AQHA - JUNIOR WORKING COW HORSE

2006 WORLD SHOW COVERAGE 2006 AQHA WORLD SHOW SHOW INFORMATION

JUNIOR WORKING COW HORSE

COULDN'T ASK FOR ANY MORE.

BY ABBY WHITAKER JOURNAL CORRESPONDANT

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In a competition where graceful reining meets the unpredictability of cattle, Jake Gorrell claimed his first AQHA world championship. Jake, from Hanford, California, topped the junior working cow horse riding Paid By A Starlett, a 2001 sorrel stallion by Paid By Chic and out of Starwards Ginger by SMF Lenas Award.

“It’s really cool to be able to go to another association and place and run with the big dogs,” Jake, who is a National Reined Cow Horse Association board member, said following his win. “It’s an honor to come here and be a part of this. It’s a big show, it’s world-renowned, and it’s an awesome deal.”

Jake Gorrell and Paid By A Starlett make their championship run during the Junior Working Cow Horse finals.

Owner Dana Roulet, from Jackson, California, started Paid By A Starlett as a 2-year-old and took her to Jake in January of the stallion’s 3-year-old year. Jake and the horse placed in every futurity and derby they entered throughout Paid By A Starlett’s 3- and 4-year-old years but faced a bit of bad luck this year…until now. The pair drew up near the end of the finals so Jake had an idea of what it would take to win.

“I was just trying to keep him calm and quiet and just make a nice, pretty run,” he said of the rein work. “There’s a point you push them too hard, and it’s hard to get them back so I just tried to keep him quiet and make a smooth run. He was good. You couldn’t ask for any more.”

Jake, a first-time cow horse competitor at the AQHA world show, admitted that the reining is usually smooth sailing, but the cow work is where things get interesting.

“We were all nervous. That’s kind of the big deal here is fretting the cows, because they can be tough,” he explained. “I had in my head that I was going to do three turns and go to the middle. A lot of these cows had a lot of air, and I thought if I got three turns that might slow him down a little bit, and he’d be easier to circle up. But after that second turn I was so tight and thought I better go for it.”

WINNER STATS

Horse name: Paid By A Starlett
Pedigree: Paid By Chick X Starwards Ginger
Exhibitor/Trainer: Jake Gorrell
Owner: Dana Roulet
Breeder: Terry Ratto - Los Altos, CA

Total class entries: 72
Purse: $49,523.92

World Champion Prizes: Custom gold-tone trophy, Montana Silversmiths buckle, Cripple Creek World Show jacket, Tex Tan silver halter and spurs, Justin ostrich Techno Crepe boots, 100 pounds of Nutrena feed, Professional’s Choice and WeatherBeeta product.

Total purse and prizes for the 2006 AQHA World Championship Show: $2,457,010