The first rider who walks into the herd for a high stakes championship run can’t help but feeling extra pressure to perform well. Clean cuts are always the goal, but when a rider is first out, putting down an unbeatable score is critical to staying on top of the class.
Rachel Patton made sure she and Hashtag Desire set an untouchable score—221— as the first draw in National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Limited Amateur Finals on Dec. 6, 2022. Their early high score held across 26 entries to win the championship title by seven points, which paid $7,594.
“Going out first was definitely one of the bigger obstacles,” she said. “I was confident in my horse, he worked good all week. I had picked my cows and remember telling Jesse (Lennox) there was one cow I wasn’t going to cut. Of course that was my third cow, it volunteered.”
Hashtag Desire is a 2019 bay stallion and is poised to continue the winning legacy on both sides of his pedigree. He is by Hashtags, the 2013 blue roan stallion who has amassed EquiStat LTE of $485,293, and who has produced offspring who have tallied earnings totaling $86,337.
On the bottom side his dam is the celebrated Playguns Desire (x Playgun), a proven performer and producer. The mare has EquiStat LTE of $124,902 and her offspring have earned just shy of $1 million. Her top winning offspring include the 2006 sorrel mare Reys Desire by Dual Rey who has earned $409,851 and the 2009 red roan stallion Desire a Lil Pepto by Sweet Lil Pepto who has earned $222,786.
“He is one of the most well-tempered, well-behaved studs I’ve seen. He has unbelievable strength, is so smart and it’s exhilarating when you have a horse that is this special,” she said. “I’m excited to keep showing him next year and give a big thank you to my dad for having great horses, my herd help and everyone that is a part of the team.”
Hashtag Desire is owned by the Patton family’s Rocking P Ranch located in Fort Worth, Texas. The ranch is the home of Metallic Cat, Spots Hot and Boon San.
