NHSRA Reined Cow Horse Challenge

G

UNS UP IN COWTOWN

By Lillian Kent

Limited rider Chesney Reeves piloted to the top score of the event as well as earning points toward the Texas Tech Univeristy overal team win.

The Texas Tech University Ranch Horse Team rolled into Fort Worth determined to clinch the Stock Horse of Texas Collegiate Championship.

On the final day of the Kalpowar Quarter Horses Celebration of Champions, February 20, 13 collegiate teams hailing from as far as central Utah descended on the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Stock Horse of Texas Collegiate Championship.

When the dust settled, Texas Tech University of Lubbock, Texas, went away with the Team Championship, garnering 70.5 as a team and besting Reserve Champions Clarendon College of Clarendon, Texas, by eight points. According to Texas Tech Ranch Horse team coach Justin Stanton, the Tech rid-

ers came to Fort Worth with winning on their minds.

“You come to Fort Worth and there is a lot of pressure. All the kids I picked here for this show are upperclassmen, and we’ve been showing for four years with all of them. They’re my ‘A Team,’ they’re super reliable and know how to get [their horses] shown,” Stanton said. “Not much use coming if you’re not going to be competitive.”

Staton’s winning lineup included NonPro Co-Reserve Champion Matt Major, Limited Champion, and high scoring overall rider Chesney Reeves, and Novice Champion Ethan Smith.

“We try to pick team members that can go give it their best shot one time,” Stanton explained. “In versatility we typically have the trail, pleasure, reining and cow [work]. Those events are a mara-

“ That was probably the best fence run of my career. It was high-powered, fast, lots of

difficulty.”—Trey Mitchell

thon and we’re looking for consistency across the board. In comparison, this event is a sprint. It takes a different horse to be competitive.”

Stanton’s Limited rider took the top score of the event. In the Limited boxdrive-box division, Texas Tech teammate Chesney Reeves and TS If U Havethe Cash (Whoze Your Daddy x Four Cash 21 x Nu Cash Cow) came away with a score of 72.5 in the reining and 73 in the cow work for the Limited Championship.

Clarendon College sophomore Trey Mitchell was all nerves as he set foot into the Will Rogers, but when his mare SCR Wimpycrackinchic (Wimpys Little Step x Smart Crackin Chic x Smart Chic Olena) nailed her first stop he felt his anxiety melt away. The pair put together a score of 71.5 in the reining and one of Mitchell’s “best ever” trips down the fence.

“I felt like I drew a really fast-running cow that had a lot of bottom to it. I boxed him for a little bit and got two open-field fence turns,” Mitchell said. “That was probably the best fence run of my career. It was high-powered, fast, lots of difficulty.”

A 72.5 in the cow work gave Mitchell the Non-Pro Championship, Gist Silversmiths buckle and NRCHA goodie bag. The ag business major aims to become a ranch manager after college and plans on maintaining a string of horses for both working and showing.