You could say Lance Cooper was a star of the 2018 Super Stakes after winning two titles in less than a week and making a third final. Lance dominated the Ltd Non Pro Derby Championship on Zen And Tonic with an impressive 224!
The 17-year-old told CHTO’s Simone Cobb he just loves showing that mare! Reserve Champ was awarded to Alexa Dahl with a 218.5 on Playsomethingsmooth.
It was an exciting Non Pro Derby final that saw Megan Miller and Chad Bushaw share the title at the 2018 Super Stakes. Chad marked a 222 on Bittersweet in the first set, a score matched by Megan on Carolena Reyn in the second set. Chad told CHTO”s Simone Cobb he’s hopeful of winning the Triple Crown after also taking out the Non Pro Futurity title on the same horse. Meanwhile Megan told Simone she was proud to win in the Will Rogers on a horse she raised.
The Perfect Penalty
The saying is true, if you want something bad enough you’ve got to get creative and creative is the exact word I’d use for trainer Casey Crouch and his technique to train bad habits out of his clients. They call it the “Hot Quit Bottle,” and it roots back to 2015.
“It started actually right here at the futurity. We showed the colt here at the futurity and I hot quit in the first go around,” Crouch said. “It was a walking hot quit. I’ll go to my grave-I did not hot quit the cow, but they got me for it! Anyway, before it was all said and done, Joe had hot quit twice on this horse here at the futurity.”
It wasn’t until the horse was showed again in Batesville, Mississippi, that the whole bottle ordeal began.
Watch the full interview below, or continue reading …
“We get to Batesville and I have a pretty good run the first day and they have an R on one of my runs and it was for a quit and it was good,” Crouch said. “Anyway my wife got a little excited, she’s a big part of this the whole deal, so she got a little excited and we had several questionable quits and about the third day I Hott Quit won, and when I walked out of the arena I could see fire blowing out her ears I knew she was a little upset.”
“Everything settles and I go to work some horses for my amateurs and what not and everybody’s kind of laughing you know, ha ha-ing about it in the practice pen and here she comes and she walks up and everybody gets quiet,” Crouch said. “And we’re sitting there and she says, ‘if any one of you hot quit again I’m going to explode, I’m gonna have it out on you.’ So it becomes a big joke. So then we decided were going to have a hot quit bottle.”
Ever since that day the hot quit bottle is a five-dollar penalty for Crouch and his clients, however, Crouch claims that it isn’t humiliating to pay into the bottle, but actually ‘softens the blow,’ so to speak.
“We take it very seriously but by the same token you gotta enjoy it,” Crouch said. “You gotta enjoy what you’re doing and one time in particular as the year went if somebody even questioned it they’d come out laughing digging in their pocket, ‘I’m in.’”
Crouch’s unique way to put a quit on hot quits has touched more people than those just in his program and has made a positive impact on others.
“We were at Dripping Springs, Texas and there was a lady there and she had a pretty nice run and she hot quit, she’s not in my barn but I help her a lot and what not, anyway she hot quit a cow and had a really nice run,” Crouch said. “And this is one time that really stands out, she was very disgusted and really upset with herself and as we’re walking out of the pen I ride up beside her and I told her she owes me five bucks. And she looks at me and she’s not sure what to say at that moment and then about that time she goes to smiling and she says, ‘thank you so much,’ it just softened everything.”
When speaking with Crouch, it was early in the day that they had agreed to open, count and spend the money in the bottle, so what did they spend it on exactly?
“We haven’t decided what we’re going to do with it yet. That’ll come today sometime, but several people have put in several times, myself included,” Crouch said. “We gotta come up with what we’re doing. Maybe a big party, it might be a big one from the looks of the bottle.”
An emotional Kobie Wood thanked his wife, loper and turnback team with much gratitude, showing the mark of the man, after taking out the Derby Championship at the 2018 Super Stakes. A crowd favorite, Kobie rode Cool N Hot to dominate with a 227, well ahead of the field by 4 and half points. Beau Galyean won Reserve on Rollz Royce with a 222.5 Kobie told CHTO’s Simone Cobb, it took him 40 years to win the Derby title and did it on a horse he bred by Hottish.
At just 17 years old, Lance Cooper has dominated the Limited Open Derby Final at the 2018 Super Stakes. Lance rode Zen And Tonic to mark a 223 first out in the final to win by 6 points! He told CHTO’s Simone Cobb he was thrilled to win his second major title, after the successful pair tied for first in the Limited Non Pro Futurity last December. Garrett Hampton earned Reserve Champ title on Merlott, scoring a 217.
More often than not, lopers come and go, but Kellee Clarke has turned loping into a satisfying career thanks to her hard work, willingness to take on new challenges and interestingly, finding an outlet for her creativity.
An Australian native, Clarke moved to the States to work with horses where for the last eight years she has been loping for John Mitchell at the Slate River Ranch. With a passion for learning and a drive for taking on more responsibility, Clarke juggles loping, running the barn and managing the ranch office while starting up her own business.
“I wanted to make leather handbags and do them all by hand,” Clarke said. “When I grew up rodeoing, I made all my own shirts..so I’ve always had this creative thing going on.”
After purchasing all the materials, Clarke found that she never had the time to actually start.
Brumby Necklace
“One week I got so mad at myself because John’s wife, Hope kept asking, ‘have you made a bag yet?’ and it was really frustrating me,” Clarke said. “So one week I got super mad at myself and I said, ‘you have to finish one project by the end of the week.’’”
