the Cutter
like I can go to any cutting and feel like I have so many friends that care about me.” Eight-year-old gelding, Lucky Number Sleven, was Charlene’s
show partner in crime this year. Rex had trained the horse since he was three years old and purchased him in 2007. “What I love most about Sleven is he has taught me how to
‘step it up’. He has given me the confidence I needed this year,” says Charlene.
While the year was filled with numerous memories, two specif-
ic events stick out in Charlene’s mind. “My favorite show was in Watsonville because both Rex and I were circuit champions and won matching jackets. I will never forget the day Charlie Syburg congrat- ulated me in Arizona saying ‘there is no way anyone can catch you’. At that moment I realized that I would be getting a new Roo-Hide saddle and championship buckle. That is something I never thought would happen.”
$15,000 Amateur Call it intuition or purely a gut feeling but Rose Hayes knew
she was going to be a world champion before the year even began. Not sure what class was going to be her niche, Rose started the year showing in both the $35,000 Non Pro and $15,000 Amateur. She fig- ured that she would take the lead in one class and stick with that one for the rest of the year. After a few months, Rose found herself high in the standings in both classes so decided to continue with both. Unlike many cutters, Rose only left California twice the entire
year, when she headed to Las Vegas in July and to Arizona in October. She says, “I never forced it. If I thought my horses needed a break, I would stay home and rest.” Rose technically bought her first cutting horse in 1989, but
really thinks she didn’t start cutting until three years ago when she finally “got it”. Before then she just dabbled in the sport with a few horses at the club cutting level. In 2008, she decided she wanted to move up which meant buying a more competitive horse. Rose was currently boarding her horse at friend, Kim Thome’s barn. Kim owned the gelding, I’ll Be a Trick Pony, and had Rose ride him out on the trails. Rose fell in love and quickly purchased him. Rose says, “I adore Shorty because he always gives me game.
I have complete faith and trust in him. He never quits and really loves cutting.” Showing with confidence, Rose never made “a big deal” out of
hauling. She just wanted to have fun. Late in the summer she started to struggle a little bit and found herself fighting her head. Trainer, Jason Haefner, told her “you are just expecting to go in and win.You are going to have to work at it a bit.” After that, Rose regrouped and reshifted her energy. She believes, “stumbling is all part of the process.You have to go through it to learn and become better.” Rose and Shorty then headed to McArthur where they had an
amazing show winning both circuits. This year they won seven cir- cuits in the $15,000 amateur, with total earnings of $11,000. She was the PCCHA and NCHA Champion and as she says, “this was just her year.”
$2,000 Limit Rider Traveling over 20,000 miles and showing twice a day for over
90 days created an unbreakable bond between Charles Syburg and his twelve-year-old gelding, Merada Quik Peppier. Charles admits, “We had a lot of ups and downs and were in more than our share of less than ideal circumstances, but he was great the whole year. He was always ready”. Charles’ wife, Kristen, is what initially drew him to cutting.
She had showed horses her entire life and after taking a cutting les- son in 2010, she was hooked. While Charles had been riding horses for a long time, he had never shown. One day he took a lesson with Kristen and trainer, Dan Manning. He rode “Pepper” and instantly fell in love. “I like a lot about cutting. I really enjoy the ‘ranch style’ set-
tings. In the pen, I especially like that moment when you have to put your hand down and trust your horse. I love seeing what these hors- es do on their own. The process has helped me ‘let go’and has helped me learn how to accept both positive and less than desirable out- comes and just keep cutting,” says Charles. Throughout the spring, Charles was casually showing but made
the decision to haul in June when he normally would be spending the summer sea kayaking in British Columbia. His favorite cutting of the year was Crested Butte, Colorado. To him it was the perfect setting. The cows were good and he liked that it drew cutters from various
Page 78 • March 2012 • PACIFIC COAST JOURNAL states.
Making over 180 runs this year, Charles finished not only the
PCCHA $2,000 limit rider Champion, but also reserve champion in the world and rookie of the year.
$10,000 Novice Horse Often cutting is recognized for being a true team sport, and for
Laurie Gosney this year was all about “Team Tuff”. As a new comer to cutting, Laurie set out in the fall of 2010 to find herself a solid horse with a strong background that she could show in the aged events and would help her learn the ropes. What she didn’t expect was for the mare,Wood She B Tuff, to land on her front door. Laurie purchased “Tuff” from Craig Crumpler in November of 2010 know- ing that Tuff wasn’t exactly what she was looking for and maybe a little overkill but thought, “she is top-of-the-line and I can’t let this opportunity pass by”. Top-of-the-line proved to be an understatement as this seven-year-old mare by NitasWood earned over $30,000 and the $10,000 Novice Horse championship title in both NCHA and PCCHA.
Laurie splits up her year living in Arizona during the winter and
Colorado in the summer. She grew up roping and doing ranch sort- ing, but always wanted to learn how to cut. It wasn’t until 2010 that she truly had the time, ability, and money to focus on the sport she always wanted to do. Trainer, Mark Darling, got her hooked during that summer and when it was time for her to return to Arizona, he helped her to partner up with trainer, MikeWood. 2011 began with Laurie showing Tuff in the $50,000 amateur divi- sion and having MikeWood keep the horse tuned by showing her in the novice class. Mike was consistently picking up checks and lead- ing the division so Laurie decided it would only be fair for her to stop showing so Mike would have the opportunity to win the champi- onship.
While Mike showed Tuff the majority of the time, trainers
Mark Darling and Don Crumpler helped when he wasn’t able to make it. Having all three trainers work together with Laurie is how she came up with the nickname “Team Tuff”. Laurie shares, “It was great how well all three guys worked
together. They would call each other up and ask how the day went. They would get advice and have discussions about how the horse was working. It was a very unique situation”. Hauling over 52,000 miles this year, Tuff never left Laurie’s
side. No matter where or with what trainer, Laurie would always be the one to haul Tuff to each show and care for her. “The mare is special because of her sheer ability and confi-
dence. She has passion and an overall toughness about her. I guess her name really does fit,” laughs Laurie.
