A Lil Dab Will Do & Robert ChownThe Junior Working Cow Horse finals kicked off on Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Fifteen teams qualified to compete in the finals with hopes of capturing a portion of the $49,336 purse.
Gainesville, Texas rider Robert Chown was sixth to work in the finals aboard A Lil Dab Will Do (Cat Man Do x Dainty Little Step x Wimpys Little Step), owned by L & K Barker Family Trust, of Whitesboro, Texas. After impressive rein work, Chown and the gelding easily handled the cow down the fence.
“He was just maybe a tick late on that left turn going down the fence, but then went and inhaled that sucker going right. There’s cows you can’t win on, but it’s that horse’s job to make that a better cow,” said Chown.
Their combined score of 444.5 (223.5 rein/221 cow) secured the 2014 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Junior Working Cow Horse World Championship. Chown has had A Lil Dab Will Do since last October. Although A Lil Dab Will Do was purchased to be shown in reined cow horse events, Chown showed him at the 2013 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity, where they earned $4,197.
Accoriding to Equi-Stat, Chown has lifetime earnings of $714,338, while A Lil Dab Will Do has earned $11,293.
“We have long-term plans with this horse. We plan on showing this horse for a long time and so he’s being built. That’s a very exciting thing for me,” he said. “He’s doing his job and he loves it. He’s healthy, he’s sound, so let’s go horse show!”
Senior Working Cow Horse
Spursuasion (Ray Gay Quixote x Mist N Smoke x Doc Tom Tucker), owned by Lindsay Wadhams, of Pueblo, Colorado, can add another World Championship to his already impressive resume. Shadd Parkinson, of Scottsdale, Arizona, piloted Spursuasion the 2001 gelding to mark a combined score of 441.5 (218 rein/ 223.5 cow) and win the Senior Working Cow Horse finals.
Bred by Debra or Dorn Parkinson, of Prescott, Arizona, Spursuasion had lifetime earnings of $157,332 prior to the AQHA World Show. This season, he added to those earnings by winning the Open Bridle at the 2014 National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity with Parkinson in the saddle. At last year’s AQHA World Championship show, the gelding carried his owner to a World Championship in Amateur Reining.
Spursuasion and Wadhams competed in the Amateur Working Cow Horse, finishing third.
Amateur Working Cow Horse
The Amateur Working Cow Horse finals were held on Nov. 14. After a work-off, one horse-and-rider team rose above the rest and received the World Champion title in the Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City.
Ima Chic Please (Chic Please x Smokums Chex Mint x Smokum Oak) carried Meryl Reber, of Kent, Washington, to mark a combined score of 435 in the finals. The duo earned a 212 in the rein work, but they really shined in the cow work, marking a scorching 223. After a tough work-off against Reserve Champions Amy Lund and The Big Day (Smart Little Lena x Olena Day x Doc O’lena), Ima Chic Please and Reber were crowned the 2014 AQHA Amateur Working Cow Horse World Champions.
Reber and her gelding started posting checks to Equi-Stat in 2011. They recently won the Non-Pro Bridle at the 2014 National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) World Championship Show. This boosted Ima Chic Please’s lifetime earnings to $81,945. According to Equi-Stat, Reber’s three-year working cow horse career has netted $31,652.
Lund and The Big Day took home Reserve Champion honors after marking a 217 in the rein work and a 218 in the cow work during their finals run.
According to Equi-Stat, Lund has earned $38,927 during her career in multiple equine disciplines, including western pleasure. The Big Day has an Equi-Stat record of $44,813.
