Alannah Chalmers was mildly subdued following her win in the Kit Kat Sugar National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Kit Kat Sugar Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro April 13. She had been a little discouraged before coming into the finals, and she also missed her mom, Julie Hansma. Hansma, who suffered a traumatic brain injury last October while at a cutting, was one of her biggest cheerleaders.
“She’s getting better every day,” said Chalmers, of Weatherford, Texas. “It’s a long road. It’s been a long six months, but we’re seeing some improvement. I wish she were here, and I know she’d be proud. She’ll be here again.”
Even so, Chalmers must have channeled some of the positive vibes she would have received from her mother as she rode first in the herd aboard Metallic Made (Metallic Cat x Madelena x Smart Little Lena), as the duo went on to score a 221 — a score that would not be topped for the rest of the evening.
The petite sorrel mare, also known as “Bubbles,” joined the Hansma stables from Rose Valley Ranch in September 2018. The road to this win, the biggest of Bubbles’ career, wasn’t always easy.
“She’s been a little tough because she’s been a little wild,” Chalmers explained. “But she’s always wanted to do her job, if you can contain her wildness a little bit, and she has a fun personality. But I guess the good ones are always a little wild.”
Wild or not, the ride was dynamic enough to add $8,672 to Chalmers’ more than $170,000 in earnings and boosted Bubbles’ earnings to more than $13,000. The win itself was a pleasant surprise to Chalmers.
“I didn’t do very well yesterday in the second go of the Non-Pro, so I was little discouraged,” Chalmers said. “But I tried to go in with a clean slate today. I was nervous going first because I usually don’t drive up enough. But my help had three really good cows for me, so she settled in and got better throughout the run.”
Chalmers will head north to Tulsa with the mare for the Breeder’s Invitational shortly, with plans to include her in the NCHA Summer Spectacular later in the summer.
Taking the reserve spot and adding $8,160 to his more than $100,000 in lifetime earnings was Scott Chartier, also of Weatherford, who scored a 218.5 aboard Pharrell (High Brow Cat X Ricochets Chick x Smart Lil Ricochet). The paycheck upped the gelding’s earnings to more than $17,000.
