Super Stakes and Spades!

Just when you thought you had your fill of cuttinghorse drama, the Super Stake Classic 2nd go yesterday gave you some more.
Several really impressive runs with Spooky Smooth & Gary Gonsalves posting a 222. It took a combined 434,5 to advance to the clean slate finals, Sunday. Several of the favoured contestants ran into trouble and were left out of the finals. I was sound asleep when Third Cutting and Boyd Rice marked a pedestrian 210, Rockin W a 183, and both Boon Too Suen and Tuesdays surprise Fiesta Zack lost cows and laid eggs.


Bet Hesa Cat posted a 220.5 and "won" the goarounds with a combined 439.5. He seems to be coming into his own this year and is getting better and better. I still root for Matt Gaines and Special Nu Baby in the finals. The duo scored 2x 219 in the go arounds and is due for a championship!


Posting this pic of a pretty cool spade bit made by Jeff Mundell and carried by his horse Tiger. It´s his first piece and he seems to have got it down pat. This is what I´ve been talking about with spades, the horse needs to pick it up and hold it himself! Picking it up like this enables him to respond to the lightest of signals. Pretty cool dragon motif on the cheekpieces too don´t you think? Good jobb Jeffery!

House Sold!

First things first, We´ve sold the house! A weight of our shoulders for sure and now we can focus on the move and the new place 100%. Still need to find a solution to the old barn/pasture lease, but selling the house is a good start.

Cutting

The horses advancing to the 2nd go of the Super Stakes Classic were pretty much the ones you expected. Reys Desire 221, Third Cutting 220,5 and Smooth Asa Zee 219,5 all scored big but Pounce is still in the lead with his 222. It took a 213,5 to advance to the 2nd round today. A duo cutting it real close was Dont Look Twice 215,5 and Boon Too Suen 213,5! Hopefully they bounce back today as we want to see both of them in the finals Sunday.

Lots of great performances in the first go as the top 29 posted scores of 218 or higher!

Some really "breedy" horses in the competition too, In no particular order, take a look at these!

Reys Desire, Dual Rey-Playguns Desire

1st dam, Playguns Desire, PERFORMANCE RECORD: NCHA earner of $124,352.
PRODUCE RECORD:
2005 EVERYONES DESIRE, g. by Smart Little Lena. $10,427
2006 REYS DESIRE (embt), f. by Dual Rey. $209,078
2006 DESIRE REY (embt), c. by Dual Rey. $45,690
2nd dam
GENUINE DESIRE, by Genuine Doc. $29,843: Dam of 13 money-earners, $576,614, including–
DESIRE SOME FRECKLES (f. by Freckles Playboy). $205,444
Southern Classic Champion; Raleigh 4-Year-Old Champion. Dam of–
DESIRES LITTLE REX (c. by Smart Little Lena). $287,519: NCHA Open Futurity Reserve
Champion; 2009NCHASuper Stakes Open Classic Reserve Champion.
DESIRES KATRINA (f. by High Brow Cat). $73,591

DESIRES REY (f. by Dual Rey). $37,523
PLAYGUNS DESIRE (f. by Playgun). Above.
EBR KITTY HAWK (c. by High Brow Cat). $99,819
A GENUINE PLAYGUN (f. by Playgun). $60,816
GENUINE BET (Bet On Me 498). $35,175

