ANNIE’S ABSOLUTELY AWESOME

Horses and riders proved themselves with gusto in the Spectacular classes at the 2023 Teton Ridge Stallion Stakes.

BY LARRI JO STARKEY | PHOTOS BY PRIMO MORALES

Annies Smart Cat continued to add to his lifetime earnings with a victory in the Open Bridle Spectacular at the 2023 Teton Ridge Stallion Stakes in Las Vegas, Nevada. The win also qualified National Reined Cow Horse Association Million Dollar Rider Lance Johnston for The Run for a Million Cow Horse Challenge, continuing Johnston’s string of great rides on the stallion that started with winning the NRCHA Open Bridle World Champion title in February.

Annies Smart Cat (WR This Cats Smart x Shiney Nu Annie x Shining Spark), a 2016 stallion, marked a 219 in the herd work and a 216.5 in the rein work.

“I cut him good cows in the herd work,” Johnston said. “If I cut him good cows, he is usually pretty good. He’s always really stylish in the herd. In the reined work, we actually had a few little bobbles that weren’t quite what he normally is, but we scored enough to keep us in the ballgame and get to the fence work.”

The duo ended up working last in the first set of the fence work.

“In the fence work, he was phenomenal and the cow was really tough and really wild,” Johnston said. “He was with me every step of the way.”

They marked a 224, which put them in the lead.

“There were so many big-time horses left to go that I really didn’t think the score would hold,” Johnston said. “I was happy that I did as good as I did, but I didn't think it would hold. So, I was pretty excited at the very end when I found out it did hold and then even more excited when I found out that I made the Run for the Million.”

Annies Smart Cat is a chestnut stallion bred by Wagonhound Land & Livestock LLC and is owned by Rocking BS Ranch, owned by Brent and Suzie Steward. Originally, Johnston had the horse purchased from then-trainer Matt Koch for another client, but the horse and client didn’t mesh.

“I talked to Brent from Rocking BS, and I told him, ‘You need to buy this horse. This horse is a great horse.’ And I said, ‘If I don’t win $100,000 in a year and a half, we’ll send him to somebody that will.’ That’s how much I believe in the horse,” said Johnston. “At this last World Show, when I won the bridle World Championship, that put us over $100,000 [in earnings].”

The Stallion Stakes check for first place will add $11,720 to the stallion’s lifetime earnings of $103,740.

The competition was tight. Annies Smart Cat’s composite score of 659.5 was just a point higher than the 658.5 scored by Sprinkld Confetticat (WR This Cats Smart x PPH Especial Nitro x Nitro Dual Doc), ridden by Shane Steffen, and by Kreyzy Horse (Dual Rey x Shes Twice As Smooth x Smooth As A Cat), shown by Kelby Phillips.

Johnston and his wife, Tammy, operate Johnston Performance Horses in Lindsay, California. Johnston has $1.3 million in lifetime earnings. He won the 2019 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® Open and Intermediate Open with Here Comes The Boon (Once In A Blue Boon x Stay Outta My Shorts x Shorty Lena). Annies

Smart Cat was the 2021 NRCHA Hackamore Classic Open Champion, the 2020 NRCHA Hackamore Classic Novice Horse Open Champion and the 2020 NRCHA Open Hackamore National Champion.

Non Pro Bridle Spectacular

From the beginning, Megan Waddell and Boonshinen have been together. That is, from the beginning of Boonshinen’s life.

“She is actually my first baby out of my retired show mare, Shine Up My Sliders,” Waddell said. “I still have her. I bred her to Smart Boons, and I’ve had ‘Betty’ since she was a baby.”

At the Stallion Stakes, Boonshinen (Smart Boons x Shine Up My Sliders x Shiners Vintage) proved she’s not just a homebred, she’s a champion, as she and Waddell won the Level 1 Non Pro Bridle class and the Non Pro Bridle Spectacular.

“I halter broke her, taught her to tie and did all the baby stuff with her,” Waddell said. “I gave her all the love and booty scratches she desired. She’s a sucker for a good booty scratch! Corey Cushing started her as a 2-year-old for me. She was with him until the middle of her 3-year-old year, and she wasn’t going to make an Open horse for him. So, she came home to me.”

Waddell had been showing Boonshinen in boxing classes when she bargained with NRCHA Million Dollar Rider Chris Dawson.

“The year before last, I made a deal with Chris that if I won a major Derby on her, I would stop boxing and go down the fence,” Waddell said. “And then I won the [Western] Derby out in Arizona, so I had to buck up and live up to that deal I made. The first time I went down the fence was at Las Vegas last year in the two-rein. I honestly had zero idea what I was doing.”

A year later, what she’s doing is winning. At the Stallion Stakes, Waddell and Boonshinen marked a 145 in the herd work, 142.5 in the reined work and 144 in the cow work for a 431.5 composite score. The check for first place was for $5,335.

