Cornbread Thinks: Breed ’em all…

The new pony continues to be an emerging dream. Robbie Boyce showed her in the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open, missed the semis by a half-point but made the John Deere Open finals. Needed more cow, but no penalties. They finished 11th for 3,900 some odd dollars. Earning her Certificate of Ability, she is now an official cutting horse.

Afterward, she went to her new home at R.L. Chartier’s, and we are going to Abilene, Cattlemen’s, Ardmore and the NCHA Super Stakes. Would have probably stayed with Robbie, except R.L. is 20 minutes away and Robbie is three hours. I am practicing what I preach, and in this case, it has worked. I well know that it does not always. Doing all we can to bet with the odds has worked well for us.

Cornbread thinks there is nothing to this cutting business, as long as you know everything. The easiest thing to become expert about is breeding. All you have to do is buy about a dozen fillies, have them all trained and learn enough to win $20 or $11,000 on one, breed her six or four times to the neighbor’s great-grandson of Little Peppy out of a Joe Hancock mare, then take the first one to the Big House to win it all. It happens all the time… late at night, after a big meal… in your dreams.

“Bred to cut.” “Got the credentials.” “He’s sure supposed to cut.” You can say that about every single horse entered in the Futurity. People can legit claim anything they want till somebody drops their hand for the first time. This business is a gamble, as is most business, but you can sure improve the odds with diligent effort. First off, it’s all about mare power. Look for layers of mares who have won Open money. Twenty thousand dollars in the Open is like $45,000 in the Non-Pro and/or Amateur. You want a good horse? Then breed for one.

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