For about a decade, Ron Emmons has been trying to win a world championship.

“I’ve been close,” the California trainer said. “I’ve been third three or four times, and I’ve been second a couple of times. But I’ve never been able to get the gold.”

That was until this year when he rode Olena Oak through the Gateway of Champions for the junior working cow horse finals.

 Ron and Olena Oak were third in the draw of 16. They immediately started in on working cow horse pattern No. 9.

“I trotted out there, and he felt really soft,” Ron recalled. “I loped him off in the small slow, asked him to go in the big fast and he just stepped up and went.”

Once he picked up a faster speed, Ron said the stallion stayed fairly steady.

“He’s really good in the big fast,” he said. “We came around there, he let me change leads and then he dang sure came back for the second small slow. We then had really good circles the other direction.”

Ron asked for another lead change then headed to the top of the arena.

“I turned the corner to run him down, and he didn’t act like he really wanted to go,” Ron said. “So I asked him a little bit more and he stepped up and ran to the stop really hard, really good. The first turn was a good turn. He stepped around really nice.”

Ron then sent Olena Oak to the other side of the arena for his second stop.

“He ran down there and dragged his butt really good,” he said. “I hurried him a little bit in that second turn around but he was still OK, but he could have been better there. We then ran to the middle. Stopped, and backed up. He was really good.

“The only place I fault him in my rein work was the second turnaround. I hurried him a little on the turn. But he was good through the rest of it though.”

Ron then turned Olena Oak toward the arena gate and asked for his cow.

“He was a little dead when I was down there boxing him,” he said. “He didn’t move much, and I thought, ‘Well, I better try him and try to get across there and get him stopped a time or two.’ I did, and he didn’t give me a lot of anything. He was still kind of dead.

“So I sent him down the pen and made sure I stayed wide on him, just waited until I rode by his head. When I did, I just sent him and he just come in there and just mashed him. I got a good, good turn.”

Now, the cow had a little spark to him.

“I knew I had a lot of cow but went ahead and asked him to go, and we circled him right up there in the middle of the pen,” Ron said. “I took a little chance there but it worked. Everything worked good.”

Ron was proud of Olena Oak and knew the horse had done a good job.

“I knew my horse was good in both phases, but I had no idea how the judges were going to mark him,” he said. “I just hoped they liked him as much as I do.”

The judges did. They marked the dry work a 223 and the fence work a 226.

The composite score of 449 held up through the next 13 riders. Ron had finally won a world championship.

“I’m so proud of my horse,” Ron said. “He’s proven himself, and he deserves this. He’s got such a good mind, and he’s so very kind. He’s got a lot of athletic ability and a lot of cow. He’s got all the ingredients you need in a good cow horse.”

As the placings were announced, each rider took his or her ribbon and then moved to the opposite wall, all waiting to see Ron finally get his gold trophy.

“In reined cow horse, we’re all family,” Ron said. “I was up against a lot of good riders and some really good horses, but finally winning this feels really, really good.”