Last week the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) announced that they will resume show approvals beginning April 27 recommending show producers and affiliates follow local and state guidelines to ensure the safety of their members while establishing best practices. The Executive Committee reviewed decisions regarding NCHA earnings and is looking forward to a safe return to horse shows. This timeline will continue to be evaluated as more guidelines are released from local and state officials. NCHA will provide a two week notice of any changes.

Junie Wood, NCHA Horse of the Year, was laid to rest

The news about Junie Wood, 2014 NCHA Horse of the Year and one of NCHA’s Top 20 all-time leading money earners, with $525,774, was shared Friday on Facebook by her owner, Slate River Ranch. “It was with heavy hearts yesterday that we had to lay our mare Junie Wood to rest. She was diagnosed with kidney disease a few weeks back and unfortunately we had to make this tough decision.”

The latest stallion to enter the elite ranks of National Reined Cow Horse Association million-dollar sire is Bet Hesa Cat. The 2006 red roan stallion has sired NRCHA earners of $1,155,263.14—and counting—to rank 19th overall on the NRCHA top sires list.

Widows Freckles, 2002 NCHA Eastern Nationals Open and Non-Pro champion, owned by NCHA Hall of Fame inductees David and Stacie McDavid, of Fort Worth, Texas, was put to rest on March 24.
The McDavids, also owners of the stallion Hickorys Indian Pep, purchased Widows Freckles from Robert Middleton in 2006. Bred by the late Franklin Jones Jr., Marshall, Tex., Widows Freckles was sired by Freckles Playboy out of The Widow Wilson, by Son Ofa Doc, and was raised and trained by Son Ofa Doc’s owner Sam Wilson, Pattison, Tex.

In compliance with the City of Fort Worth, The National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) has postponed the upcoming NCHA Kit Kat Sugar Super Stakes due to the current situation with the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The Association’s second leg of the Triple Crown was scheduled for March 24 through April 18 in Fort Worth, Texas.  

Missy Jean Etheridge captures NCHA Eastern National Non-Pro championship
Missy Jean Etheridge, Corinth, Miss., scored 224 points riding Cutting Commander on Saturday, March 14, to win the 2019 NCHA Eastern National Non-Pro Finals. Colt Moore, Williston, Fla., showing Highbrow Nadine, claimed the reserve championship with 222 points, while Denise Seiz, Cedartown, Ga., placed third with 217.5 aboard Willie J Rey.
This was Missy Jean Etheridge’s thirty-fourth ride in an NCHA Eastern Nationals division finals and her second win. Her first win came in the 2004 NCHA Eastern Nationals $10,000 Amateur aboard Pepto Jack LTE $33,466, by Peptoboonsmal, following her 2003 reserve championship in the $2,000 Limited Rider Finals on Chloes My Aunt LTE $57,299, by SR Hallmarked. The NCHA earner of $396,242, Etheridge has also competed successfully in NCHA limited age events, including last year, when she showed Rey Too Purdy LTE $59,291, by Dual Smart Rey, to win The Non-Pro 5/6 Classic, and earlier this year when she won the Ike Hamilton Futurity Classic Non-Pro Intermediate with Metallic Royal Mate LTE $98,831, by Metallic Cat.

Lance Cooper wins Cattlemen’s Derby
On Sunday, March 8, riding Wiskeemakesmefriskee LTE $28,547, by Smooth As A Cat, Lance Cooper, Weatherford, Tex., scored 219.5 points to win the Cattlemens' 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Derby. Ryan Rapp, Weatherford, Tex., scored 219 on Too Suen To Drive LTE $18,048, by Boon Too Suen, for the reserve championship, while Brad Wilson, Lone Grove, Okla., aboard Sumkinda Kitkat LTE $5,497, by Kit Kat Sugar, placed third with 218.

Jarma and Cooper tie for Non-Pro title
Julie Jarma, Whitesboro, Tex., on  Metallic Bonus, and Lance Cooper, Weatherford, Tex., aboard Wiskeemakesmefriskee, tied with 222 points on Friday, February 28, to each earn $11,683, as co-champions of the 2020 Arbuckle Mountain 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Futurity. Ty Moore, Madill, Okla., scored 219 points for the third-place payout of $7,807, riding Tweezin My Brow.
Julie Jarma the NCHA earner of $590,414, won last year’s Brazos Bash Non-Pro Classic on Blackish LTE $180,399, by Hottish, as well as the West Texas Classic, and the reserve championship of the Brazos Bash Non-Pro Classic on Hott Heels, by Hottish. Metallic Bonus LTE $16,061, by Metallic Cat, is the first NCHA money earner out of the Dual Rey daughter Reys My Way LTE $10,827.

Metallic Drifter LTE $144,665, owned by Jim Vangilder, Weatherford, Tex., and shown by Matt Gaines, scored 223 points on Friday, February 14, to win the 2020 Bonanza Open Classic, in Belton, Tex. The 6-year-old Metallic Cat gelding, one of 15 finalists, also earned top money in the Open Gelding and Open $25,000 Novice divisions, for a grand total, including the Classic Open Finals payout, of $22,682.

Hottish, a rapidy rising star among young cutting horse sires, was humanely euthanized on February 7, at the Springtown, Texas ranch of his owners, Dustin and Deena Adams. At the time of his death, Hottish ranked fourth only to Metallic Cat, Dual Rey, and High Brow Cat, among 2020’s leading sires. His three lifetime performing crops had also produced earners of over $3.3 million, for an average of $31,709, including 2017 NCHA Futurity Open champion Dual Reyish LTE $383,364 and 2018 NCHA Open Horse of the Year and Super Stakes champion Cool N Hot LTE $358,835.