“When she was real little, she was kind of quirky,” Waddell said. “She couldn’t cross-tie—she had to be

Intermediate Open Bridle Champion

Abbie Phillips rode 2015 stallion Peptos Stylin Time The (One Time Pepto x Stylin Jewel x Docs Stylish Oak), a horse she co-owns with Kelby Phillips and that was bred by Hanging H Ranch LLC, to a 658 (H: 216.5/R: 221/C: 220.5), earning $2,576.

tied to an oak tree—and now she’s the safest horse. She has logged a lot of kid hours. My son Jackson climbs up and down her. She’s kid broke and just easy. Anybody can honestly ride her.”

In herd work, Waddell tends to become nervous. In Las Vegas, Betty took care of her.

“She’s kind of got it figured out now,” Waddell said. “You know, those cattle were a little tough. They were either really soft and didn’t want to do a lot, or they were a little pushy. But we got two good cuts, and she took care of it.”

Dawson had been riding the mare for a couple of weeks and had her tuned up, Waddell said, ready for all three events.

“She was really good for me in the reined work,” she said. “It wasn’t our biggest reined work mark that we’ve ever had, but she did everything I asked. I just didn’t quite have the speed for a huge, huge reined mark. And then I called for our cow, and that cow came out and was pretty soft and wasn’t doing a lot, so I thought, ‘Well, we’ll just go,’ And then we came around the corner and that cow took off.”

As the cow swept from zero to 60 in three strides, Betty stayed with it.

“She handled it like a champ,” Waddell said. “She stayed with it, and she got two good turns and got to the center and circled it up real good, and she loped that sucker right out of the arena.”

Waddell didn’t even care about the score; she was just proud of their accomplishments together. The win was their first major after being in the top five in

“THE YEAR BEFORE LAST, I MADE A DEAL WITH CHRIS THAT IF I WON A MAJOR DERBY ON HER, I WOULD STOP BOXING AND GO DOWN THE FENCE. AND THEN I WON THE [WESTERN] DERBY OUT IN ARIZONA, SO I HAD TO BUCK UP AND LIVE UP TO THAT DEAL I MADE."

—Megan Waddell

Limited Bridle and Non Pro Two Rein at the Kalpowar Quarter Horses Celebration of Champions.

“The scores don’t matter. They don’t,” Waddell said. “Every time I step in the pen, it’s not to win. It’s simple. I pray that God keeps us safe—that we walk in and walk out the same way we came in. The success we have had is just a bonus.”

Youth Cow Horse Spectacular

A great partnership led to a great win for Landri Lisac in the Youth Bridle Spectacular at the 2023 Teton Ridge Stallion Stakes. Landri rode Cat Walks Into A Bar (WR This Cats Smart x Sue C Shiner x Shining Spark) to the highest score in the herd work, the reined work and the cow work, coming up with a composite of 431.5 and a commanding win.

“The herd work was a lot of fun, because we don’t get to do it a lot,” Landri said. “It’s always fun to do something different every once in a while. It was a little nerve-wracking because I just don’t do it a lot. I always get nervous for that event, so I just go in and try my best and just listen to Todd [Crawford] all the way through it, and it worked.”

Landri, a 15-year-old from Pueblo, Colorado, has been on a roll in the past year, winning the World Championship in Working Cow Horse at the 2022 American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show, then followed that up with

NRCHA World Championships in Limited Non Pro Bridle, Non Pro Bridle and Youth Cow Horse at the Kalpowar Quarter Horses Celebration of Champions held in February in Fort Worth, Texas.

Cat Walks Into a Bar, a 2014 gelding she calls “Grasshopper," was bred by Garth and Amanda Gardiner. At the Stallion Stakes, Landri and the horse hopped their way into the title smoothly.

“Our reined work was really good and then our cow work was just smooth,” Landri said. “Our cow respected us, and Grasshopper did really good.”

In the years that Landri has been training with Crawford, she has learned to stay positive in any situation.

“He’s always been a very good role model and has always pushed me to be my best,” she said. “He’s been amazing. He always tells me to be smart and if something goes bad, just forget it and we’ll fix it later.”

Landri has been riding cow horse for seven years. Recently, she has been putting in the time and making runs to get better, she said, both in practices and at weekend shows.

“I just really like the event,” she said. “I love doing it. I love my horses, and I just love the people that do it and the people I’m around when I’m doing it. I would just like to thank my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother, my grandparents and then especially everybody at Todd Crawford Performance Horses.”

Non Pro Bridle Spectacular Champion

Megan Waddell rode her homebred mare Boonshinen (Smart Boons x Shine Up My Sliders Shiners Vintage) to a 431.5 composite (H: 145/R:142.5/C: 144) and $5,335.

Youth Cow Horse Champion

Landri

Get at least 94% outof each hay bale with the revolutionary Hay Chix® hay net. University Tested. Veterinarian Approved.

TO RECEIVE 15% OFF YOUR NEXT ORDER!

Non Pro Boxing Spectacular Champion

Serafina Madonna and Metallic Flame (Metallic Cat x Scooby Dooby Dual x Dual Pep) rode to a 431 (H: 143.5/R: 140/C: 147.5) to earn a check for $4,570.

Youth Boxing Spectacular Champion

Cole Hawk rode Playoff Time (A Chic In Time x Uno What Weeno x Smart Little Uno), bred by Broken B Ranch and owned by Hawk Family Trust, to a 437 (H: 144/ R: 146/C: 147) and $690.