Bet Hesa Cat, High Brow Cat-Bet Yer Blue Boons

1st dam
BET YER BLUE BOONS, by Freckles Playboy. $350,615:NCHAWorld
Champion; NCHA Finals Champion twice; NCHA Hall of Fame; AQHA
Reserve World Champion; Bonanza Classic Champion; 3rd, NCHA
Open Classic; Gold Coast Open Classic Reserve Champion; NCHA
Open Top Ten 4 times. Dam of 14 money-earners, $502,766, incl.–
BETS CD (c. by CD Olena). $129,130:
BET ON ME 498 (c. by Smart Little Lena). $102,877:
BET HESA CAT (c. by High Brow Cat). Reference.
BET YER BOONS (f. by Peptoboonsmal). $73,281:
BET ON HOUSTON (f. by Peptoboonsmal). $44,972:
BET SHESA CAT (f. by High Brow Cat). $21,688:
BET TWICE 002 (f. by Peptoboonsmal). $21,220
IMIRAGE (f. by Dual Rey). $18,450:
2nd dam
ROYAL BLUE BOON, by Boon Bar. $381,764: NCHA Super Stakes
Co-Reserve Champion; 8th, NCHA Futurity; split 3rd, NCHA Open Finals.
Equi-Stat #1 All-Time Leading Cutting Producer (1995-2009).
Her foals have earned more than $2,626,000, including–
RED WHITE AND BOON (g. by Smart Little Lena). $930,954:
BET YER BLUE BOONS (f. by Freckles Playboy). Above.
AUTUMN BOON (f. by Dual Pep). $258,185: NCHA Super Stakes
Champion. etc.

Special Nu Baby, Dual Rey-Nu I Wood

1st dam, NU I WOOD(f. by Zack T Wood). $427,152: NCHA Super Stakes Open Classic Champion;
NCHA Open Derby Champion; 3rd, NCHA Open Futurity; split 3rd, NCHA
Open Classic/Challenge; Galles Ranch Open Classic Champion; Augusta Open
Classic Champion; Music City Open Classic Champion; PCCHA 4-Year-Old
Open Stakes Champion; Brazos Bash Open Derby Reserve Champion and
Open Classic Reserve Champion twice. Dam of–
SPECIAL NU KITTY (f. by High Brow Cat). $155,414: Breeders Invitational Non-Pro
Derby Champion; Tunica 4-Year-Old Open Futurity Reserve Champion; split
3rd, Cotton Stakes Open Derby; split 3rd, Brazos Bash Non-Pro Derby; finalist in
the NCHA Open Futurity, 2009 Breeders Invitational Open Classic, Augusta
4-Year-Old Open Futurity, Breeders Invitational Open Derby, Abilene Spectacular
Open Derby.
SPECIAL NU CAT (g. by High Brow Cat). $127,750: 7th, NCHA Open Super Stakes;
Congress Open & Non-Pro Classics’ Champion; “The Non-Pro” 4-Year-Old
Non-Pro Reserve Champion; finalist in the NCHA Open Derby and Gelding
Stakes; 4th, Congress Non-Pro Derby; finalist in the Memphis Open Classic,
Augusta Non-Pro Classic, Music City Non-Pro Classic, Cotton Classic Open
Derby.
SPECIAL NU BABY (f. by Dual Rey). $72,390: finalist in the 2009 NCHA Open Futurity;
3rd, 2010 Abilene Spectacular Open Derby.

Spooked By A Cat, Cat Ichi-San Starlight

DAM: SAN STARLIGHT has NCHA earnings of $23,790.

DAM: SAN STARLIGHT is the dam of 12 NCHA Money Earners with official NCHA earnings of $977,292 including:

• SPOOKYS CASH, 1997 m, by MISS N CASH, earner of $284,313
• SPOOKYS SMARTY PANTS, 1999 m, by SMART ARISTOCRAT, earner of $230,280
• SPOOKYS CATMANDO, 2001 s, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $159,121
• SPOOKYS CAT DEVILLE, 2003 g, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $153,437
• SPOOKYS TOOL TIME, 1998 g, by SMART ARISTOCRAT, earner of $45,807
• SPOOKY N STYLISH, 2000 g, by DOCS STYLISH OAK, earner of $31,309
• SPOOKED BY A CAT, 2006 s, by CAT ICHI, earner of $22,331
• SPOOKYS GOT CASH, 2004 m, by MISS N CASH, earner of $20,446
• SPOOKYS CATTLE LACK, 2003 g, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $20,060
• SPOOKYS CAYENNE PEP, 2006 g, by SWEET LIL PEPTO, earner of $5,744
• SPOOKYWEARINSTILETOS, 2005 m, by DUAL REY, earner of $4,444

