CHAMPIONS

HITTIN PAY DIRT: “Petie and I first met in 1997. When I first saw her I called her Dumbo because of her size, short tail and floppy ears. She was kind of hot and not very trusting of people. I knew how talented she was because of her winning futurity record two years prior with Donnie Reece and Seth Heatherly. It took a few months, but when we finally grew to trust each other it was amazing. She had so much try and so much heart. She ran hard and turned even harder...every time. She truly was a dream horse. ‘

Petie's large frame and aggressive style caused many injuries throughout her career. In 2001, after a 6 week rodeo run, which put me in the top 15 in the world (I wasn’t even in the top 100 going into the 4th of July weekend), she ruptured a tendon at the Albuquerque rodeo. It was devastating at the time but I looked forward to breeding her and competing on her babies. Unfortunately this to was short lived. After producing 2007 futurity standout REPETE FAME and DASHIN FOR PAY DIRT, we lost Petie due to colic complications in 2004. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her, and I am honored to have two beautiful mares out of her to carry on her legacy.

HOWLINATHEMOON: I remember falling in love with Moonee long before I ever saw him run. In 1992 he won the Pineywoods Barrel Futurity for owner/jockey Seth Heatherly and it was on the cover of the Quarter Horse News. I think it was the name that I loved. In the spring of ‘94 I watched him run at the Lazy E derby. I was shocked at how small and ugly he actually was, but amazed at his ability. Later that year Seth came out West to run at some of the western futurities and stayed with my family. He let me lease Moonee and take him to some pro rodeos. We instantly clicked and placed at most of the major rodeos in the Wilderness circuit. Seth then guided him to an impressive win at the World Championship derby in Oklahoma City and turned the reins back over to me.

Our first outing in 1995 was the Denver Pro Rodeo. I was intimidated running against the likes of Sherry Cervi and Kristie Peterson for the first time, but for Moonee it was just another barrel race. He placed 4th in the first round and then won the second go, the short go and the average! That was the beginning of rodeo fever for me. We qualified for our first NFR but he got injured two weeks before it started and ended up having to take a year off.

Now, after years of competing, and over $500,000 to his name, Moonee is retired at my parents ranch in Southern Ca. He is 20 years old and looks like a million bucks.

REPETE FAME: Repete is the first offspring of Hittin Pay Dirt. Originally, Repete’s name was going to be Hittin Fame, after her dam and sire, Dash Ta Fame. But once she hit the ground we all started calling her Repete because she was a spittin image of Petie. When it came time to fill out the papers for the AQHA it just seemed natural to name her Repete Fame.

Petie died when Repete was just a yearling. At that moment I started to stress about Repete making a good barrel horse. I wanted her to follow in Petie’s footsteps and take her place. I was terrified of being a failure if she didn’t make a nice horse because she is bred so well. Producing sire, awesome dam…she had to make it.

The training process wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. She inherited everything her mom had, large size, heavy feet, clumsy and not very athletic But luckily she also got her mom’s tremendous heart and will to please. Through out her training and her futurity year we were plagued with slipping and falling. We constantly lost our confidence only to regain it and win again. Repete ended the year with over $90,000 won. She had first place finishes at the Walla Walla, WA furturity as well as The Fizz Bomb Futurity. She has run two 16.8’s on a WPRA standard pattern.

Repete is now 5 years old. Even though I don’t have a lot of plans for her this year, I do hope to get an embryo out of her . I will also run her at some rodeos throughout the year to get her seasoned. I am looking forward to the years to come with her and her offspring.

PRITZI MAKER: Barney is probably the fastest horse that I have ever competed on. People are always coming up to me after a winning run saying “Wow, imagine how fast he could be if you would let him run”. I will tell you how fast…probably a no time. And not because he is bad. He is pretty big and really uncoordinated (he has a broken hind sesmoid and is diagnosed neurologic). When he really gets to running he can’t physically slow down enough to make the turns.

Barney was given to me as a 2 yr old year because of his injuries. I had trained and competed successfully on his full brother “COUPLES” so I figured that I should give Barney a try. I am very careful when and where I run him. Last year I only ran him 6 times. He has still accomplished a lot. I won the Sherrylyn Johnson Invitational on him. In 2005 he was reserve champion at the BRN4D finals and came back to win it in 2006. He won the John Deere NBHA super show in 2007.

Many people have tried to buy Barney in spite of his injuries and inability to compete regularly. I can’t say that I would never sell him, but I do know that I would never forgive myself if I saw anyone abusing him or running him sore. Therefore, he will probably be with me forever. He is a pretty cool dude and awesome to have around.

Two years ago I bought his full sister in foal to Metallic Lion. Sadly, we lost “Wilma” last fall after she broke her femur. But we do have her filly “Platinum Pritzi”. “Pebbles” is a gorgeous bay yearling and we are hoping that she makes “Uncle Barney” proud.

COCOS CASH: Speedhorse High Point Champion. Has earnings of $100,000+

REGAIN FAME: Multiple futurity, derby and rodeo money earner including: Reserve WOrld Barrel Futurity Champion; Reserve Fizz Bomb barrel Futurity champion. Earnings of $160,000+

PANTS ON FIRE:  1990 sorrel mare by Easy Destiny out of For A Good Time Call
 
"Mouse" was my first great futurity horse.  I got her from my friend Sue Smith in the fall of her 2 yr old year.  I had trained horses in the past, and won futurities on them, but Mouse took me to the level that I needed to be.   She won and placed at numerous events including: 3rd at the Lazy E futurity and top ten at the BFA World Championship futurity.  At the end of her 4 yr old year she was 5th high money winner in the nation for futurity horses.  In 1995, the 5 yr old Pants On Fire helped carry me to my first NFR where she ran in 6 of the 10 rounds.  As good of a barrel horse as she was, she was showing signs of being an awesome polebending horse
 
When Mouse was 8, I leased her to Jeana Finlinson, a then AQHA youth rider from Indiana.  Jeana won the AQHA high point in barrels and poles and won the Sr Poles at the Congress running a smoking 19.1.  I got Mouse back when she was 11 and we tried to breed her for a couple of years but she lost both of her foals.  It was  then that I leased her to Tyla Treasure, a jr rodeo competitor from Southern California.  Tyla won the CJRA barrels and poles on her.  After two years with Tyla Mouse had to be retired due to an injured knee. 
 
These days Mouse resides at my place where she is in retirement with her longtime best friend Moonee.  She is unable to carry a foal due to her injury, but I do hope to get an embryo out of her next spring.  She had an incredible heart and a lot of try and helped get numerous jockeys names on the map.