Cow Horse for Ropers Rocks the Futurity

C

By Abigail Boatwright

OW HORSE FOR ROPERS ROCKS THE FUTURITY

Cade Rice set the bar for the roping contestants, and no one caught him in the special event.

PRIMO MORALES It’s not every day that you see multiple-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo roping qualifiers taking a cow down the fence in a cow horse class. But they did just that in the inaugural Cow Horse for Ropers class on October 20 at the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity®, presented by Metallic Cat. In the end, Cade Rice of Lipan, Texas, riding his sister Robbin Rice’s horse, Cat N Boon, beat seven other riders to claim first place and $1,500 of the $2,500-added purse sponsored by MC Cowhammer.

Cat N Boon (Smart Lena Boon x Dual N Cat x Wild Haired Cat) is a 2012 solid chestnut Paint Horse gelding bred by Double S Ranch. When Rice was invited to compete in this class, he turned to his family of cow horse enthusiasts to find a horse. He rode “Chavez,” trained by his dad, Matlock Rice, for the first time the day before the class.

For this class, ropers complete a reining pattern, then box a cow, drive it down the fence and rope it, steer-stopping style. In the pen, Rice focused on not missing the cow and performing each maneuver one at a time.

“I didn’t want to go too fast, or get caught in the moment— just one maneuver at a time,” Rice said.

After scoring a 146 in the rein work and a 148.5 in the cow work, Rice’s 294.5 was the highest score.

“The cow work felt really good,” Rice said. “The rein work, I could have been a little smoother. That’s something I’m going to work on in the future. I think I’m going to get a 2-year-old and try this out.”

Rice is hooked on cow horse now, he says.

“It always feels good to win,” Rice said. “My favorite part was going down the fence. There’s not another feeling like it.”

Reserve by just a half-point, NFR qualifier Lane Ivy piloted John and Kay Coltharp’s 2013 roan stallion, Bet Hesa Freckledcat (Bet Hesa Cat x Ms Freckled Star x Freckles Smokin Doc), to score a 144 in the rein work, a 130 in the cow work, for a total of 294 and $750.