Smart Moria Boon, Peptoboonsmal-Smart Moria

1st dam
SMART MORIA, by Smart Little Lena. $55,651: A 2010 Equi-Stat Top 20
Leading Producer.Damof 9money-earners,
$508,958, including–
SMART KITTYRG(f. by High Brow Cat). $206,733: NCHA Open Futurity Reserve
Champion; finalist in the 2010 NCHA Super Stakes Open Classic;
CASH MORIA (Cash Quixote Rio). $67,227:
SMART EATIN (Eatin Out). $55,624:
SMART MOUTH (Eatin Out). $44,649: 4th, Augusta 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Futurity;
split 5th, Polo Ranch Non-Pro Derby.
SMART CAT MORIA (f. by High Brow Cat). $44,230: 5th, 2010 NCHA Open
Derby
SMART PRINCE MORIA (c. by High Brow Cat). $30,883: finalist in the 2010
NCHA Open Futurity, 2011 Abilene Spectacular Open Derby, Arbuckle
Mountain 4-Year-Old Open Futurity.

2nd dam
MORIA SUGAR, by SonOSugar. $112,894: An Equi-Stat Top 20 All-Time Leading Cutting Producer(2010) whose foals have earned over $926,000, including–
CLOUD NINE (D) (Poco San Lena). $107,757: NCHA Bronze Award.
SMART LITTLE MORIA (f. by Smart Little Lena). $66,873

MORIAS LITTLE SUGAR ($24,180).
SUGAR DOX COM (Playdox). $65,958: Dam of DUAL N AT NOON ($167,070)
SMART PAINTED LENA (AQHA/APHA) (c. by Smart Little Lena). $64,140:
APHA World Champion; finalist in the NCHA Futurity.

Chiquita Cat, High Brow Cat-Chiquita Pistol

1st dam Chiquita Pistol, LE $559.381

2004 Western Horseman Cup Open Champion
2004 Augusta Futurity Open Classic Champion
2003 Music City Open Derby Champion
2003 NCHA Horse of the Year
2003 NCHA TRIPLE CROWN CHAMPION
2003 NCHA Summer Spectacular Open Derby Champion
2003 NCHA Super Stakes Open Derby Champion
2003 Augusta Futurity Open Derby Champion
2003 Abilene Spectacular Open Derby Champion
2002 NCHA Open Futurity Champion

Rockin W, Dual Rey-Boon San Kitty

1st dam, BOON SAN KITTY, LTE: $566,016, PE: $311,415

2nd dam
BOON SAN SALLY, by Boon Bar. $60,802: split 4th, NCHA Open Classic; Bonanza
6-Year-Old Open Reserve Champion; Lazy E $10,000 Non-Pro Champion; NCHA
Bronze Award, etc. Equi-Stat #9 All-Time Leading Cutting Producer (2009). Dam
of19foalsofperformanceage(1DNA),14money-earners,$1,091,085, including–
BOON SAN KITTY (f. by High Brow Cat). Above.
RW SALLYCAT (f. by High Brow Cat). $143,736: 3rd, Music City Open Classic; 3rd,
Breeders Invitational Limited Open Derby; 4th, Suncoast Open Derby, etc.
BOON SAN LENA (c. by Smart Little Lena). $121,922: NCHA World Champion and
World Champion Stallion;NCHAPlatinum Award; 4th,NCHAOpen Finals, etc.
BOON SAN CAT (g. by High Brow Cat). $57,626: finalist in the NCHA Super Stakes
OpenClassic,PCCHA5/6-Year-OldOpenStakes,GallesRanchOpenClassic, etc.
BOON SAN (c. by High Brow Cat). $57,270: finalist in the Breeders Invitational Open
Derby; 6th, Brazos Bash Open Derby; split 6th, Bonanza Open Derby.
SHORTY SAN LENA (g. by Shorty Lena). $56,569: 3rd, Brazos Bash Non-Pro Classic;
8th, Polo Ranch 4-Year-Old Non-Pro.
SMART LITTLESALLY(f. bySmart Little Lena). $46,983: 6th,NCHAFuturity

