Eric and Katherine Van Boekel
Eric Van Boekel was originally a team penner. There was just something about that feeling when a horse gets a hold of a cow. He then started riding with Randy Chartier in 2003 and ventured into the cutting horse scene.
The obvious next step for Van Boekel was to buy his own cutting horse. He tried to do both sports together but it started to get complicated because one sport was offensive and one was defensive. He picked cutting.
Total Earnings: $6,000,000
Tim Smith has amassed over six million dollars in lifetime earnings. Smith attended college for a year on a basketball scholarship in Minnesota. After getting injured, he joined his brother Mike, who was a cutting horse trainer in California. Smith quickly developed a passion for cutting.
Other than his brother, the only other person Smith worked for was Bill Martin, a cutting horse trainer in Southern California.
Brad Langenberg
Horses have a way of touching our hearts in the darkest of times. The bond that can be created with a horse is true and authentic. Who isn’t touched by a nicker from their favorite horse? Or when the horse follows you freely? Many horse lovers use time in the barn as a therapeutic way of coping with whatever life throws their way.
People have been using the powerful bond with equines as therapy for addiction. They are forgiving, honest animals that bring so much joy to people. Whether it’s their incredible athletic ability, their personality, and/or that ability to connect with people, they touch us in ways that are hard to define and their impact can be life changing.
What are the benefits of hay cubes?
* Reduced Feed Waste
* Controlled Feed Intake
* Consistent Nutrient Content
* Reduced Dust
* Easy to Travel With
Levi and Miss Cheekacat
Growing up rodeoing, Levi Price has always loved the western lifestyle. The summer before he started high school he got a job with a cutting horse trainer 10 miles from home. It did not take Price long to fall in love with the sport.
Later, he attended college on a rodeo scholarship at Conners State College where he almost finished his Animal Science degree. After college, he worked for Ed Dufurrena’s as his two year old trainer for more than two years in Gainesville, TX.
His favorite memory is the night Stevie Rey Von won the NCHA Futurity in 2015; he had been at Dufurrena’s for about a year. It was a great experience for Price to see the horse work everyday and watch it pay off claiming the coveted title. He said they were all very inspired to get back to work after that big night!
Total Earnings: $4,429,007
Phil Hanson’s dad, Phil Sr., was a performance horse trainer so he grew up riding and being involved in the industry. As a kid he had summer jobs building houses and later pursued a degree in Architectural Drafting and Design from Phoenix Institute of Technology. The housing market wasn’t doing well when he graduated so after having no luck finding a job, he turned to training horses.
It was meant to be, with Hanson having gone on to win all of the Triple Crown events and more. In the beginning, when his cutting horse training business was getting off the ground, he would work horses and then draft house designs.
“…this change was out of necessity. The summer show entries were up more than 30 percent, and we were obligated to find new ways to help accelerate the show’s pace…” said McCarthy.
Showing a horse in the famed Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum at Fort Worth, TX, is the holy grail of experiences for most cutting horse competitors. It’s a tradition that goes back some 54 years to 1967. Not only does the coliseum have legendary status, it’s an arena cutters’ love for the way it allows them to work cows.
Built in 1936, its design was ahead of its time. But it has not been without its faults. One of the greatest frustrations for riders has been the use of one gate to let in both the cows and competitors. This meant everyone was locked in the arena until each set had been completed which took approximately 90 minutes. It made a long day even longer and came with the danger of riders missing their run if they missed the gate.
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Total Earnings: $1,546,036
When Allen Crouch was seven years old he happened to move across the street from a huge cutting operation in Kentucky owned by non-pro rider, Ronnie Titsworth. He loved hanging out at the barn where Titsworth would give him jobs to do around the ranch. That soon blossomed into a great friendship. Titsworth would take Crouch to cuttings and let Crouch show his horses.
Katy and Kitty Hawks Marie Photo by Ann Mulchay Photography
Katy Rosane participated in the Reno Rodeo cattle drive three years ago and thought chasing cows was a blast. The following year she was preparing to retire and decided she wanted a horse.
She attended a clinic given by a cutting horse trainer. The clinic ended up being cancelled but Rosane was already there and got talking with the clinician. Keep On Reading!
