 RHAA contestant Riley Smith “I say this year after year, but the caliber of competition in every division keeps improving,” said Jim Frank Richardson, RHAA president. “The level of horsemanship and the quality of the horses just keeps getting deeper down in the classes. In the past, we’d have two or three really good horses in each class. This year, you better not stump your toe in your run, or somebody would come along and beat you. It just keeps getting better, better and better.” Participants who qualified throughout the year for the National Finals competed in a cumulative, two go-round format. The top 5 point earners in each division then advanced to the short go, vying for National Championships in Open, Junior, Ranch Hand and Cowboy classes.
The number of spectators this year reached an all-time high, with more than 4,000 people looking for seats in the coliseum to watch the best 20 horses that the association had to offer. Chris Littlefield, who judged the National Finals three years ago, was very excited to see the level of horsemanship displayed by the riders. Littlefield returned to RHAA competition this spring after several years away from ranch horse shows.
“This has been a great building block for cowboys to learn to be better horsemen. Some of these guys are tried and true Texas cowboys. They got their job done as far as being cowpunchers, and they were the best at that. But as far as having fluid, supple and soft horses that performed tasks with ease and refinement, it wasn’t there. These guys have done their homework, and this year it was amazing to see the quality of these horses,” he said.
 Smart Little Dulce / Chris Littlefield
In the Junior division, Littlefield rode Smart Move Dulce to the highest score of the finals with a 406. Littlefield is a former RHAA Champion, winning the title in 2002 and 2003 aboard Real Gun; however, he had not set foot in RHAA competition for the last several years.
“I made it to the show in Crowell, Texas, a few weeks before the finals. I went to that show hoping to qualify for Abilene,” Littlefield said.
“My horse was turned out, not doing anything,” he said. “I wanted to go back to an RHAA show, so I caught him and thought we’d go.” Littlefield’s return to ranch horse competition picked up right where he left off several years ago – at the top. His performance at the finals drew a large number of cheers and applause.
Smart Move Dulce is a 5-year-old gelding by Dulces Smart Lena and out of a daughter of Holidoc. Littlefield purchased the gelding at the NCHA Futurity Sale as a yearling and began training him. The pair made the Open finals at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno when the horse was 3, and also made the NRCHA Stallion Stakes finals when Smart Move Dulce was a 4-year-old. To date, the gelding has almost $20,000 in NRCHA earnings.
“I’ve wanted to go to an RHAA show for a couple of years, but I can’t seem to keep one of my own horses long enough. He was hanging around, not doing anything, and I wanted to get back into that competition. I caught him and thought we’d go,” Littlefield explained. According to RHAA rules, horses must be owned by the exhibitor for a minimum of one year prior to showing in most divisions.
Previously the horse trainer at Stuart Ranch in Waurika, Okla., Littlefield recently went out on his own and purchased a training facility near Henrietta, Texas. “I’d like to go to more RHAA shows. Sometimes it’s tough to get away. My horses have been turned out while I ride customer horses. I guess that’s the story of a horse trainer,” he said.
“Smarty,” as he’s known around the barn, is very laid-back and gentle, according to Littlefield. “He works a cow pretty good and has a lot of stop to him. He’s kind of a kid horse now, and we’ll probably keep him around.” Littlefield recently married last November, and his children, Skee and Kalico Burkes, enjoy riding Smarty.
Coming in as Junior Reserve Champion was Heath Ownbey and Little Badger Gin. Scott Long and BH Strait Gin were third, followed by Monte Jones riding Feelin Freaky and Mark Voss with Sir Hickory Bar.
Riding out on top
Luck of the draw was not on Craig Haythorn’s side during the RHAA Finals. “In all of my rounds – the two full go’s and the short go – I got new cows every time,” he said. “It was kind of a weird deal. I didn’t have very good cattle. I think the dry work and the fence work kept me in it.”
After two solid runs in the go-rounds, Haythorn and his stallion, PG Shogun, sat in the fifth and final hole of horses in the Senior class advancing to the short round. “I went second, and the dry work was really, really good. But my cow was just kind of fair. I went down the fence and my horse was great, but the cow had no steam. I was just fixing to rope when they blew the whistle. I’ve never seen a new cow awarded that late in a competition.”
Not sure where to start on his new cow, Haythorn rode over to one of the judges for clarification. “I wanted to make sure that the new cow was just for the roping. I already had my rope tied on my horn. I hit a few licks with the new cow on the end and roped her. She really ran as fresh as she was, and my horse really stopped.”
This was PG Shogun’s second RHAA title. The stallion was the 2004 Junior RHAA Champion, and he has finished Reserve Champion multiple times. “Going into that last run, I said, ‘Whatever I win, I’ll probably quit showing him, that run would be it.’ So it was nice to win it and go out on top.”
Haythorn purchased the Playgun son as a yearling at an Ardmore, Okla., horse sale from breeder Dick Pieper. “He’s a once in a lifetime horse. I’ve had some great geldings, but he’s by far the best stud I’ve ever had,” Haythorn said.
