NRCHA Celebration of Chmpions
World's Greatest Horseman
In a come-from-behind win, sealed with a 226.5 fence work score, John Swales became the first Canadian to win the World's Greatest Horseman. He rode Heza Diamond Spark to the title.
The 2017 National Reined Cow Horse Associa- tion World’s Greatest Horse- man, held in conjunction with the Celebration of Champions in Fort Worth, Texas, attract- ed one of the largest, most unique set of entries in the event’s history.
Thirty-six
horse and rider combinations ran in an ar- duous quartet of preliminary events: herd work, rein work, steer stopping and fence work. They all craved one of the 10 avail- able finals berths and a clean-slate shot at the title before a sellout crowd in the John Justin Arena on Saturday, February 18. A diverse assortment of riders joined the quest for the $35,000 championship paycheck, part of a total $138,000 payout. The overall purse was up 42 percent over 2016, thanks to a 33 percent growth in en- tries and a $25,000 boost in added money from the World’s Greatest Horseman pre- senting sponsor, DT Horses. When Canadian
professional John
Swales, of Millarville, Alberta, guided Heza Diamond Spark (Diamond J Star x Sheza Shinette x Shining Spark), to the World’s Greatest Horseman Champion- ship, he became the first non-American rid- er to win the title. Heza Diamond Spark is a 2005 stallion owned by Jesse and Elyse Thomson of 7P Ranch, High River, Alberta, Canada.
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. It’s pret- ty unreal,” Swales said, immediately fol- lowing the win.
The tight-knit Canadian reined cow horse community claimed Swales’ triumph as further validation that their country’s horses and trainers belong among the NR- CHA elite. “It went as planned. It’s fantastic,”
Jesse Thomson said. “It should open some eyes that Canada does have some nice horses, and some good horsemen, kicking around up here.”
Jesse and Elyse Thomson bought
their World’s Greatest champion horse in a somewhat unlikely way: through public auction. They had wanted to own “Sting” for years, and when previous owner, Dr. Michael Garver, was phasing out of the horse business, he consigned the stallion to the February 2014 Billings Livestock Com- mission Horse Sale in Billings, Montana. The Thomsons were ready to snatch him up, paid a sale-topping $45,000, and promptly put Heza Diamond Spark to work, under saddle and in the breeding shed. “We had watched this horse his whole life. He was always a superstar, everywhere we had seen him,” Thomson, a professional reined cow horse trainer, said. “When you watch that horse, any-body will tell you, he’s got a presence about him, whether it be roping or showing or just standing in the barn. What we were looking for in a stud was that presence. We wanted the ‘wow’ factor, and that horse has it.”
The Reserve Champion was Luke
Jones, Allerton, Iowa, in the World’s Great- est Horseman Finals for the first time in his career aboard Tommy Boon (Thomas E Hughes x Chitas Blue Boon x Duals Blue Boon), a 2011 mare owned by Wayne Han- son, Creston, Iowa. w
April 2017 SouthWest Horse Trader 7
Swales
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