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| John Ward and Black Pearl |
It was 14 years since the last time he had won it, but John Ward took his father’s advice and persevered, taking his second National Reined Cow Horse Association open championship title. This time he did it with Black Pearl, a homegrown filly that was a granddaughter of a mare his father, Greg, had given John.
“My dad gave me the granddam, Taffy Remedy, to me in the early ’80s. I never would sell her and kept her,” John said. “This one’s mother was Sugar Bay Taffy and it was 10 years ago in 1998 when my dad won the Futurity for the last time that I was sixth on this one’s mother. So it’s now 10 years later and ‘The Pearl’ wins. That’s pretty wild.”
The talented black mare had an intense week, having also made the non-pro finals with John’s wife, Laurie. But a kick out in one of the lead changers in her rein work, caused Laurie to scratch Pearl and save her energy for the open finals.
In the open herd work on October 5, Ward marked a 218, then followed up with a 216 in the rein work.
“In the herd work she was really good, and my help had all the cattle spotted. Then in the rein work, she was great. She can run and stop like her sire, so I was really pleased, and it all came down to the cow work.”
Going into the cow work of the triathlon event, the top six horses were within four points of each other. One-by-one, the cow work made or broke the chance for a championship.
“We drew a good cow, and the cattle had been tough. We boxed for a while, and left in really great shape. She was kind of giving out because we had both shown her, but she gave me all she had.”
She marked a 214, with the composite score of 648 holding up through the next nine horses.
“It’s the biggest thing that any reined cow horse person can ever wish for – I was blessed to win this once before. It was intense. When you get the lead you don’t want to lose it.”
Black Pearl will be getting a well-deserved break after the futurity.
“She’s been doing so much, we probably won’t show her again until the Derby in June.” He laughed, adding, “That’s if Laurie lets me keep riding her. I think she’s planning on stealing her from me.”
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| Dema Paul and Smart Shiney Lena |
In the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity non-pro finals on October 2 and 3, 16 finalists competed for a purse that exceeded $159,000.
Riding Smart Shiney Lena, Dema Paul earned her third Snaffle Bit Futurity non-pro title. The talented 3-year-old mare and her owner marked scores of 214 in the herd work, 214.5 in the rein work, and the high score of 220 in the cow work to clench the title with a 648.5 composite.
“Every part of it was fun! Everything went like it was supposed to. I was tickled with everything, and I drew the best cow – it was the cow to win on,” she said.
While Dema wasn’t quite satisfied with her preliminary dry work, she noted that she had some help there, too. “I didn’t really trust her at first. I said she was nervous. My stepson, Randy Paul, told me I was making her nervous – he told me I had to relax. Today, I let her go, and she was perfect.”
Paul purchased Smart Shiney Lena in July 2007 from Carol Rose.
“Shining Spark horses are good horses. They do well for me. They have a lot of natural stop, and that’s what attracted me to this one,” Dema said.
