Reining

Logan Pluhar wins the reining world championship at the 2012 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show.

by Allison Armstrong
The American Quarter Horse Journal

For Logan Pluhar of Canyon, Texas, winning a world championship at the 2012 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show meant fulfilling a promise to an old friend.

“I made a promise several years ago to a special horse that I would win a world championship, and I did it,” Logan explained in her Journal Winning Run interview. “His name was 'Norman.' When I was little, my brother had him first and then passed him on to me and I showed him for a few years. He didn’t quite have the talent to place up there at the World Show, but he had a huge heart and I loved him.”

Logan made good on her promise to Norman by winning the reining with her horse, Rolex N Chex, a 2008 sorrel gelding by Nu Chex to Cash and out of Miss Moth Money by Smart Little Calboy.

Logan and “Rolex” have been together for only seven months, but they’ve already achieved great things.

“We’ve had him since February of this year,” Logan said, “and we had to kind of rush to get him qualified for the Youth World. But (my trainer) Bud Lyon really helped me get in with this horse. He loves this horse, I can tell, and he can make it click (for us). It took a little bit, but we got it together.”

In order to qualify Rolex for the Ford Youth World, Logan competed in her first National Reining Horse Association event by riding in the 2012 National Reining Breeders Classic in Katy, Texas.

“That was the first time I was really in tune with him,” Logan said. “We made the finals in all four levels. I was blown out of the water by this horse. So we kept working, we finished up qualifying, and we decided we’d do the big NRHA events leading up to the World, and then the World would be the one we’d crack at. That’s how we prepared.”

That preparation paid off, enabling Logan and Rolex to qualify for the reining finals with a high score of 219.

During the finals, Logan and Rolex went up against 19 other tough competitors, including Jack Medows, who earned the reserve world championship with Wimpys Show Stopper, and Cade McCutcheon, who placed third with his horse, Shiney Enterprise.

Because Logan rode 13th in the draw, she spent the rest of the class near her horse’s stall, trying to calm her nerves.

“After I ran, I knew there were several good horses after me,” Logan explained. “There were still seven to go, so I went back to the stalls and gave (Rolex) some water. I sat just far enough from the television where I couldn’t see the runs, but every once in a while, I’d glance over at the score. That was a bit nerve-wracking, but I didn’t know I’d won until the last person had gone in.”

Logan said she owes her victory to “a ton of people,” including her family.

“My parents – they have worked so hard for me. My dad stays home during most of the shows and keeps up with the rest of the animals. My mom is always there to drive anywhere, however long. It’s amazing. I don’t ever tell them how much I appreciate them, but I think they know. And then my two trainers, (AQHA Professional Horseman) Nancy Cahill and Bud Lyon. They’re amazing, awesome people – and then Michelle Tidwell, the assistant trainer for Nancy. And then lastly, I’d have to thank my brothers. They’ve kinda inspired me. I thought (my brother, Joe) worked his butt off and deserved a world championship, so I’d like to dedicate this to him.”