horse and rider and cow
Sydney Davis & Bobbys Playgun

Sydney Davis and Bobbys Playgun Snag Non-Pro Hackamore World Championship

The Non-Pro Hackamore kicked off the World Champion finals on Wed. Feb. 20. Ten finalists went through the arena, and the last ones, Sydney Davis and Bobbys Playgun, rode to the highest cow work score — a 218 — and topped the class overall with their composite 428.

Davis, 16, was especially thrilled with the result, as she had only purchased Bobbys Playgun in August 2018. The duo qualified for the World show in only a few short months even though Davis had never ridden in a hackamore before.

“We got him and he was at this age, so I was like, I might as well try it while I have a horse this age that’s this cool,” Davis said.

She credited “Remington,” or “Remi’s,” stops during the reining pattern for helping the duo score a 210 during that part of the run. In the cow work, she said, “he just eats up a cow.”

“He gave his whole heart, and he just put it all out there,” she said of the gelding (Bobby Starlight x Handle It Playgun x Playgun), who was bred by John Semanik. “Honestly, it didn’t set in until I was done [with my run]. I was just hoping to put it all together.”

Davis, of Lapoint, Utah, has ridden with trainer Zeph Schulz for the past two-three years. Prior to the Celebration, she had earnings of less than $3,000.

“He [Schulz] got me started in the reined cow horse. I had never done it before,” Davis said. “I started English, and then I just got into rodeo.”

Davis and Remi collected $3,768 for their win. Remi received plenty of hugs from his rider, who considers him her buddy.

“He’s a goof,” the high school junior said. “He’s so sweet, my best friend.”

With college looming on the horizon, Davis is considering studying something to do with engineering. In the meantime, however, she plans to keep riding reined cow horses, and she thanked her mom, step-dad and “everybody back home” for their parts in her success.