COMING IN HOTT

Add a little hot sauce to your herd! Red Hott Cat proves his mettle as a leading Canadian cutter and an up-and-coming sire. By Jenn Webster

When Rick Perkins of British Columbia first learned of the stallion Red Hott Cat (RHC) coming available for purchase as a two-year-old, he jumped at the opportunity. Perkins had long been set on buying a red roan stallion so when he was shown “Tabasco” advertised on Facebook by his daughter Brittany Friesen, he immediately called the owner. The horse was bought sight unseen by Rick, wife Cheryl and Brittany.

Tabasco is sired by Metallic Cat and out of Little Baby Sister (Dual Pep x San Jo Pat). Prior to acquiring him, the Perkins family only ever had owned one other gelding in the cutting arena, a horse named Damascus Cat that they had in training with professional, Travis Rempel. Hence, the family was relatively new to the cutting scene.

Immediately following the purchase, Rick and Cheryl Perkins and Brittany Friesen (Perkins) flew to Texas to catch one of the big cutting shows and officially meet their new stallion. It was love at first sight.

The decision was made to leave Tabasco in training in Texas for the rest of his two-yearold year. Rick and Cheryl then flew down for the 2016 National Cutting Horse Association futurity and Tabasco was brought back to his new home in Canada, then put into training with Rempel.

The trainer began prepping the stallion for big Futurity events; Idaho, Black Elk, the Canadian Supreme and the Calgary Stampede. Tabasco ended up winning the second go-round of the Calgary Stampede Futurity with a 219 and followed that up with a 221 in the finals for the win.

“He is a horse that anybody would be proud to own,” says Rick. “I love to watch him. He is so strong, stops so hard and is so fluid in the front end. He’s an absolute pleasure to watch.”

Tabasco ended his futurity year with over $35,000 in NCHA earnings and he left a lasting impression on the Canadian cutting scene.

Sired by the legendary Metallic Cat, Lifetime Earnings (LE) of $637,711 and Progeny Earnings (PE) of $33 million, Tabasco has a lot going for him. As if that weren’t enough, his dam, Little Baby Sister also has her own LTE of $22,834 and PE of over $1.4 million. Recently, Tabasco’s 2019 full sister sold at the Western Bloodstock Sale in Fort Worth, TX, for $500,000 to Teton Ridge.

The Perkins family discloses that their stunning, red roan stallion is also very mischievous and full of personality.

“He’s the type of horse who buries his head in your hair, looking for a pet or attention. He loves getting therapeutic massages and work done and he’s the type of stud that could be loped in a pen full of 50 horses, prior to entering the show pen and not bat an eye,” they chuckle.

Rempel praised the horse early on for being, “…really smart about a cow and pretty easy to train.”

Since his futurity year, Tabasco has continually proven himself to be very levelminded, easy to ride and built for his job.

“He’s so smooth and easy to sit when he stops and turns hard,” explains breeding manager, Chelsey Perkins. “He has even been ridden up in the back country and leads the way with a good gait, as he’s motivated to see the country. He’s a true joy to ride!”

Currently, Tabasco has NCHA earnings of $72,244. His biggest win was at the Stampede, however the horse has many other credentials to his name. This includes placing extremely high in many aged events in Canada like winning the $25K Novice Horse division, Day 1, at the 2020 Silver Slate August show and both days in the $25K Novice Horse at the 2020 Alberta Cutting Horse July Jammin’ Show, with trainer Dustin Gonnet in the stirrups. He also placed in the Top 5 of his region in 2020 by the NCHA, after being shown all year long by Gonnet. Currently Tabasco is one of the top earning NCHA stallions in aged events in Canada.

THE FUTURE

Tabasco’s first, official foal crop hit the ground running in 2021. The Perkins family is excited to report his foals have all inherited great conformation with a lot of bone, strong hips, straight legs and great athleticism.

“We are retiring him sound so he has many pleasurable and comfortable years left, siring future champions,” explains Chelsey.

The stallion has attracted mares in various different sports / disciplines including cutting, working cow horse, barrel racing, team penning and sorting, roping and ranch horses. Chelsey says a big foal crop is coming in 2022.

“RHC is siring foals all across North America! He has had a very high conception rate, thanks to his high semen potency,” she relays. This year (2022) is the first year they will be offering fresh, in addition to frozen semen on the stallion. The Perkins family / Sherrick Holdings Ltd. will be selling a limited amount of RHC foals, cow-bred in the years to come.

They are also offering their own incentive to RHC foals, as $5,000 will be awarded to the highest NCHA earning RHC foal showing in its futurity year (for the years 2024 / 2025 / and 2026). Additionally, Tabasco is nominated to The Breeders Elite Incentive and The Canadian Barrel Horse Incentive.

For more information or for contract inquiries, please contact Chelsey Perkins at info@redhottcat.com, 250-819-1435 or visit the website at: www.redhottcat.com.

Red Hott Cat foals are demonstrating great conformation with a lot of bone, strong hips, straight legs and great athleticism.

Foals sired by Red Hott Cat will be eligible for a special incentive.

RED HOTT CAT

NCHA LTE $72,244.93

• 2017 Calgary Stampede,

Futurity Champion, shown by

Travis Rempel. • 2017 Canadian Supreme

Cutting Horse Open Futurity

Finalist, 2017 Idaho Cutting

Horse Open Futurity Finalist (tied for second in the second go-round), with Travis Rempel. • 2018 Silver Slate Open Derby

Champion, 2018 Silver Slate

May Madness Open Derby

Champion, with Travis Rempel. • 2019 Canadian Spectacular 5/6

Reserve Champion, 2019 Black

Elk Spring Classic Reserve

Aggregate Champion (placed first and second in go-rounds), with Travis Rempel. • 2019 Calgary Stampede Cutting

Horse Open Finalist, with Travis

Rempel. • 2020 Canadian Spectacular

Reserve Champion, with Dustin

Gonnet. • 2020 Black Elk Spectacular third in aggregate for 25k NH, with Dustin Gonnet. • 2020 Silver Slate August aged show, won $25k NH, Day 1, with Dustin Gonnet. • 2020 Alberta Cutting Horse

July Jammin’ Show, won both days in 25k NH, with Dustin

Gonnet. • 2020 placed in Top 5 in his region by the NCHA (shown all year by Dustin Gonnet).