In the Blood

Game On Smooth has shown consistency in his young career for owner Mike Schraeder and trainer T. J. Good. Schraeder and the horse made the finals of the Limited Non-Pro at the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity; Good and Game On Smooth made the 4-Year-Old Open finals at the Abilene Spectacular.

The World’s Greatest Horseman competition wrapped up on Feb. 18 with Canadian John Swales earning the Championship on Heza Diamond Spark. Swales and Heza Diamond Spark worked their way to a composite score of 874, which included the top score of 222.5 in the rein work and the top score of 226.5 in the fence work. Swales was rewarded with the $35,000 winner’s check.

Reyzurbetsonthiscat locked down his second Open win in January when he won the Ike Derby on Jan. 31. He scored a 223 with Equi-Stat Elite $2 Million Rider Craig Thompson in the saddle. The first win came when Thompson and Reyzurbetsonthiscat won the Augusta Futurity 4-Year-Old Open 10 days earlier.

The 2016 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Non-Pro World Championship was won by Gina Schumacher and Gotta Nifty Gun, who earned $21,754. Schumacher’s father, Michael, is a European race car legend. Her mother, Corrina, established CS Ranch in Switzerland and XCS Ranch in Texas, both of which specialize in reining horses. Schumacher and Gotta Nifty Gun started competing together in 2015, the year they won the Austrian High Class Reining Maturity Non-Pro. Gotta Nifty Gun has earnings of $60,399, according to Equi-Stat.

Cattys Hope and Equi-Stat Elite $2 Million Rider Michael Cooper got the 2017 show season off to a good start with a win in the Abilene Spectacular 4-Year-Old Open. They earned more than $38,000, which included the stallion incentive bonus of $10,000 as the highest-placing eligible horse, for their score of 225. This gives Cattys Hope an Equi-Stat record of more than $133,280, much of which was earned with a sixth-place finish in the 2016 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open.

2016 NCHA Futurity Open Champions Second Spot and Matt Gaines • Photo by Kelsey PecsekMatt Gaines has an Equi-Stat record of $7.8 million earned in National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Open competition, making him the leading open rider of all-time. Despite his success, he had never won the NCHA Futurity Open. That came to an end on Dec. 10, when he rode Second Spot to a score of 229, earning the elusive title of NCHA Futurity Open Champion. They earned $225,395 for Second Spot's owners and breeders Gary and Shannon Barker, of Madill, Oklahoma.

Spooky Whiz & Andrea Fappani • Photo by Kelsey PecsekWhen Spooky Whiz and Equi-Stat Elite $4 Million Rider Andrea Fappani won the 2016 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity Level 4 Open on Dec. 3, they wrote their names in history as the winners of the 50th renewal of the NRHA’s premier event. They did it in good style by scoring a 225.5 and earning the guaranteed winner’s check of $150,000 for owner Rancho Oso Rio LLC.

Kobie and Paula Wood’s Donas Suen Boon was recently named the World Champion Senior Cutting Horse at the Lucas Oil American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) World Championship Show in Oklahoma City. The title adds to a long list of accolades for the mare, who has built an Equi-Stat record of $351,125 with Kobie, an Equi Stat Elite $5 Million Rider, and non-pro Paula, an Equi-Stat Elite $2 Million Rider. The success of this mare has truly been a family affair not only for this family of cutters, but for her pedigree family, as well.

Stylish Whizard and rider Luke Jones have been busy with three futurity wins this fall. The latest win came in the Colorado Reined Cowhorse Association (CRCA) Futurity Open, where they earned $2,668. Their previous wins came in the South Dakota Reined Cow Horse Association Rode to Reno Stallion Stakes Futurity and the North Central Working Western Futurity Open.