Phil Rapp
Rapp Ranch has been the home of NCHA leaders for decades and not just in the record books. BY JENNIFER HORTON
W
hile statistics document Phil Rapp’s success in the arena, they don’t tell the whole story. A conversation about his life quickly reveals his dedication and commitment to leadership roles as a father and a trainer and within the National Cutting Horse Association. “The NCHA is all about the cutting horse, but it’s the relationships we build with people in and out of the arena that we enjoy,” Rapp said. “Teaching and sharing experiences to help people learn and mature in the sport gives me a lot of gratification.” Rapp grew up showing horses in Napa, California, where his parents, Jerry and Nancy Rapp, raised him with a strong work ethic and a heart for service. He was president of the Junior Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association, an officer of the American Junior Quarter Horse Association (now known as the American Quarter Horse Youth Association), and an active member of the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association. After making the move to Texas, he served as an NCHA director and a member of the limited aged event committee, which included two stints as chairman. He also served four years on the NCHA executive committee. Phil pulled back the volunteer reins as his children, Ryan and Emma Grace grew. Then, after some encouragement from people he 30
CUTTING HORSE CHATTER • SUMMER 2022
respected and admired, he ran for and was elected as NCHA vice president in 2016. “If you want to make a difference you have to step up,” Phil said. “Being raised in the NCHA, I had some ideas I thought would enhance the association. We had financial challenges and staff turnover to deal with, including the executive director. We worked to get stability back.” Phil considers the experience he gained as the biggest reward from serving in his various leadership roles. “When I completed the presidency, I told my mother I had achieved the master’s degree she had always encouraged,” Phil said. “I learned so much - from human resources and promotion to management and finances. It was a once-in-alifetime opportunity.” For many, the amount of time Phil spent dedicating his service to the NCHA would have constituted a full-time job, but it wasn’t enough to keep the competitive cutter out of the arena. “It was a special Futurity when I was president,” Phil said. “Lewis Wray was our interim executive director. Much to his chagrin, he had to insist I go meet every world finalist, in every division, each day they walked the red carpet. I was very proud to present their awards and congratulate them for their years’ worth of work and success. Then, [I was] reserve world champion with [our stallion] Dont Stopp Believin and made the Open Futurity
finals myself. [It] was quite a year.” Phil entered the Non-Pro Riders Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Open Riders Hall of Fame just four years later. Beyond his many accomplishments in the arena, he takes great pride in the family breeding program, which began with a mare gifted to him by his father and has allowed the family to continuously top the lifetime cutting horse owner and breeder charts. So, which honor would make his father, who passed away in 1994, the proudest? “There’s no doubt,” Phil said, with a laugh. “The Members. Easy. Dad was a big part of the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association in the 1980s, until his health got away from him. He’s in their Hall of Fame. He would be so proud of this for me.” The Members Hall of Fame is the highest accolade within the NCHA. It’s awarded to people who, in Phil’s words, have truly helped the association over their lifetime. “It’s an honor that I hold very dear and respect very highly,” Phil said. Phil has a deep appreciation and gratitude for many people in his life, beginning with his mother. “I see God’s hand over me from my adoption as an infant, which allowed me to be raised by my parents,” Phil said. “They put me into the horse business and made sure good people influenced me as I grew up.” He named several he considers responsible for his success: Liz Lowe, Jeoff Clarke, Jeff Oswood, Todd Bimat, Pat Cassady, Rock and Landy Hedlund, Scott McClurg, Mike and Michelle Mowery, Lindy Burch, Clarence Tye, Curly and Missy Tully, the Baldwin family, and the Gale family. Phil insisted that he would not be the person he is today without them. “This Members Hall of Fame award is not so much about me,” Phil said. “It’s about the people who helped me through life and are still close friends. I’m so proud of that.” Phil is a known family man. He enjoys the time spent sharing this passion with his wife and children. “My wife, Mary Ann, and I will be married 28 years, this year,” Phil said. “The impact she’s had on my life is immeasurable. The time hauling with the kids and my customers, who become really dear friends, makes the victories and experiences with them mean a lot.” Phil and his son have the unique honor of sharing Hall of Fame inductions this year, as Ryan is being inducted into both the Youth and Non-Pro Riders Hall of Fame. Phil could not be prouder.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY NCHA
NCHA MEMBERS HALL OF FAME