RPietrafeso

NCHA Vice Presidential Candidates Announced

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) announced Ron Pietrafeso and Phil Rapp have been selected for the 2016 NCHA vice presidential election.

RPietrafesoRon Pietrafeso • Photo courtesy of Ron PietrafesoRon Pietrafeso, who sits on the youth committee and is a director for Region 1, posted his first check as a rider to Equi-Stat in 1997. The former Denver police officer, who met Elvis Presley while working security, traveled with the “King” on tours. Since then, the Elbert, Colorado, resident has traded concerts for cuttings, amassing lifetime earnings of $6,060 in Non-Pro and Amateur weekend events.

Pietrafeso and his wife, Adrienne Pietrafeso, have three daughters – Nicole, Jessica and Gianna – who all compete successfully in cutting. Together the family owns Missing Creek Ranch, which is named after the couple’s first cutting horse, Missin A Gun (Young Gun x Imagine Missy x Boon Bar). As of early February, the Pietrafesos’ Equi-Stat owner record has climbed to more than $267,000, and their breeder record reflects more than $248,000.

PRappPhil RappEqui-Stat Elite $9 Million Rider Phil Rapp and his wife, Mary Ann Rapp, have bred horses that have amassed more than $7 million. At the top of that résumé is cutting’s all-time leading mare, 2011 NCHA Horse of the Year Dont Look Twice (High Brow Cat x Tapt Twice x Dual Pep), whose lifetime earnings total more than $845,000. As owners, the Rapps have laid claim to earners of $8.8 million.

Among Rapp’s most recent accomplishments as a competitor are the 2015 NCHA Super Stakes Open Co-Championship and the 2015 American Quarter Horse Association Senior Cutting Reserve World Championship. These successes and a long list of other accolades have contributed to the Weatherford, Texas, trainer’s status as cutting’s highest-earning rider of all time.

More information on the two vice presidential candidates will appear in an upcoming issue of Quarter Horse News. According to the NCHA, ballots with background information on the candidates will be sent by mail and email to all NCHA members no later than April 30. Those ballots are due to the NCHA office by midnight on June 13, and the votes will be tabulated the following day.

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