///////// 2021 DT HORSES WESTERN DERBY “I’ve actually been reserve [on him] in a lot of places,” Phillips said with a laugh. “To finally be able to get him shown— he’s such a good horse—I’m happy that we were able to put it all together.” Phillips and “Axl” started off their three-prong run by marking the highest score in the herd work. Phillips credited her herd help, Corey Cushing, Russell Probert, Phillip Ralls and her husband, NRCHA Million Dollar Rider Kelby Phillips, for helping her find good cows to cut in the herd work. The pair remained in the No.1 position in the rein work, where a 224.5 scored 3 points higher than any other. Phillips was not surprised, and said the horse ran pure and stopped hard, giving her the best rein work she’d ever had on him. The difference, she said, was the advice Kelby gave her before her run. “My husband told me I needed to trust him more, so I did,” Phillips said of Axl. “He’s always been really good in the reining for me, but I think it was more just me not trusting him in certain areas. This time I did, and he showed really, really well.” Down the fence, Phillips drew a soft cow. The pair handled it well, though, boxing it for only a short time before sending it down the fence. “I knew I had to have a decent run, just to be safe, but [the steer] was a little softer,” Phillips said. “Corey and Kelby were both down on that end to tell me when to go, so I had to take it pretty early. I tried to just make it look as best as possible. We just made a businessman’s run.” The duo’s cow work score wasn’t in the top placings, but it was enough to keep them at the top of the scoreboard overall, and the pair won with 8 points to spare. They collected a $8,207.55 check. Phillips has owned Axl since December of his 2-year-old year. With the help of Cushing and Kelby, she trained the now
62 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | REINED COW HORSE NEWS
“He’s always been really good in the reining for me, but I think it was more just me not trusting him in certain areas. This time I did, and he showed really, really well.”—Abbie Phillips 5-year-old Center Ranch-bred gelding for the futurities, overcoming a sizable obstacle in the process. “As a 3-year-old, he was really scared of cows on his right side going down the fence,” Phillips said. “It was really hard to get him down the fence for a very long time. We had to work on that and do a lot of different things to try and make him comfortable right there.” Once the horse gained confidence down the fence, the pair went on to win the 2019 Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity Non Pro and take home Reserve at the 2019 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®. In 2020, they placed second in the Tres Osos
Cow Horse Derby Non Pro, held during the NRCHA World Show. Then they defended their reserve title again in 2021. With another win under her belt, Phillips, who now lives in Weatherford, Texas, plans to take Axl to the NRCHA Hackamore Classic later this year, then put him in the two-rein next year. She hopes to one day show him in the World’s Greatest Horseman. “I just want to thank all my herd help and all those that have helped us at the barn, including Taylor Adams, Kelby, and all my family and friends that have supported me,” Phillips said.
NON PRO RESERVE CHAMPION, INTERMEDIATE NON PRO CHAMPION, NOVICE NON PRO CHAMPION, AMATEUR CHAMPION
With a 651.5 (H:216/R:217.5/C:218), 17-year-old Landon Luce and 2016 mare Time To Lay It Down (One Time Pepto x Katies Kitty x High Brow Cat), owned by Andrea Luce and bred by Newt White, collected $11,774.68 in the Non Pro. In the Amateur, a 644.5 (H:217.5/R:218/C:209) earned them $2,444.40.
