decided the horse was special, and shipped him out to Kansas-based trainer Michael Cooper. Cooper originally wanted to send him back and said, ‘This horse needs some work,’” Ogni said. “And I said, ‘That’s because an amateur rode it.’ So here we are today!”

Cooper surpassed the $1 million mark in career cutting earnings earlier this fall. He has worked with Spoons Lil Buckaroo since June. Cooper’s competing today aboard two other horses during the NCHA Open semifinals. -MT, BK