8 minute read
The Pursuit of Success
By Larri Jo Starkey Photos by Primo Morales
SUCCESS.
It’s easy to identify it—at least from the outside. But what does it look like
to people who are grinding away, show after show? Do they feel successful? Reined Cow Horse News asked some top-earning National Reined Cow Horse Association riders from 2020 to share their thoughts on success.
Does success depend on finding the right horse? The right mentor? The right owners? A little luck? Is it defined by a certain amount in earnings? And how can a rider who doesn’t have success right now find it in the future? Let’s hear what top Open riders Corey Cushing, Kelby Phillips and Justin Wright have to say, along with Non Pro riders Toni Hagen Heath and Hope Mills.
An Intermediate Open Snaffle Bit Futurity® Champion and a World’s Greatest Horseman Champion, both aboard Hickory Holly Time (One Time Pepto x Hickorys Holly Cee x Doc’s Hickory), Kelby Phillips has $1,102,409.82 in NRCHA earnings (as of April 2, 2021). Phillips lives in Weatherford, Texas.
Success
Top NRCHA riders share their thoughts on what it means to be successful in reined cow horse.
—Justin Wright
RCHN: What does success mean to you? Is there a dollar amount or a specific title that you attach to the idea of success?
Corey: Personally, I think success is waking up every day and looking forward to the horses, the customers and the people who surround you. I’ve tried my best to be honest and do my best to bring out the best in each horse. Justin: I would say success is being satisfied with the job you’ve done with the horse you have when you show up at the horse show. You have to be proud of the product you showed up with. Deep down, we all know whether or not we’ve done the best job we can with that horse, or if we took shortcuts. The most satisfying feeling is knowing you’ve done the best you can on that specific horse.
Toni: My idea of success stems from way back in my college rodeo days. It’s about getting a check and being consistent. Did I do the best I could do that day with that horse in that situation? And did I get a check? I’ve never been first a lot, but I like being consistent.
Kelby: I don’t know if I can ever define success, because if I ever get settled with where I’m at, then I’m not going to be successful. Everything that I do, I still want to do better.
With NRCHA earnings of $2,568,007.40 (as of April 2, 2021), NRCHA President and Two Million Dollar Rider Corey Cushing has claimed three Open Snaffle Bit Futurity® championships, including one riding SJR Diamond Mist (CD Diamond x Cat Mist x High Brow Cat, and two World’s Greatest Horseman titles on his résumé. Cushing trains in Scottsdale, Arizona.
RCHN: When will you be able to say, “I am successful?”
Justin: I don’t have an answer for that. I think you can never get comfortable. I think you’re always trying to improve and satisfy yourself, because we can always do better.
Hope: I don’t know if I will ever be able to say that. There’s never a spot when you can say you’ve made it.
Toni: You never feel like you’ve totally got it, and that’s what keeps you going. You feel like you’re learning something new every time you school a horse, every time you work a horse, every time you show. I’m happy with what I’ve done, but I’m striving for more, always.
Kelby: To be the youngest million-dollar rider was one of my goals, but I can’t say since I reached that goal or won the World’s Greatest [Horseman] or the Snaffle Bit Futurity® or the Derby— that’s obviously being successful, but if I said I was successful, then I wouldn’t be progressing in my training.
Justin Wright, of Santa Maria, California, was an unstoppable force aboard Scooter Kat (Kit Kat Sugar x Scooters Daisy Dukes x Dual Smart Rey) in the Derby-age events. He garnered multiple back-to-back titles that helped him earn $1,389,591.66 in the NRCHA (as of April 2, 2021).
Non Pro Hope (Miller) Mills, from Burneyville, Oklahoma, has to her credit $168,314.56 in NRCHA earnings (as of April 2, 2021), as well as numerous limited age event titles and the 2018 Snaffle Bit Futurity® Non Pro Champion win aboard Seven S Pretty Smart (Dual Smart Rey x Lena Pretty Playboy x Freckles Playboy).
Just keep going, no matter what.
—Hope Mills
RCHN: Is success linked to a great mentor? A great set of horses? A great set of owners?
Corey: Yes, all of the above. I started in the summer of 1998 right after I graduated from high school, and I was working for John Slack and Todd Bergen. I was lucky to have them as part of my career— [cow horse trainers] Benny Guitron, Don Murphy, Cookie Banuelos—a big thanks to all of them for the time they spent with me. The quality time they spent with me to make me get better is something I can never give back to them, [so] I try to do my best to give back to trainers coming up.
Hope: There have been so many people, and I’ve been super lucky to have good horses back-to-back. Once you’ve had success, it makes you drive for more. It
gives you the fire in your tummy you need to get there. Once you get it, you keep wanting that feeling.
Toni: I can attribute my overall tenacity and willingness to strive to do better to my mom and dad, growing up. They were hardworking ranchers, and we strived to do the best we could with what we had. They gave me the tools that I’ve used the rest of my life.
Kelby: It takes all of that, but there’s no way you can be successful without a great horse.
RCHN: Was there a time when you were close to calling it quits?
Justin: It crossed my mind a couple of times, but it was never close. It’s a complex industry and it’s hard on a guy’s ego. It takes everything you have in you to be successful at it. You have to have a team behind you that wants it even more than you.
Hope: This is the life I’ve always wanted.
Kelby: What’s so tough about this sport is you have your ups and downs, and people from the outside see it as winning or losing [at a specific event]. We as trainers see our ups and downs every day in our training of horses. It’s so hard. I’ve never had a complete breaking point, but this thing is mentally tough.
RCHN: How do you keep up the dedication and drive to show at a high level?
Corey: This is no 9-to-5. You’re always on the clock. But I can promise you that every day, I think of a horse that’s in my program and how I could go about making it better, or watching someone work and think that might be a better way to work on my horse. There are long days and frustrating times, but I’m 41 years old and I’m still very, very hungry. I’m still chasing a dream.
Kelby: In my mind, I want to be the best trainer who has ever lived. I know that may not be possible, but that’s what I strive to do. I want people to say, “He was a horseman and thought about horses in everything he did.”
Toni Hagen Heath, of La Grande, Oregon, has NRCHA earnings of $246,073.45 (as of April 2, 2021), and counts the 2020 NRCHA Derby Championship on Smokum Every Time (One Time Pepto x Smokums Dream x Smokums Prize) as one of her most recent premier event wins.
RCHN: What advice would you give someone new to the industry?
Kelby: It’s a long, tough road. There will be tons of ups and downs, but it’s very rewarding when you do good. Don’t let the bad times get you down, and don’t let the good times get you too high. You have to stay pretty level.
Justin: You can have success and still not be satisfied with the job you’re doing. Or vice versa: You can be satisfied with your work and maybe things didn’t turn out, but usually if you put your head down and keep pushing, things will work out in your favor.
Corey: First thing first, never stop learning. I’ll be the first person to ask anyone— if I’m watching them work a horse—and pick their brains. Times are consistently changing and if you’re not changing to keep with the new horses—horses are better and riders are better—it’s easy to get stuck in old ways. I look back at videos of the way I did things 10 years ago, and if I didn’t change, I’d be a once-was instead of still going and being competitive.
Hope: Just keep going, no matter what. You’ll get there eventually.
