Just months after competing in her first reined cow horse event, Toni Hagen won her second major National Reined Cow Horse Association title. Riding Just Ask Me Nice, Hagen, of La Grande, Oregon, claimed the 2010 NRCHA Amateur Derby Championship at the Paso Robles Event Center in Paso Robles, California.

They began the week with a 209 in the herd work, but Hagen thought their score of 204.5 in the rein work might have vanquished the hopes of another win. “The herd work was solid, but I was the last person to compete in the reining and it worked on my nerves all day. It was a pretty shaky rein work, and definitely wasn’t what I hoped for,” she said.

But coming in as draw three in the cow work, Hagen had a new game plan. When the score was announced – a 215.5 – she knew she might have a chance. “Today I wanted to pull out all the stops and go for it. I didn’t have anything to lose,” she said. “After I went it was still a nail-biter, because there were so many people who could have won it. I actually went back and unsaddled my horse and started cleaning stalls because I didn’t want to jinx it. My boyfriend, Dan Heath, was sitting up in the stands watching, but I didn’t know I’d won until Dan Roeser came and told me to get my horse saddled.”

Despite a great effort on the part of the Amateur Reserve Champion Justin Christensen, who rode his horse to a 216.5 fence work, Hagen maintained a one-point lead in the division with a 629 composite. She took home a check for $3,080, a Tom Balding silver engraved handmade bit, Rios of Mercedes boots, a CR Morrison bronze and a CR Morrison commemorative medallion.

Just a couple months earlier, Hagen and the 5-year-old mare, by Captain Nice out of Missy Dual Master, won the Amateur title at the NRCHA Hackamore Classic. “In November I got this hair-brained idea that I was going to start showing cow horses. I found this mare on the internet, bought her, and went to Jim Paul for our first lesson in January. We trained there a couple months before going back north. We rode with Dan Roeser for about a week, and then went to our first show in Eugene, Oregon, in March.”

Hagen and “Justi” placed second at that first event, and quickly followed that with the Amateur title at the Hackamore Classic. In fact, the pair has placed at every event they have entered – and Hagen admitted that the more she’s ridden Justi in competition, the more comfortable she’s become showing.

While she gave a lot of credit to her horse, Hagen still has two special people to thank. “I couldn’t have done this without my boyfriend Dan Heath and my trainer Dan Roeser. They’ve both helped me tremendously, and I really appreciate everything they’ve done,” she said.

Justin Christensen and Nu Silverlena just missed the Championship – but the Reserve title came with many impressive prizes. Christensen won $2,420, a Tom Balding Silver-accented bit, a Gist Silversmiths buckle, a CowTrac mechanical cow system, a CR Morrison trophy, and a CR Morrison commemorative medallion. Christensen and Nu Silverlena, by Silver Gun out of Pandys Delight, had a 203 in the herd work, a 208.5 in the rein work, and finished the competition with a 216.5 in the fence work.

The National Reined Cow Horse Association, now in its 61st year, is the governing body of cow horse competition, is responsible for promoting the sport, insuring high standards of competition and educating members and the public about the history and tradition of the cow horse. Through the support of a Corporate Partner family that includes Markel Insurance Company, Wide World of Horses, John Deere, AdequanR, Bob’s Custom Saddles, Cinch, Inc., Classic Equine, Gist Silversmiths, MD Barns, Platinum Performance, Inc., Nutrena, Quarter Horse News, Pfizer Animal Health, Rios of Mercedes, Merial products ULCERGARD and EQUIOXX, Running W Designs, and the Silver Legacy Hotel, the association works to keep the vaquero tradition alive in today’s equine industry. For information on the National Reined Cow Horse Association, call 580-759-4949 or visit the NRCHA Official Web Site at www.nrcha.com.