Ruby Rey, Dual Rey-Ruby Tequila

1st Dam, Ruby Tequila, (by Doc O'Lena); Dam of Offspring Earnings $84,945

• Playguns Ruby (g. by Playgun) NCHA Earner $49,555; NCHA Non-Pro Super Stakes Finalist; 3rd NCHA Limited Non-Pro Super Stakes; Finalist Augusta 4 YO Non-Pro Futurity
• Dancin Ruby Lena (f. by Smart Little Lena) NCHA Earner $21,755; 6th, 2002 NCHA Limited Non-Pro Super Stakes; split 4th, 2002 State of Missouri Non-Pro Derby, finalist Open; 2002 Crawfish Classic 4 YO Open Resv Champion; 4th, 2002 Texas Cutting Open Derby; 2003, Ike Hamilton Memorial 5/6 YO Non-Pro Co-Resv Champion

2nd Dam, Playboys Ruby (by Freckles Playboy) NCHA LTE $262,441; #2 All-Time Leading Broodmare nearing $1.7 Million; 13 Aged Event Championships; 22-Time Aged Event Finalist; Dam of 4 foals earning over $200,000 and 7 earning over $100,000

That Catomine, High Brow Cat-That Smarts

DAM: THAT SMARTS is the dam of 17 NCHA Money Earners with official NCHA earnings of $1,057,885 including:

• PAPPION CAT, 1994 s, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $364,783
• THAT COOL CAT, 1995 s, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $234,174
• A HOCUS POCUS CAT, 1996 s, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $151,834
• THAT SLY CAT, 1997 s, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $104,793
• THAT CATOMINE, 2005 m, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $98,648
• ALL THAT N CAT, 2003 m, by HIGH BROW CAT, earner of $48,765

From Cowhorse to Cutting

Today we jump from Idaho to Ft Worth, and from Cowhorse action to Cutting, as the NCHA Super Stakes kicked off with the 1st go Classic yesterday. Pounce (High Brow Cat) and Phil Hanson took a comanding lead scoring a 222. Hansons other star, Horse of The Year, LHR Smooth Jamie May, had a rough 1st go and lost a cow right before the buzzer. Fiesta Zack (Zack T Wood) and Casey Morris in second with a 221 and Play On Lizzy & Matt Budge third with a 220,5. 4th and split 5th after yeaterdays action are two CD Lights horses, A Little Bossy and Willys The Boss marking 119,5 and 119 respectively. I really like the CD Lights horses! They show style, heart and determination and have also done very well in cowhorse events. CD Dee Vee Dee went on a winning spree in 2009-10 and won just about every cowhorse event out there. That CD Rocks won his share too.

CD Lights or "Boss" won $234.000 and was the 2006 World Champion and also former Futurity finalist, Brazos, SunCoast and Bonanza Champion. And no High Brow Cat, Dual Rey or Peptoboonsmal as far as the eye can see on his papers, wich to me is refreshing! Hes out of Futurity & Derby Champ CD Olena and 1997 Derby Champion Delight of My Life. Both parents and Boss were trained by Winston Hansma by the way.

Back in action today, as the 1st go continues, with standouts Third Cutting, Reys Desire, Rockin W, Smoother Than A Cat, Smooth As Zee, Boon To Suen etc.

Smart Luck!

After a pretty wild final day, with several reviews, tough cattle and a couple of lead changes, Todd Bergen & Smart Luck (Very Smart Remedy) were last men standing in the NRCHA Stakes. Mucho drama for the final cowwork, but the pair had possisioned themselves well after a strong herdwork and a very good reinwork where the duo scored a whopping 226,5. A decent fence run, 217, put them at a 664 cumulative score, enough to claim the check for $27.000.
Top ranked Reymanator and Zane Davis didn´t exactly have the judges with them in the herdwork. They seemed to score well over 220 but there was a review and with the score down to 206,5 their chances went pretty much out the window.
Reserv to Todd Crawford and Moms Silverado Cat (High Brow Cat) with a 659,5.


The guy´s I rooted for, the colourful duo Moody Blues Brother & Red It One Time, shared 8-9th place with a 650,5 and a $5.000 check.

HolyCow Performancehorses super mare, Sheza Shinette (Shining Spark) had 5 entry´s in the Nampa shows! Hes Shinettes CD (CD Olena) and Sheza Dancingdiamond (Diamond J Star) in the stakes, both made the finals! Sheza Roo (Rooster) and Once A Von A Time (Von Reminic) in the two rein and finally Heza Diamond Spark (Diamond J Star) winner of the Bridle spectacular, impressive!

