Shiney Tari started 2023 as the leading reined cow horse dam in the EquiStat database. Now, she has a new title.
The daughter of Shining Spark is one of the sport’s newest million-dollar producers.
Thanks in large part to the 2023 success of two of her daughters, Shine Smarter and Smart Chic An Tari, the dynamic sorrel mare owned by Aaron Ranch has reached the status of EquiStat Elite $1 Million Dam. The mare out of Tarizana (by Tari’s Catalyst) now has $1,019,442 in progeny earnings, including $929,619 in reined cow horse, $59,331 in cutting, $24,414 in reining — plus money in ranch events.
“We’re super excited and, super proud of her,” said Cresha Aaron, manager of Shiney Tari’s owner, Aaron Ranch. “And, [we’re] super excited for everything that she’s done.”
Shiney Tari’s Leading Ladies
Shiney Tari’s long list of money earners is headed by two outstanding show mares: Shine Smarter and Smart Chic An Tari.
The Carol Rose-bred mare’s leading earner is Shine Smarter (by WR This Cats Smart), an earner of more than $341,637 on her EquiStat record who is still competing — and winning — in the Open Bridle ranks at age 11. Her most lucrative win to date came in March at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where she and Sarah Dawson won the reined cow horse competition at The American Performance Horseman.
Shine Smarter is already a successful broodmare, having produced five money winners who have collectively earned $462,852. Her leading earners are: 2020 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion Selvarey ($238,359, by Dual Rey), NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open fourth-place finisher Juliette Jonez ($124,965, by Travelin Jonez) and multiple NRCHA aged event open finalist Me And Mrs Jonez ($98,459, by Travelin Jonez).
Shiney Tari’s second-leading earner, Smart Chic An Tari ($175,895, by Smart Chic Olena), is also winning in the Open Bridle ranks this year. So far, she and Dawson’s 2023 highlights include an Open Bridle Spectacular win at the NRCHA Western Derby and Open Two-Rein Spectacular Championships at the NRCHA Stallion Stakes and the Western Derby. The mare owned by Aaron Ranch also has foals on the ground, and the ranch has high hopes her foals will add to the family’s accomplishments.
Her third-leading earner is That CD Rocks, a son of CD Lights who won more than $143,337 and was the 2009 NRCHA Stallion Stakes Open and Intermediate Open Champion. He went on to be a sire, fathering the winners of more than $301,670 — including NRCHA Hackamore Classic Intermediate and Limited Open Champion Move That Rock ($65,508) and NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Limited Open and Level 1 Limited Open Champion Shiney Little Rock ($63,748).
Overall, AQHA records show that Shiney Tari’s 22 registered foals were sired by 11 stallions: CD Lights (5), Peptoboonsmal (5), Lenas Wright On (3), Blind Sided (2) and one each by CD Olena , WR This Cats Smart, Hollywoodstinseltown, Smart Chic Olena, Metallic Cat, Playin Stylish and Leo Hancock Hayes.
Fourteen of those became money earners, banking a collective $1,019,442 in EquiStat as of June 25, 2023. That makes for an average of $72,817 per money earner.
Aaron said it doesn’t seem to matter what stallion is paired with Shiney Tari. The mare’s foals always stand out. It was that way with Smart Chic An Tari, and it’s also true with Shine Smarter.
“It doesn’t matter if people come to see her and she’s standing tied in the stall, when you walk into look at her, she’s like, ‘I’m here. Look at me.'”
“I don’t think she knows that she’s as great as she is,” Aaron said. “She’s definitely special and she’s special to us.”
The Future of Shiney Tari’s Legacy
Even though Shiney Tari has crossed the $1 Million mark, she’s still not through as a broodmare. The mare has four AQHA-registered stud colts who were born in 2021 and, according to Cresha Aaron, the hope is to flush more embryos this year to either use or freeze for later use.
Her quartet of 2021 stud colts include two — Shut The Blinds and Blindsided Tari — sired by Aaron Ranch stallion Blind Sided. The third is Rumohr, who is a son of Blind Sided’s sire and fellow Aaron Ranch stallion, EquiStat Elite $28 Million Sire Peptoboonsmal. The fourth, Idolized In Blue, is a blue roan stallion by Leo Hancock Hayes, a well-known son of legendary ranch horse and rodeo sire Blue Valentine.
Shiney Tari has four money earners who have added to her record in 2023: Shine Smarter, Smart Chic An Tari, Boonie Tunes (by Peptoboonsmal) and Outfoxxed (by Peptoboonsmal). They’re always easy to spot, Aaron said.
“They just look like her. It’s hard to explain. They have something about them [in] the way they carry themselves, the way they’re built,” she said. “If you look at [Shiney Tari and Smart Chic An Tari], they’re almost like carbon copies of each other. And even Outfoxxed, even though he’s a roan, you can just see [his mother in] the way he’s built, the way he moves, the way he’s made.”
Currently, Shiney Tari is at Aaron Ranch, where she pals around a paddock with her good friend, Shiners Missy Jay. If the name of her pasture-mate sounds familiar, it’s because she’s another stellar Shining Spark broodmare and the mother of one of the most successful bridle horses in the last decade, the accomplished CD Dee Vee Dee.
“They’re buddies,” Aaron said. “They’ve been together their entire lives and they’re both great mares.”
