Jerry Bob Seago and Tina Bars Effie won the 2007 AQHA world championship in junior cutting.

It’s the State of Oklahoma’s birthday this weekend – 100 years young. It’s fitting that an Oklahoma bred, owned and trained mare would win the junior cutting world championship at the 2007 AQHA World Championship Show, on November 17.

Jerry Bob Seago and Tina Bars Effie were third in the go, usually a spot where the cattle are still a little fresh.

“But the cows never went to the fence, and my mare was really good tonight,” Jerry Bob said. “We just controlled them in the middle of the pen with fewer misses than everybody else.”

By the time the runs were done, four riders had missed cows and the closest score to Jerry Bob’s 221 was Shannon Hall’s 218 aboard Wild Haired Cat.

Jerry Bob scored a 214.5 with the mare in the prelims, qualifying in the middle of the pack. But he was confident coming into the afternoon finals.

“I made the semi-finals on this mare as a 3-year-old at the (National Cutting Horse Association) Futurity and I believe the Super Stakes, then I missed it at the (NCHA) Derby,” Jerry Bob said. “We’ve had real good luck with this little mare here, she’s been really good.”

Tina Bars Effie is a 2002 bay mare bred and owned by Marilyn Jo Franz of Stillwater, Oklahoma. She has more than $26,000 in NCHA earnings.

“It’s a great day, and I’m real excited,” Marilyn said. “This mare has done good for Jerry Bob ever since her 3-year-old year. I’m just thrilled to be here, excited for him and me both.”

It is Jerry Bob’s second AQHA cutting world championship – he won the senior cutting in 2003 on a mare owned by his wife, Jan, named Harriet Play Kitty. But he said the second win is just as good as the first.

“It always feels good to win,” he said with a smile.

Jerry Bob also added a word of thanks to his turn-back help tonight: Randy Butler, Greg Hillerman, Brit Darlin and Jim Whitman.

“Without four guys helping you and doing the best they can, it’s hard to win anything if you don’t have a team,” he said.

The cutting is a family affair for Jerry Bob and Jan and their two boys, Justin and Jeremy.

“And Marilyn is a really good customer,” he added. “She raised that mare herself, out of a mare she owns and by her stud.

"So it makes it a little more special for her, too. Because it’s a homegrown, home-raised mare right here in Oklahoma. And I live in Claremore, so it’s all an Oklahoma deal.”