KING’S CLEAN SWEEP

junior Haylee King kept her family’s cutting-horse legacy alive with a clean sweep at the Texas High School Rodeo Association State Finals, which wrapped up a 10-day run today in Abilene.

High school

The resident of nearby Cisco, Texas, and daughter of Josh and Amy King worked with a homefield advantage, winning the first, second and short rounds of the girl’s cutting. For her high scores, Haylee won five trophy buckles—three for the round wins, a state championship buckle and the Brody Beaver Memorial Shootout buckle. Awarded to the rider with the highest composite score of the week, the buckle commemorates cowboy Brody Beaver, who was a THSRA State Finals and 2009 National High School Rodeo Association cutting champion before his passing.

Haylee partnered with special bay-roan mare Metabra, who was graciously offered by owners Jackie and Stella Swanson. The Swansons are customers of Haylee’s trainer father. Haylee was familiar on the back of 6-year-old Metabra after spending plenty of time as her dad’s helper getting Metabra ready for him.

“I felt so flattered when the Swansons offered her to me,” Haylee says. “Not only did they think I was good enough for their mare, but they trusted us enough to be in a situation like that together. She is not the smoothest mare to warm up, but whenever you are showing her, it feels like you are floating. I had never made it to the short round at state before, so I didn’t really have anything to live up to. I knew I just had to go and do our best, and we did do our best.”

Haylee says a few things stand out to her through the three performances. “I actually had a miss and my run tapered off a little, and I was stressed about that, but Metabra recovered perfectly,” Haylee recalls. “Had it been another horse, it probably would have messed up the whole run. But she recovered it. The second cow in my second go was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in all my years showing horses. She was tuned in; dialed in. I don’t think anything could have messed her up; she just wanted to be there and do good.”

Haylee King and Metabra dominated the girl’s cutting at the 2023 THSRA Finals, which concluded today in Abilene.

During the short round, with a great run started, Haylee said the mare came in clutch again when she cut the wrong cow. “On my last cow, my dad pointed out which one he wanted me to cut,” Haylee says. “I got so nervous that I didn’t cut that one, and instead cut a really wild one. Again, if it were any other horse, it probably wouldn’t have worked. But Metabra stuck with it, held that cow and had an amazing run.”

Growing up in the cutting pen, Haylee can spot the difference in a good horse and a great horse, and says Metabra is the latter. “You can tell how much she loves her job,” Haylee says. “Whenever she comes out and she knows she’s done well, she struts. She gets full of herself, but not in a bad way.”

Metabra’s pedigree is arguably near cutting-horse perfection. She is by all-time leading cutting-horse sire Metallic Cat, with $52 million to his progeny credit. Metabra’s mother is well-respected producer Sweet Abra, who was purchased from the Fults Ranch by Teton Ridge in 2021. Metabra’s lifetime earnings of over $125,000 add to Sweet Abra’s over $2 million produce record.

Just as Metabra’s maternal line is strong, so too is Haylee’s maternal side, with her great grandfather being one of the most well-respected men to ever set foot in a cutting pen—the late Buster Welch. “My great grandfather is Buster Welch,” Haylee says. “That is a blessing, having ties to such an influential person in the cutting industry. When I was 13, he gifted me a 3-year-old mare to show at the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity. She was an amazing mare, although we didn’t quite get it put together before the futurity. He gave me the opportunity to ride a young horse, and that developed my riding to a whole new level.” continued on page 36