///////// NRCHA MILLIONAIRES
THE MILLION DOLLAR CLUB There are certain individuals whose winning records have surpassed an incredible milestone. Meet the elite Million Dollar Riders and Million Dollar Sires of the National Reined Cow Horse Association. All earnings are calculated as of August 31, 2021.
R
on Ralls is a National Reined Cow Horse Association Million Dollar Rider following his Intermediate Open win aboard One Time Edition (One Time Pepto x PG Special Edition x Playgun) in the Tres Osos Cow Horse Derby at the 2021 Celebration of Champions show in Fort Worth, Texas. With official NRCHA earnings of $1,003,175.41, the two-time World’s Greatest Horseman and NRCHA Hall of Fame member achieved another goal in his lengthy reined cow horse career. “To be honest, it wasn’t even on my mind [before the show],” said Ralls. “I had no idea how much money I lacked to make it, though I knew it wasn’t a whole, whole lot. We won just under $17,000 [in the Derby] and it was enough. I wanted to get there officially, the way the NRCHA sees it. It was a sigh of relief—a weight lifted off my shoulders.” Ralls’ career has spanned three decades, with his first recorded earnings in 1987, and his first entry into the Open Bridle class at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® in 1995, riding Infant Dial. Since that initial $400 won cutting, Ralls has ridden horses to top honors in every major NRCHA event, from futurity and derby-aged horses in snaffle bits, to hackamore and two-rein titles, to bridle aged champions.
For Ralls, creating a well-trained horse is the ultimate reward and his goal. “I love the horses. I love to see the progress. I am a very slow trainer,” he said. “Foundation is the most important thing to me. I probably go slower on them than I need to but I think long term. There is life after the Futurity and life after the Derby years for a horse, if you do things right. That is more important to me than winning the Futurity.” The Gainesville, Texas, based horseman thanks his wife, Patty Ralls, for keeping him rolling down the road. Achieving Million Dollar Rider status, Ralls joins 19 others in the NRCHA Million Dollar Club.
Congratulations to the new club member!
///////// SEVEN FIGURES: WHO IS NEXT? Million Dollar Rider Jake Telford is nearing the Two Million Dollar mark, which puts him in a small and elite category in reined cow horse. At the 2020 NRCHA World’s Greatest Horseman, Telford rode Sparktilion to tie for the reserve title, adding to his earnings.
PRIMO MORALES
98 NRCHA SNAFFLE BIT FUTURITY | SHOW PROGRAM 2021
PRIMO MORALES
Clayton Edsall has climbed the rider earning’s chart with consistent success in the reined cow horse arena. Currently at $950,924.55 in NRCHA earnings, Edsall’s Reserve Champion win in the Open Derby at the DT Horses Western Derby and third place at the inaugural The Run For A Million Fence Work Challenge, presented by Teton Ridge, helped to propel him within sight of the milestone.