$15,000 Novice Non Pro Carol Ward was happily surprised this year when her horse,
Full on Merada, exceeded all of her expectations. Hurt as a three year old, Full on Merada, was sent to pasture for a long recovery. Years later, Carol brought him back to be her practice horse. At the start of the year, Carol wanted to make extra runs so she
would remain on the top of her game when showing Lil Dulce Lu in the Non Pro. Full on Merada seemed like a good fit so Carol rode him to the herd in the $15,000 Novice class. “From the very start of the year he wanted to be a show horse.
He loved making each run,” says Carol. Before Carol knew it, she was leading the division and decided
to keep on going with him. The race became tight with fellow com- petitor, Jack Dawson, which pushed Carol to go more. Carol remembers, “showing against Jack Dawson in the $15,000 Novice and Billy Burton in the Non Pro pushed me to be even bet- ter. I enjoyed the competition. When I drove into the show and saw their trailers, I found it exciting.” Full on Merada proved to be much more than a practice horse.
Carol won $18,000 this year and not only won the PCCHA division, but also finished 3rd in NCHA standings. At the end of the year, Carol sold Full on Merada and donated
the proceeds to theWoundedWarrior Project. He was originally bred to be Jerry’s horse and Carol never felt like he truly belonged to her. “I knew that Jerry would have felt like donating to the charity
would have been the right thing for this horse. He has gone on to help others and that makes me happy,” says Carol.
$3,000 Novice Horse Seven-year-old gelding, Zack and Blue, was able to make a
girl’s dream come true this year. Owner, Parri Longworth, confesses “every little girl wants a pony and I was no different. ‘Roger’ filled my fantasy and I couldn’t have asked for more.” Zack and Blue, “Roger”, was originally purchased in
December 2010 with the idea of Parri showing him on the weekend circuit. When they saw what he was capable of, Parri and her hus- band, Jerry, made the decision to hand the reins over to trainer, Al Dunning. They purely wanted to see what Roger was capable of and never intended to haul for the world championship. The year built upon itself and in the spring, they found themselves leading the $3,000 Novice Division in both PCCHA and NCHA. When the EHV-1 virus hit their barn, they were grounded for
weeks and found themselves $4,000 behind first place. After discus- sion and thought Parri, Jerry, and Al decided they would give it one more shot and headed to Colorado for the summer circuit. Within two shows they had earned another $4,000 pushing them to the lead, therefore inspiring their long trip to Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. On their journey, Roger and Al made 15 trips to the herd and won 13 times. They earned $8,000 that trip which sealed theWorld Championship for them. Al comments, “Roger is a lot of fun to show. He is really smart
and cowy. He has a big stop and it doesn’t matter the situation, I always know he can make a big mark. He proved that at the last show of the year where he marked two 76’s and a 75.” Though Parri wasn’t the one walking down to the show pen, she always took care of Roger. Jerry is a vet and kept him sound the entire year. Based on his remarkable show record, it is obvious that Roger was well-loved and taken care of. “Roger has a heart as big as the state of Texas; always gives you
his best, both in and out of the pen. He is also 15+ hands of total goof! He is very social and nickers to you whenever he hears you coming near his stall. Al has a turnback horse named Mac and he thinks he is his big brother,” recalls Parri. Parri will continue with her dream and show Roger this upcom-
ing year. “I will be showing him in the $50,000 Amateur in 2012 and Al will show him in the Open. Al has set the bar pretty high, but I know we can get ‘er done!”
$5,000 Novice Horse Non Pro Hauling down the road is nothing new for seasoned showman
David Booth. At the young age of 23 David has spent the past five years racking up the miles and numerous championships along the way. Despite all of his success, David had never reached his ultimate goal of being crowned a World Champion. He said, “The pieces never quite came together before, but I knew this year I really had a chance at it.” David’s feeling proved to be true as he accomplished his goal by riding his gelding, Crossing Red River, to the $5,000 Novice Horse Non Pro Championship in both PCCHA and NCHA. Crossing Red River, commonly known as “Red”, is a seven-
year-old He’s a Peptospoonsful gelding. David’s father, Roger, pur- chased Red from the NCHA Futurity Sale at the end of his four-year- old year. He had not been shown very much and Roger thought he would make a nice addition to the Booth’s aged event string of hors- es. David was very successful earning many titles in 2010, including PCCHA Year-End Classic Challenge Champion, PCCHA $200,000 5/6 Non Pro Finalist, El Rancho Aged Event 5/6 Non Pro Finalist, Las Vegas South Point 5/6 Non Pro Finalist, Limited and Gelding Champion. With the hope of hauling Red this year, David held him back
on the weekend circuit in 2010 so he would be eligible for the $5,000 Novice Horse. David started the year strong at the first show of the year in Arizona and never looked back. Throughout the year he made 82 runs and picked up checks 68 times which added up to an impres- sive $43,575 in earnings for the year. David comments, “Red is an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind
horse. He is always accurate and rarely makes mistakes in the show pen”.
In PCCHA, David and Red soared ahead of the competition
beating second place by $24,000. His World Championship race proved to be more difficult. David led the division with a large lead until the EHV-1 virus hit the West Coast early summer and he was forced to take a break from the show season for a few weeks. Fellow cutter, Dan Hanson aboard Play Corn, were quickly catching up but David was never too worried. David stayed on theWest Coast until mid-September when he
made the decision that he would travel eastward in order to maintain his lead. He was neck and neck with Dan up to the last show of the
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