Wilder Jones and Very Smart Flo Jo had some troubles in the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity Horse Show Youth Limited class on Saturday, September 25, and zeroed in the rein work.

“I haven’t had too much luck in the big shows in the reining so I really wanted to go out and win it yesterday, and I think that is just bad luck for anybody,” the 16-year-old Hailey, Idaho, competitor said.

Coming into the $5,000 Non Pro Limited and Non Pro Limited classes on Sunday, September 26, Jones decided to take a different approach. “This morning I woke up and I just wanted to score in the reining. I didn’t care how it went.”

His change in mental strategy worked. Jones and Very Smart Flo Jo, a mare his mother Anne Reynolds has had great success on, marked a 142 in the rein work and a 146 in the cow work, giving him a composite of 288 and putting him in the lead. “I liked my run a lot. It was what I wanted and I was happy with it.”

Jones’ score held until Deah Hessian-Ruple of Riverside, California, tied it, riding Teninolena Chex. That meant a runoff.

“I was very nervous just sitting in the stands watching the other riders,” Jones said. “As the scores popped up on the big screen, it was kind of frightening. And then they said I need to do a box-off, I went out and walked that adrenaline off, saddled her and settled things down.”

But Jones and Very Smart Flo Jo came out on top in the box-off and their score of 145 in the run-off gave them their first major championship title. He earned a check for $1,357 for the $5,000 Non Pro Limited title along with a Bob’s Custom Saddle sponsored by Santa Ynez Valley Cow Horse Classic; a Gist Silversmiths buckle courtesy of NMSU Truckin Chex and Kevin and Karen Stallings, a C.R. Morrison NRCHA trophy, a monogrammed Cinch vest courtesy of Bob’s Custom Saddles, Platinum Performance, and a C.R. Morrison commemorative medallion. In the Non Pro Limited, he earned $493 a Gist Silversmiths buckle sponsored by Manistee Investments Inc. and Marilyn Harris, a C.R. Morrison NRCHA trophy, a Cinch monogrammed vest sponsored by Bob’s Custom Saddles, Platinum Performance, and a C.R. Morrison commemorative medallion.

Hessian-Ruple also won the reserve championship titles in the $5,000 Non Pro Limited and the Non Pro Limited. In the $5,000 Non Pro Limited, she earned a check for $1,062, a monogrammed Cinch vest courtesy of Bob’s Custom Saddles, Platinum Performance, and a C.R. Morrison commemorative medallion. In the Non Pro Limited, she earned $386, a monogrammed Cinch vest courtesy of Bob’s Custom Saddles, Platinum Performance, and a C.R. Morrison commemorative medallion.

The National Reined Cow Horse Association, 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 Adequan, Bob’s Custom Saddles, Cinch, Classic Equine, Gist Silversmiths, John Deere, Markel Insurance, MD Barns, Merial products ULCERGARD and EQUIOXX, Nutrena, Pfizer Animal Health, Platinum Performance, Quarter Horse News, Rios of Mercedes, Running W Designs, the Silver Legacy, and Wide World of Horses, 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 website at  www.nrcha.com.