Michael starts his clinics with a classroom session to find out participant’s challenges and goals.
There are really good riders, really good showmen, good trainers and good educators and it’s very rare that you find one that is all four. Michael Cooper is all four.
That’s according to Sheila King, who came from Tennessee to watch Cooper give a two day clinic put on by Cutting Horse Training Online at Weatherford, TX on July 3-4 at Stormy Cutting and Cattle Ranch.
Becky and Cat A Rally Photo by Suzanne Sylvester Photography
One day, after watching her daughter cut, Becky Calabria thought, ‘I can’t sit in these stands anymore!’ She had a horse brought to the show so she could ride around and see her daughter compete. She then started going to the barn with her daughter to practice on a cutting horse. From that first time on a flag and cow, she decided cutting was the sport for her.
Total Earnings: $3,181,574
Todd Bimat learned about cutting from his dad. And at 17 years old, he went to work for Leon Harrell for a summer. He always wanted to be a cutting horse trainer and his love for the sport continued to grow as he gained experience. At 18 he went to college briefly but then an opportunity opened up when Harrell’s full time help got hurt. Bimat said he threw all of his stuff in his truck, headed to Harrell’s and never looked back.
A WCHA show at Ardmore, OK.
Have you ever wanted to host your own local cutting show? It might not be as daunting as you think. But whether it’s big or small, there are definitely some steps you need to take to make a show happen.
“It’s a simultaneous combustion that happens that lets you have a show,” said experienced show producer Dee McLauchlin. McLauchlin is a show secretary for multiple shows in Texas and Oklahoma.
“I have the world’s best sandbox and everybody comes and plays in it,” McLaughlin said laughing.
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JW Brooks Custom Hat Company provides quality handmade custom hats to fit exactly as the customer wishes. JW Brooks offers first class custom service. If you want the best hat in the business, check them out.
JW Brooks Custom Hat Co. is conveniently located in Lipan, Texas.
J.W. Brooks was born in Durango, Colorado and raised on the ranch lands of Colorado and Wyoming. He believes that it was this lifestyle that instilled in him the desire to preserve the country lifestyle and western heritage. From a very young age, it became apparent that J.W. was destined to become an ARTIST.
At the ripe old age of ten, J.W. illustrated a children’s book and by the time he graduated high school, he was being commissioned for his western art. In 1994, J.W. was the youngest artist commissioned to render Phoenix, Arizona’s “Rodeo of Rodeos” rodeo lithograph. Phoenix later asked J.W. to be the featured artist again in 1996 and 1997.
In 2004, he was honored again by Scottsdale, Arizona’s Parada Del Sol Rodeo to be their featured artist. In 1991, J.W. was hired by legendary hat maker, Kevin O’Farrell, owner of O’Farrell Hat Company, on a hunch that J.W.’s artistic hand would lend itself naturally to the crafting of a cowboy hat. He was right! It was during his apprenticeship under Mr. O’Farrell that J.W. realized a sense of pride and accomplishment in producing pieces of wearable art that stemmed from his own western heritage.
If you own a custom cowboy hat by J.W., you’re in good company. J.W. has been the custom hat maker of choice for many professional cowboys as well as actors and entertainers. In addition to handcrafting cowboy hats and drawing western art, J.W. has gained popularity as a country western singer. In 2004, J.W. entered and won the Arizona regional competition which propelled him to the top 15 contenders to be considered for CMT’s televised “Nashville Star.”
Shortly thereafter, J.W. joined the house band at the famous country western bar, Mr. Lucky’s where he had the honor of singing on the very stage where legends had sang before him, such as Waylon Jennings, Charlie Pride, J. David Sloan, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and many others. You can listen to J.W. at JWbrooksmusic.
Travis Stewart looks at two year olds like an artist looks at a blank canvas.They have limited experience with people so he can mold them into what he thinks they need to be to succeed in their performance careers. While Stewart has been focused on two year olds, he does get to show on occasion to complete the picture. He truly enjoys the day to day process of training at home.
He attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, in California where he earned his Animal Science degree. It was there he discovered the performance horse world, which soon replaced his plans for vet school. Stewart is also a talented painter and sculptor in his free time.
