Chandler Daddino & Mister PBR. • Photo by Primo Morales.

Daddino & Mister PBR Are Dynamite At NRCHA Derby

When Chandler Daddino made the jump into limited-aged events, she knew she was going to need a special reined cow horse to help her make the transition.

Mister PBR was just the horse.

A solid team for the past two seasons, the 2013 gelding (Mister Smart Remedy x Shes A Daisy x Smart Little Pepinic) and Daddino pulled off their biggest win Friday afternoon when they landed the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Derby Amateur Championship.

“It’s a whole different ballgame. There was just so much to learn and I’m still learning and he’s still learning, so it was a huge adjustment,” Daddino explained, of the move from the bridle to derby ranks. “But, I love every day of it and I love learning new things. He takes good care of me, so he’s made it easy for me to adjust.”

They took the title in the event’s preliminary rounds with a composite of 628 (201 herd/211 rein/216 cow), which also qualified them for the Novice Non-Pro finals.

It was their second NRCHA premier event in a row. In March, Daddino showed the horse at the NRCHA Stakes in Las Vegas, Nevada. It didn’t go as she’d hoped, so she buckled down and worked hard in anticipation of the Derby in Paso Robles, California.

“I wanted the experience of being in the arena and getting better, so it was decided to go to the Derby,” she said, adding they planned to go to the Derby regardless of how they finished at the Stakes. “I just put more effort and I dedicated more of my time to getting better and practicing on all kinds of different cows and learning a lot, and preparing myself for the Derby.”

The win earned $1,904 for Daddino, pushing her Equi-Stat record to slightly more than $7,000 and her horse’s to more than $12,800. The gelding was bred by Daddino’s trainer, Monica Caetano, of Lemoore, California.

Originally from Clovis, California, Daddino grew up riding trail horses. She didn’t frequent horse shows, and found the sport of cow horse while looking for a reining horse to ride in a rodeo queen contest. She’s been hooked ever since, and credited her success to her support crew, especially her parents, Keith and Chanda; her trainer, Caetano; and everyone at the training barn.

“I’d like to thank my parents, first of all, for supporting me and traveling around with me and just being there for me and encouraging me,” she said. “And, also I’d like to thank my trainer, Monica. She has pushed me and devoted so much of her time to me, because she wants me to get better and she can see in me the desire to get better so she’s really helped me along the way.”

Reserve Champions Stacy Duesterhaus and ISR The Last Won marked a 625.5 (210 herd/203.5 rein/212 cow). It earned them a paycheck of $1,523. Bred by Duesterhaus, the 2013 mare (Little Cielo x Miel Classic Tejon x Mr San Olen) is owned by Stacy and Brendan Duesterhaus, of Lemoore, California.

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