NRCHA Stakes prelims

Results NRCHA Stakes prelims.

Top 20 horses will square off tomorrow, Sunday, in the clean slate finals of the NRCHA Stakes in Nampa, Idaho. Reymanator & Zane Davis looks to be in top form and won both the herd & cowwork prelims. A fabulous 223 down the fence yesterday! Remember, in 2009 he won the prelims & finals in both the NSHA pre futurity & Reno Futurity. No other horse has done that as far as I can recall. There´s no shortage on competition though and they have to be on top of their game Sunday as 2nd place Todd Bergen and Smart Luck is no pushover. A couple of others are pretty hot too. Watching Lyn Anderson down the fence is allways a thrill and "my guy´s" Red It One Time and Moody Blues Brother could go all the way "any given Sunday", to borrow a line from Hollywood.

Myself, I´m laying somewhat low today due to an acheing body. Wish I could say I busted a couple of broncs, wrestled a mountain lion and slew a bear, but truth is I slipped and fell down the stairs! Gettin old I guess....

NRCHA Stakes day 2

After the Preliminary reinwork this is what we ´ve got:


Smart Luck-Todd Bergen leads the pack after a 222 reinwork. Reymanator & Zane Davis in second after a 217. Smart Luck placed 6th in last years finals after a disapointing 212,5 reinwork. Reymanator had a similar bad day, but down the fence, in last years finals and ruined any chances of a top finish with a 196. Bergen has another horse I really liked the looks of, Red It One Time. He´s out of One Time Pepto and Genuine Redbud and thus 1/2 brother to Nic It In The Bud. He scored a sweet 221 in the reinwork and really looks the part.

Cowwork today, and the top 20 +ties head to the finals i think.

On the homefront not much is happening. Waiting for the sun to do it´s part and clear the arena of all the snow and ice so we can get going. The ground in the pastures are frozen in the morning and muddy & slippery after lunch so we have to take things pretty slow & easy out there.

NRCHA Stakes

After the herdwork prelims the leaderboard looks as follows:

Some disapointing runs, but I must say the top 5 looked really good on the hard surface in Nampa, not exactly cutter friendly!
Really nice to se former Futurity champ Raymanator and Zane Davis back on top. The duo totally dominated the competition as a 3yo, but had a disapointing 4yo campaign.

Spring, finally!

Looks like spring is comin after all! Had my doubts there for a while, but now you can actually see the ground in some places. Had a setback Friday with another foot of snow, but it cleared quickly and now the SUN is out and getting warmer.

Kick the Cat is looking good again and seems to be ok in that pastern she´s had trouble with. Will try to leave her alone though for another couple of weeks until the ground and footing is better, just to be safe.

We´ve had a few people look at the house and a couple have actually showed some interest. The broker have another couple of customers lined up tomorrow and this weekend and we´ll see how it goes.

NRCHA Stakes in Nampa, Idaho starts today. 4 and 5 year old horses like Smart Luck, Reymanator, Billie Burke Boon and a slew of other talented horses and riders square off in the herd, rein and fencework. My personal favorite would be Ken Wold and his flashy Pepto stud, Moody Blues Brother. One Time Pepto has a couple of 4 year olds in action too, ridden by Jake Tellford, One Time Ray Jay (Futurity ResChamp)and Todd Bergen, Red It One Time, respectively. Interesting to see how the "One Times" fare in cowhorse events considering the success they´ve had in the cutting pen so far.

Livin on an Island!

Thursday one of the wires supporting our ferry broke. That resulted in a lame float, taking 10 times the normal time to cross the strait. After holdups and failed crossings the ferry was out of comishion for a couple of hours and that led to big ol chunks of ice filling the channel. I mean in the sizes of footballfields! Friday morning I was on my way over. Half way across we run into one of those giant sheets of ice and that was that. Ferry had to backtrack and all fares was cancelled! Had a horse in the trailer but just had to turn around and head home again! They used all of friday evening blasting those suckers with dynamite. Now everything is up and running again thankfully.

