The Million Dollar Club

from Reined Cow Horse News, Volume 26, No 5, Official Snaffle Bit Futurity Program 2021

Past Snaffle Bit Futurity Champions

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.

Ron 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?

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.

PRIMO MORALES 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

PRIMO MORALES

TODD CRAWFORD/$2,666,648.45

Todd Crawford, Blanchard, Oklahoma, is the NRCHA’s first Two Million Dollar Rider. He is the 2006 Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion, an NRCHA Stakes and Derby Champion and a multiple American Quarter Horse Association Working Cow Horse and Reining World Champion in addition to riding in the FEI World Reining Masters. In 2018, he was inducted into the NRCHA Hall of Fame.

PRIMO MORALES

COREY CUSHING/$2,655,843.00

Corey Cushing, Scottsdale, Arizona, achieved the milestone at age 32 during the 2012 Snaffle Bit Futurity, when he won his first Open Championship riding CD Diamond, owned by San Juan Ranch. Since then, Cushing has won two additional Snaffle Bit Futurity champion titles and two World’s Greatest Horseman titles. Cushing became the youngest Two Million Dollar Rider when he won the 2018 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® aboard SJR Diamond Mist, a son of CD Diamond.

PRIMO MORALES

TODD BERGEN/$2,479,863.39

Todd Bergen, Eagle Point, Oregon, is the NRCHA’s second Two Million Dollar Rider, and the first rider to achieve millionaire status in two different associations. In 2004, Bergen became a National Reining Horse Association Million Dollar Rider. He is a two-time NRCHA and NRHA Futurity Champion.

PRIMO MORALES

JAKE TELFORD/$1,976,699.40

Jake Telford, Caldwell, Idaho, achieved Million Dollar Rider status in less than a dozen years of NRCHA competition. The eighth member of the NRCHA Million Dollar club is a Snaffle Bit Futurity Reserve Champion, multiple World and National Champion, and earned the Snaffle Bit Futurity Championship in 2015.

PRIMO MORALES

TED ROBINSON/$1,934,422.56

Ted Robinson, Oak View, California, was the NRCHA’s first Million Dollar Rider. He has a record seven NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Championships and two World’s Greatest Horseman titles to his name.

STEPHANIE DUQUETTE

ZANE DAVIS/$1,708,800.28

Million Dollar Rider Zane Davis, Blackfoot, Idaho, achieved his milestone during the 2015 NRCHA Celebration of Champions in Fort Worth, Texas. Davis was the 2009 Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion, the 2017 Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Reserve Champion, the 2014 Hackamore Classic Open Champion, and has garnered numerous other NRCHA premier event titles and top placings.

PRIMO MORALES

ANNIE M. REYNOLDS/$1,716,083.28

Annie M. Reynolds, of King Hill, Idaho, is the NRCHA’s only non pro female Million Dollar Rider. She was a leading non pro, winning an unprecedented eight NRCHA Futurity Non Pro Championships. Reynolds became a NRCHA Open rider after the 2012 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity, when her career Open earnings surpassed the $100,000 mark. She was inducted into the NRCHA Hall of Fame in 2015.

PRIMO MORALES

JON ROESER/$1,626,194.23

Jon Roeser, Kuna, Idaho, has won every major NRCHA title, including the Snaffle Bit Futurity and World’s Greatest Horseman Championship. He comes from a family of exceptional horsemen; his father, Jim Roeser, and brother, Dan Roeser, are both NRCHA Hall of Fame inductees. Roeser joins them as a 2019 Hall of Fame inductee.

PRIMO MORALES

JUSTIN WRIGHT/ $1,502,259.15

Justin Wright, born and raised around cow horses, had a successful youth and non pro career. Since becoming an open rider in 2009, Wright has earned five NRCHA major limited aged event championship titles. During the 2018 show season, the Santa Maria, California, horseman accumulated $307,793 in earnings, sending him to the edge of the million-dollar threshold. At the 2019 NRCHA Celebration of Champions, Wright achieved million dollar status.

PRIMO MORALES

DOUG WILLIAMSON/$1,399,579.27

Doug Williamson, Bakersfield, California, is the NRCHA’s oldest Million Dollar Rider. He also passed the $1 Million mark at the 2012 Snaffle Bit Futurity when he was 70 years old. He has won the Futurity Championship twice in his lengthy career.

PRIMO MORALES

BOYD RICE/$1,448,643.82

Boyd Rice, Weatherford, Texas, already a National Cutting Horse Association multi-million-dollar rider, can now also measure his NRCHA earnings in the seven figures. Rice won the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Championship in 2007 and the World’s Greatest Horseman in 2014 on Oh Cay N Short, becoming the first rider to capture both prestigious titles on the same horse.

PRIMO MORALES

JAY MCLAUGHLIN/$1,348,411.02

Jay McLaughlin, Clarendon, Texas, passed the seven-figure milestone to become the twelfth NRCHA Million Dollar Rider in the summer of 2016. Besides his status as a NRCHA Million Dollar Rider, McLaughlin has 12 NRCHA and AQHA World Championships to his credit. He was the 2013 NRCHA Futurity Open Reserve Champion and the 2015 NRCHA Stakes Open Champion, and has claimed numerous other titles, finals berths and top placings in reined cow horse and reining competition.

Don Rich Saddlery (270) 791-6448

PRIMO MORALES

CHRIS DAWSON/$1,317,059.95

Perrin, Texas, horseman Chris Dawson became the National Reined Cow Horse Association’s sixteenth Million Dollar Rider at the young age of 36. In 2013, Dawson hit his stride, collecting four out of five NRCHA premier event championship titles. In the fall of 2018, he surpassed the seven-figure milestone at the Southwest Reined Cow Horse Association Pre-Futurity.

