The National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) has placed Janie Vogel, former partner in and eventual owner of NCHA Futurity Open Champion Stevie Rey Von, on probation for three years for allegedly violating Non-Pro rules. Vogel denied wrongdoing.
Officials said in August the Fort Worth, Texas-based organization’s NCHA Non-Professional/Amateur Review Committee found that Vogel, of Saint Jo, Texas, aided and abetted a violation of NCHA Standing Rule 51.a.4, which requires holders of amateur or non-pro cards face discipline if they compete aboard a horse owned by someone other than themselves or a family member.
She was placed on three years of probation after the finding. A statement provided by Interim NCHA Executive Director Lewis Wray to Quarter Horse News after inquiring about the disciplinary action did not say when or how the violation occurred.
However, Vogel said she was sanctioned because children of her former trainer, Ed Dufurrena, competed in Non-Pro classes on horses she and her husband, Don, bought 49 percent of in a partnership with the Dufurrenas in 2011. The trainer’s daughter, Rieta, won the NCHA Futurity Limited Non-Pro on Stevie Rey Von the same year her father rode the red roan stallion to victory in the Futurity Open.
The Vogels later sued Dufurrena, and bought Stevie Rey Von outright as part of an out-of-court settlement. He was later sold to Fults Ranch Ltd, which has campaigned him successfully this year in limit-age cuttings.
Vogel believes she didn’t do anything wrong, saying she trusted her trainer and didn’t knowingly violate the association’s regulations. She had limited experience in cutting and said the horses in the partnership were put into the Dufurrenas’ names without her knowledge.
“I didn’t know what ‘non-pro’ is,” Vogel said in a phone interview. “I had heard it, but I didn’t know the rules and regulations on it.”
Dufurrena, Rieta and Dufurrena’s son, Brandon, also were sanctioned by the NCHA for violating non-pro rules. Each was suspended, fined and ordered to serve additional probation after their suspensions.
Vogel does not intend to appeal, saying she simply wants to move on from the incident. The NCHA said there are no additional pending disciplinary matters in the Dufurrena-Vogel case.
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