I owe you all some results by the way. Kinda schitsofrenic trying to follow the PCCHA Derby and Cattlemens at the same time on the webcast. Most of the time they where overlapping so you could watch one while they settled the herd in the other. Anyway, here they are:


Matt Gaines & Reycy Moon (Cats Moonshine x Twice As Reycy, by Dual Rey) won the Cattlemens Derby marking a 224. She´d previously placed 4th in Abilene and third in Arbuckle but this was Reycy Moons first championchip.
Cattlemens Derby

The Cattlemans 5/6 yo Classic was won by RL Chartier aboard A Little Bossy (CD Lights-Pistol Smart, by Smart Little Lena) scoring a 222. It was a WILD outing where several of the favourites lost possition on cows or simply just lost them. Horses like Third Cutting, Don´t Look Twice, Boon Too Suen & Shes Twice As Smooth who each are well over $100.000 in earnings, had a really tough time. A Little Bossy stuck in there though and Chartier just aimed for a clean run without any mistakes and it paid off.

Cattlemens Classic

In the PCCHA Derby Tim Smith and protegé Morgan Cromer split honours with My Lizzy Babe (Lizzys Gotta Player-Moms Stylish Babe) and Oak Ill Be Peppy (Skeets Ill Be Peppy-Oak Ill Be) scoring 220 to share the win.
PCCHA Derby

More shows underway

The Cattlemans Derby & Classic is well underway. 4yo Derby Open starts today and 5/6 classic finals tomorrow!

Two first go´s of the 5/6 yo:

1st


2nd



The draws for the Finals:


The PCCHA Derby is also underway. Here are the results from the 1st go:


An interesting tidbit from the Derby field is Dom Dualuise. He was purchased by Phil Ralls as a yearling at the NCHA Futurity sales 2008 for what today appears to be a steal, $7.200.


He competed as a cowhorse with success in both the NSHA Futurity and NRCHA Futurity last year.
Dom Dualuise
The duo won the Intermediate Open Snaffle Bit Futurity at the 2010 NSHA Paso Robles Snaffle Bit Futurity and Placed 4th in the Open Futurity for owner Chris Larson. They won the prelims in the NRCHA Futurity but eventually ended up 13th in the Open finals. Pretty cool if he can make the finals in the highly competetive PCCHA Cutting derby aswell!

Hitting the trail

Brady and I took a 2 hour ride through the woods following a deer trail and then out on the ice. Beautiful day today! Sun shining, glistening in the snow. Big Sky, looking out over the ice covered waters, really pretty.


Driving to the office the other day, sun resting like an overgrown orange in the treetops. Not much of a pic (phone) though. Doesn´t do it justice.

Back n stuff

Me feels my back today!

Bent over and trimmed one of the mares hoofs yesterday, bad idea! Being as tall (and handsome!) as I am they really have to hold their legs up high and I really have to crouch down to compensate. Result, an acheing back. Did an ok job I guess, but it takes me forever and the ponies would rather I hired someone!

Went for a ride on Brady too. He´s as good as he´s ever been albeit a bit "round" still. Had the dog with us too and he wanted to follow him where ever he went. If the dog turned left Brady was sure to follow. Pretty funny. He really likes the last bosal I made too. Might make a 1/2" after I get Håkans done ( Sorry friend, I really havn´t had the time to finish it yet!)

Gettin´warmer!

Trying to get everything ready for the move south. Still havn´t found a buyer for our place yet, but the agent is working on it. Not the best time of the year for house sales but what can U do?

Took Brady out for a spin yesterday & today. Warm enough to put him back in the bridle (two rein). He was pretty fresh yesterday and it was about time to get him dusted off. He´s gained a couple of pounds by not beeing worked regularly. Needs to get him down "two holes" in girth widht! We got a good workout in today. Started out down the trail and finished up with some work in the pasture and some roping.

Kick the Cat sprained her pastern in her pasture again. Not as bad as before, but I´ll have to back off for a couple of weeks though. Shame, she was on the right track but there´s no rush. She´s got her whole life a head of her.

The PCCHA Derby kicks of today. Usually some great performers there as the best cutters of the west square off. They´re really slow posting the draws though so I really don´t know what horses are entered just yet.