PRIMO MORALES

JAKE GORRELL/$1,259,692.66

Jake Gorrell, Porterville, California, achieved NRCHA Million Dollar Rider status in the summer of 2017. The 2017 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion, Gorrell has earned numerous NRCHA premier event titles, and he is a regular competitor in the World’s Greatest Horseman competition.

PRIMO MORALES

JOHN WARD/$1,203,917.53

John Ward, of Kingsburg, California, was recognized at the 2009 Snaffle Bit Futurity for reaching NRCHA Million Dollar Rider status. Ward is a two-time Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion, and as owner/operator of Ward Ranch, is part of a family legacy of great wins and legendary cow horses.

PRIMO MORALES

LANCE JOHNSTON/$1,181,219.82

Following the 2019 Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion and Intermediate Open Champion wins, Lance Johnston achieved Million Dollar Rider status. The Lindsay, California, trainer and his wife, Tammy, have been a fixture in cow horse. Johnston holds multiple premier event titles.

PRIMO MORALES

PHILLIP RALLS/$1,140,325.76

For Phillip Ralls, training and showing great bridle horses such as Dom Dualuise, Short N Catt and Call Me Mitch helped him achieve more than a million dollars in earnings. The Paso Robles, California, horseman crossed the seven-figure milestone at the 2018 National Stock Horse Association Pre-Futurity, held in August, at the South Point Equestrian Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

KATE BRADLEY BYARS

KELBY PHILLIPS/$1,016,897.71

Kelby Phillips is the youngest trainer to achieve Million Dollar status. He garnered his first Snaffle Bit Futurity win in 2013 taking the Intermediate Open on Hickory Holly Time, the stallion he also rode to the 2018 NRCHA World’s Greatest HOrseman title. In 2016, he won the Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion title with Duals Lucky Charm, and he was Reserve Open Champion in 2019 on Nineteen Ten. He and his wife, Abbie, live in Weatherford, Texas.

PRIMO MORALES

BOB AVILA/$1,046,865.50

Bob Avila, Scottsdale, Arizona, was the NRCHA’s second Million Dollar Rider. He is a three-time NRCHA Open Snaffle Bit Futurity Champion and a World’s Greatest Horseman Champion. He is a NRCHA Hall of Fame Inductee, a National Reining Horse Association Open Futurity Champion, a multiple AQHA World Champion and an AQHA Professional Horseman of the Year.

PRIMO MORALES

RON RALLS/$1,001,161.64

Ron Ralls gained Million Dollar Rider status in early 2021. The two-time World’s Greatest Horseman and NRCHA Hall of Fame member’s 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. Since then, Ralls, of Gainesville, Texas, 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.

MILLION DOLLARMILESTONE

Lenas Wright On earns Million Dollar status.

By Kate Bradley Byars

The latest stallion to enter the elite ranks of National Reined Cow Horse Association million-dollar sire is Lenas Wright On, a 1991 stallion by Smart Little Lena and out of Slide Me Again (by Isle Breeze). As of August 31, the stallion’s offspring have earned $1,004,150.40 in reined cow horse earnings.

Owned by a group of investors dubbed the Lenas Wright On Syndicate, the stallion that won the 1994 National Reining Horse Association Open Futurity found a forever home with the syndicate’s purchase in 2006. An earner of $105,000 plus himself, “Ned” was an American Quarter Horse Association Junior Working Cow Horse World Champion and Junior Congratulations to the stallion’s connections on this milestone. Reining Reserve World Champion.

Yet, it was not only his accom- programs. A lot of his top performers plishments that endeared the stallion were out of Shiner mares, and that to his would-be buyers, led by NRCHA was an important part of his impact on Hall of Fame member and Two Million reined cow horse..” Dollar Rider Todd Crawford and Larry The Lenas Wright On Syndicate Bell of Parks Bell Ranch and Kalpowar included: Jerry & Shelly Alvord, Larry Quarter Horses, it was his bloodline. & Ellen Bell, Ritchie Bell, Matthew &

“Carol Rose, who was part of the syn- Anne Bell, Spence Bell, Bill & Michelle dicate, urged a lot of her mare buyers Cowan, Todd & Pam Crawford, Walter to breed to Lenas Wright On,” recalled & Jocelyn Greeman’s Hat 6 Ranch, Bell. “Several of our [syndicate] part- Garth & Amanda Gardiner, Lyle Lovett, ners had [Shining Spark] mares in their Stuart Ranch and Carol Rose. Lenas Wright On sired multiple successful reining and reined cow horses, but his highest-earning NRCHA competitor was Hes Wright On (out of Shesa Lota Nic by Reminic), who earned more than $158,000 and titles that included the NRCHA Reserve World’s Greatest Horseman with Doug Williamson in the saddle and owned by Garth and COURTESY OF THE LENAS WRIGHT ON SYNDICATE Amanda Gardiner. Standing at Crawford Stallion Station in Blanchard, Oklahoma, Lenas Wright On became part of Pam Crawford’s family. While her husband rode the offspring, Pam handled Ned. “He was a real character! He had so much personality and sometimes it wasn’t always good, but he oozed personality,” she said. “He had a lifetime home with me and Todd; he was one of ours.”

Though Lenas Wright On was euthanized in the winter of 2019, the stallion’s legacy continues to live on in his offspring. Lenas Wright On will be celebrated as a Million Dollar Sire during the 2021 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® Finals on Saturday, October 23 in the Will Rogers Coliseum.