One hundred and fifty derby non-pro entrants rode into the Virginia Horse Center Coliseum in Lexington, Virginia, for the North American Reining Stakes (NARS), vying for their piece of the $630,000 in added money. Thirty-seven of those entries entered up in the NARS Derby Level 4 Non-Pro, and it was Lisa Bissell who came out on top, riding Ruf N Trashy Chic to a 221 on Thursday, July 22.
Bissell and the mare also won a plethora of other titles — the NARS Level 3 Non-Pro; Leonard Truck & Trailer Derby Levels 4, 3 and Prime Time Non-Pro; and the Non-Pro and Prime Time Non-Pro ancillary classes. Altogether, they brought home checks worth $16,565.
“She was unbelievably good,” Bissell said. “She was just on target. On my left lead stop, when I rolled back and saw that set of tracks, I was just like, ‘Oh my gosh! That was as good as it felt!’ In all my years of showing reiners, I’ve never had a horse stop for me three times like she did. It was incredible.”
Bissell said Ruf N Trashy Chic (by Not Ruf At All), a 5-year-old homebred mare, is very similar to her dam, Trashy Chic Dreams. That mare, who is by Dreamn Bout Chics, carried Bissell and her husband, Jamie, through the show pen, too. Jamie also trained Trashy Chic Dreams’ dam, Glendas Smoken Trash. All three mares have been big circlers and turners, and Ruf N Trashy Chic adds a huge stop to those talents, Bissell said.
Earlier this year, Bissell and the mare won Level 3 and were Reserve in Level 4 at the Tennessee Reining Horse Association Spinning In The Rein show, but otherwise, Bissell has mostly stayed off the mare. Having that familiarity with her family line helps her sync up quickly every time she steps on.
“It was almost like riding her mom in there,” Bissell said of her NARS run. “You just put your hand down and stay out of her way. I think it was the ride of my life.”
Bissell was excited to win several prizes on top of her checks, including a golf cart. She thanked the sponsors for making it all possible; show management for putting on a great show; her mom, Dell Jackson, for watching and supporting her; the Bissells’ farrier, Dale DePriest; and her friend, Kim Vanderledge, for keeping her head straight at the show. Additionally, she thanked Jamie for doing a great job prepping her mare for her.
“He knows how I show and how I ride, and he’s really good at making them easy for me,” Bissell said. “He knows where I’m weak and where they’re strong. He just puts it together for me, and I couldn’t do it without him.”
On top of her success with Ruf N Trashy Chic, Bissell also won the 8 & Up Maturity Level 4 Non-Pro on Double My Chics (Dreamn Bout Chics x Double My Quixote x Double R Doc), a 12-year-old homebred gelding, garnering another $847.
Shootin Guns (Guns R For Shootin x Crome Plated Lady x Custom Crome) and Ryan Humphrey’s 220 landed the NARS Level 4 Reserve Championship, which came with a $3,502 check. Humphrey and the homebred mare were also Reserve in the Leonard’s Truck and Trailer Derby Level 4 Non-Pro for an additional $1,802.