He describes the stout stallion as “real laid-back.” Haythorn said most people look at the horse and can’t imagine that he moves the way he does. “He’s a pretty massive horse. He’s close to 15 hands, and in good shape he weighs about 1,320 pounds. For as thick and as wide as he is, people say they can’t believe how good he moves.
“I don’t work much with him. I’ll ride him here at the ranch some, but I don’t hardly ever practice stops or lead changes. I think horses are fresher and look better if you don’t drill them so hard. He knows the game any way. Why should I keep dinging on him?”
Reserve Champion of the Senior division was Kelly Sullivan and Lectric Lad. James Gholson finished third aboard Special Gun. Tripp Townsend and Alotofbull were fourth and Mark Voss and Tejons New Star rounded out the top 5.
Smith takes Ranch Hand
Over the years, Riley Smith of Earth, Texas, has seen his former boss and now business partner, Tripp Townsend, ride to success in RHAA shows. After watching and learning from Townsend and his own experiences, Smith now has an RHAA Championship of his own.
Riding Whose The Daddy, Smith bested Rodey Wilson and Budha Enterprise to win the Ranch Hand division. Whose The Daddy is an 8-year-old gelding by Snackbox and out of a daughter of Dry San Peppy.
Smith purchased the gelding when the horse was young, and has ridden him for ranch work the past several years. Smith is a partner with Townsend and Bruce Bridges in Sandhill Cattle Co. The men run cows and yearlings on pasture, and also have a preconditioning feedyard near Earth.
“When this horse was young, I used him a lot day-to-day. But after a few years, he became my No. 1 horse, so I don’t use him on the hard days anymore. I rope off him, and ride him on the easy days. The last few years, he’s had life pretty easy,” he explained.
Smith qualified for the RHAA National Finals the past three years, but until now, he never made the top 5 to come back for the short go-round.
“I was a little nervous,” Smith said about his first appearance in the short go. “I came in sitting third, but everyone had a clean slate. The win could go to anybody. I drew a cow that had a little more go than the others had. It’s the luck of the draw, I guess. The cow was real workable, not too challenging. He set up when I went to box him, looked at me and gave me a chance to work him a little bit. He had plenty left in him when I went to fence and rope him. Some of the other guys’ cattle ran out of gas, and that probably hurt their runs some. My cow had plenty of air to run.”
Since his win at the RHAA Finals, Smith has sold Whose The Daddy. But that has not stymied his plans to return. “I want to do it again. I’ve got another horse that I qualified this past year, so I’ll show him. And I’ve got a few young horses that I’ll try to get up and going.”
Rounding out the top 5 in the Ranch Hand division were Josh Ownbey and Untwistable in third, followed by Tommy Burnett and MS Starlight Boots, fourth, and Michael Seaton and Majors Six Pesos, fifth.
Cash for Koontz
When Orren Koontz bought an orphaned gelding from a neighbor, he knew the horse was special. Purchased as a 2-year-old with less than 20 saddlings, Koontz thought the horse might be a “sweet calf-roping horse.” He was so confident in the gelding’s potential as a future money winner, he named him “Cash.”
Turns out, Koontz was right.
Cash and Koontz not only made their mark in the calf-roping pen at many Little Britches rodeos, they also won the Cowboy division of the RHAA Finals by a slim three-point margin.
“At first, it was tough. I didn’t get my horse in the barn before the first round, and he was a little scared of the solid arena walls. My circles were really rough, and I just got through it best I could,” Koontz explained. “My second round got me a lot of points, earning a spot in the short go. There, the gelding really came through for me. The other four riders had problems with either missed loops or poor cattle. But my horse pulled through for me for three solid runs. I think his consistency is what paid off.”
Although Cash is unregistered, his breeding is evident in the way he rides. He’s a grandson of Doc Quixote and out of a Squeak Toy daughter. “He’s never been shown in cutting, but he works really good out of a herd. He shows his breeding a lot,” Koontz said.
Koontz first showed Cash in RHAA competition a few years back. Since that time, the gelding was turned out to pasture or served as Koontz calf-roping horse. This spring, Koontz traveled from his home in La Junta, Colo., to Munday, Texas, to help Thompson Ranches with its spring work.
“I took Cash to Texas, but wasn’t riding him much. He was my good horse, and I didn’t want to cripple him in the brush. But one Saturday, I was bored, so we loaded up and went to an RHAA show,” he said. It was at that show that Koontz qualified for the finals in Abilene.
“He’s been one of the greatest horses I’ve had. Most of the glory I’ve ever come to, I was riding Cash.”
Koontz attributes much of his knowledge and ability to his dad, Vondell. “Dad always had good horses for me to ride, and I dragged my first set of calves when I was just 7. He gave my sister and I a good start at being good hands. I owe my success to my dad and the Lord.”
Reserve Champion in the Cowboy class was Kebly Phillips with Josephs Yellow Chic. Third was Zack Wadsworth riding Bobby, followed by Tyler Rice and Becaco Haida Seven, and Jimbo Humphreys with Josephs Catchum All.
Reach Jill Dunkle at
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