When Metallic Train entered the John Justin Arena during the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Open Hackamore finals on Feb. 20, she already had more than $130,000 to her name. She added another $9,000 to that total after carrying Clayton Edsall to the World title with a composite 442.5 (222 rein/220.5 cow).
“She was fantastic. She’s got a big motor and she’s got a lot of stop and turn and style, so I just tried to stay out of her way best I could and let her do her deal,” Edsall said.
From the eighth draw — out of 10 finalists — Edsall and “Coco” landed the highest scores in the rein and cow work. Edsall spent the first part of the class warming up and so wasn’t sure how the runs before him had gone, although he knew Boyd Rice and Quahadi had a decent run. Bet Lucky 13 and Todd Crawford’s run right after Edsall’s also added to the pressure.
Ultimately, Rice and Quahadi placed third, and Crawford and Bet Lucky 13 took Reserve. Coco’s score topped the class by 5 points.
The World Championship put an exclamation mark on Coco’s 2018 show year. During that time, she and Edsall were Reserve in the NRCHA Cow Horse Classic Derby Intermediate Open, won the NRCHA Stallion Stakes Open and Intermediate Open, were Reserve in the NRCHA Derby Intermediate Open, won Open Hackamore classes at the National Stock Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity and Reno Snaffle Bit Futurity, and took Reserve in an Intermediate Open Hackamore class at the NRCHA Hackamore Classic.
The mare, who is by Equi-Stat Elite $24 Million Sire Metallic Cat, is the highest-earner out of the Shining Spark mare Sparking Train. She is a half-sister to $111,000-plus earner Bet He Sparks (by Bet Hesa Cat), among others. Beverly Vaughn, of Durango, Colorado, owns Coco, who was bred by Cottonwood Springs Ranch.
“I love her. I think the world of her,” Edsall said of the mare. “She’s got a lot of try and she’s just got so much ability. She’s usually pretty sweet and she’s just pretty easy to get along with.”
Now that the mare has a World title, she’s going to get some time off, and Edsall said they’re going to pull some embryos.
“Depending on when we get her back, we’ll maybe two-rein her a little bit, and I plan on bringing her here for the World’s Greatest [Horseman] next year,” he said. “We started roping on her a little bit and putting her in the bridle, so hopefully we will be able to do that.”