And since that week, Brumby Goods was born, but not in the way Clarke expected.
“I had kangaroo leather and lace because they were going to be part of my bags and I had some freshwater pearls and I had all this stuff sitting there,” Clarke said. “So I started tinkering around with it and the next thing I made a necklace with it. This long tassel necklace with these pearls on it and I was like, ‘that’s pretty cool.’”
Although Clarke hasn’t made any bags yet, she intends to expand the line later to include them.
“I had my logo and my name and everything for my business, Brumby Goods, that was all in place but the product wasn’t coming about,” Clarke said. “For now it’s evolved into jewelry.”
Brumby Earrings
Clarke officially launched Brumby Goods in February this year and is keeping up with working full time for Slate River Ranch while building her jewelry line, which has quickly gained a following.
Clarke says she gets design ideas while loping.
“It’s a matter of utilizing that time loping around and to just take that time to think about something,” Clarke said. “I’m constantly thinking about Brumby and what’s next.”
Brumby Bracelet
Clarke says she wants to stayed tapped into the western world and cutting/rodeo industry from her roots. One of her main materials, kangaroo leather, is used not only for its durability but connects her to her Australian heritage. Her company name, Brumby Goods also was chosen to tell people more about Clarke as a person.
“Brumby was something that came up..here in America,” Clarke said. “It’s a horse, it’s a little wild, free spirited and…it’s pretty catchy.”
Clarke says she enjoys making the jewelry for women like herself.
“A lot of this stuff I had in mind for the working girl and the girl who rides,” Clarke said. “This was my original idea, to find something feminine but easy to wear.”
Clarke likes to make jewelry that is functional, durable, light and comfortable. She now ships across the country and overseas and also takes custom orders. Clarke initially made sales on social media, but now has her own website to properly display her designs, www.brumbygoods.com.
Although her career is focused on loping, she believes that having Brumby gives her something more to look forward to each day.
“Its given me something for myself,” Clarke said. “I’m accountable, it’s all me. It gives me something, it’s making something and being creative and I like to look at it and be like, ‘I made that.”
Watch the full video interview HERE
It was the best shot of adrenalin Steve Anderson has experienced in his 22 years of cutting when he won the Non Pro Classic Championship at the 2018 Super Stakes. Steve rode Littlemak to mark an impressive 224, a half point in front of Reserve Champion Alexa Stent who rode Bowmerang.
It was two for the title in the Amateur Classic Final at the 2018 Super Stakes in Fort Worth. Jim Vangilder and Langston Patillo both marked a 221 to share the championship on Smooth Sailing Cat and Dualin Smooth Legacy respectively. Both riders spoke to CHTO’s Simone Cobb in this interview. Langston started out saying he was proud of himself for making at least 3 finals. Meanwhile, Jim said he was happy to win after a nine year break from the sport. Langston also placed third on High Stylin CD with a 219.
Rocky Davis is on track to becoming a triple crown champion after dominating the Unlimited Amateur Derby at the 2018 Super Stakes. Rocky and Redneck Creyzy laid down a 222 to win with a lead of 5 points. It’s the same event the pair took out at the 2017 Futurity. The Canadian competitor told CHTO’s Simone Cobb, he’s excited to come back for the Summer Spectacular to try. Traci Shehady is the Unlimited Amateur Derby Reserve Champion with a 217 on You Cant Buy Love.
It was a dream come true for Nelson Vivas who claimed victory in the 2018 Super Stakes Amateur Derby Championship. Nelson, who’s only been cutting for 3 years, rode Futurity Champion Playboy is Smooth to mark a 216 to win. He told CHTO’s Simone Cobb he’s only had 3 rides on his horse and immediately gelled with him. Reserve Champion, John Rockey secured his spot with a 214.5 on Dureyngo Kid.
Chelsea Tatum laid down an exciting run to claim victory in the 2018 Limited Non Pro Classic Final. She rode Bobs Smart Rey to mark an impressive 225, some 3 points ahead of the field. Chelsea told CHTO’s Simone Cobb she has great chemistry with her horse and has high hopes for the Non Pro Classic. Langston Pattillo was the Reserve Champion on High Stylin CD, scoring 222.
Brent Erickson enjoyed the rarefied feeling of winning in the esteemed Will Rogers arena when he took out the 2018 Ltd Open Classic final. The Reserve Champion was Eric Magby on One Sneaky Bluegrass.
It was back to back titles for Beau Galyean when he took out the 2018 NCHA Super Stakes Classic Final in Fort Worth. Beau rode 2015 Futurity Champion, Stevie Rey Von and marked a massive 231 to beat Adan Banuelos sitting on a 226. Beau, who won the same event last year, told CHTO’s Simone Cobb he’s only been training the stud for the past month, after Alvin and Becky Fults purchased him.
The 2017 NCHA Futurity Final was remarkable in more ways than one. Austin Shepard won his second Futurity buckle just one week after being crowned World Champion and Dual Reyish’s owner, Billy Wolf only met both horse and trainer the night before the final.
But on top of that – Hottish, the sire of Dual Reyish, now has proven progeny from his first crop, with a Futurity winner and fifth placed finalist Just Gettin Started, ridden by Jody Galyean.
Billy’s agent, Jim Ware was there – and as always with his finger on the pulse, emphasized what a remarkable result for Hottish. Dustin Adams, the owner of Hottish told CHTO’s Simone Cobb, he excited about Hottish’s future.
