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JUNE 20, 2010
AREA 4 NCHA DAYS IS A BIG SUCCESS!
The WCHA was proud to host the Area 4 NCHA Days in
Douglas, Wyoming over June 4-6 and with around 250 works
for the week end, the show was considered to be a big
success! The new equestrian building was a great place
to host a cutting and since this is the first big
cutting that has been hosted there, there were a few
bugs to work out but all in all, things went pretty
smoothly. We look forward to having more events there,
perfecting the ground and making any other improvements
that could make a show better! The Wyoming State
Fairgrounds crew were very good to work with and they
tell me that a covered outdoor arena is on the agenda
for more improvements to the fairgrounds, which would
be great for a larger warm up area and practice pen. We
would like to especially thank Cindy Thompson, who
worked extremely hard putting this event together!
Thanks, Cindy for what you have done for the WCHA!
Also, thanks very much to Bill and Carlo Shepard, Mari
Marquart, Kaycee Meyers, Kacy Hatten, Brady Cochran,
Brandon Krein, Traci Hatten and Chubs Grub for all of
their help and hard work. Thank you Frank Thompson for
providing some of the best cattle that we have seen in a
long time and there were plenty of them! And, thank you
very much to everyone who donated silent auction items!
There were quite a few bidding wars going on for all the
wonderful items. Lastly, and most importantly, thank
you very much to all of the participants who attended
the show! Of course, without you all, the show would
not have been the success that it was!
June 5, 2010
Thad and Kristin
York and the Sevenbar Ranch hosted a great show this
past Memorial Day weekend in Saratoga, Wyoming. If you
attend a Sevenbar cutting, you can count on experiencing
spectacular scenery, beautiful spring mountain weather,
and great hospitality. The Sevenbar is part of Silver
Spur Ranches, which has units in Colorado, Wyoming and
New Mexico; and operates one of the country’s largest
cow/calf operations, all managed by Thad, Kristen‘s
husband of 11 years. Thad is also an accomplished
trainer of Border Collies, and competes in cattle dog
trials.
Sevenbar hosts a
couple cuttings a year, as well as their annual bull
sale, featuring charolais and charolais cross bulls,
maine and angus bulls, and some quality ranch horses.
In fact, according to Kristen, Thad was the one who
originally wanted to branch out into the cutting horse
industry after showing rope horses, but when he didn’t
have time to ride, Kristen ended up going and doing a
few lessons and the rest, as they say, is history!
Kristen came from a
childhood filled with showing pleasure horses in youth
activities and the AQHA. So, showing cutting horses came
pretty naturally for her, even though she remarked that
the first cutting she attended was “hilarious.” “We
bought a couple of war horses, and I showed for the very
first time at Cindy Thompson’s show after barrowing
everything.”
After showing for
several years and having a good deal of success, the
Yorks decided to purchase an aged event horse, and Docs
Alota Pepto, a six year old stallion, by Sweet Lil Pepto
and out of Barb A Doc x Smart Little Lena, came into the
picture. Docs Alota Pepto, aka Xpress, was purchased by
the Yorks at one of their cuttings two years ago. “He
has a lot of presence on a cow,” Kristen remarked, “and
we just fell in love with the way he worked.” Xpress
has been with Texas-based trainer, Jamie Snider, since
he was a 4 year old, where he has earned a little over
$73,000, all in open aged event classes. Xpress has
made the finals in almost every show he has competed
in.
Kristen began
showing Xpress this year, where their first two outings
were a picture of consistency. Their debut run was at
the Arbuckle Mountain Futurity in Ardmore, Oklahoma,
where they marked a 219 to win the first round. With a
score of 216 in the finals, they finished 3rd
overall. Then, with no additional practice on cattle,
it was off to the Super Stakes Classic Amateur Finals,
where the duo marked a 219, winning the go round. In
the finals Kristen and Xpress marked a 216, winding up 5th
in the Classic.
Next stop was the
Breeders Invitational in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they
marked a 215.5, making the finals by half a point.
Kristen said, “Jamie had already worked him, and he was
kind of naughty.” But, naughty or nice, he was one of
only 14 out of 75 horses to qualify for the finals.
After one day’s rest, the pair drew up 6th in
the finals, “All Jamie said to me was get up out of
there and be smooth.” Easy right? Kristen describes
her run, “I got a real slick cow, it was decent but
nothing spectacular. Jamie picked one that didn’t shape
well; I got a grey roan cow that just kept turning into
us without pushing on us which really allowed me to ride
harder into the stops. I could hear them counting down
and everyone, the whole crowd, was into it! When I
completed the run I knew it was going to be good.” And
that it was, they marked a 219, earning $8,900, a new
saddle made by Bob’s Custom Saddles, and a shiny Gist
buckle.
Back home in
Saratoga, the York family, including 9 year old Kasen,
couldn’t be more proud. “We knew he was good, and it’s
been icing on the cake that he has done so well in the
open,” says Kristen. The next show on the agenda for
Xpress is the Derby in July, then down to West Texas,
mission: get as much aged event money won on him as
possible. They started breeding Xpress last year after
the super stakes, and he has his first foal crop on the
ground: two fillies. It should be easy for his babies
to follow in their sire’s footsteps, as his success will
only continue to grow.
March 2010
Howdy Cutters,
Looks like spring has sprung at last and that means our
2010 show season is about to begin. Actually, it
already has begun with the conclusion of HJK’s show in
Torrington in January. Their February show was
cancelled, as you all know, so the next show on the
schedule will be at Top Hatt Arena in Wheatland on April
23-25. All the show info is posted here in the Wrangler
and on the website and other shows will be loaded as I
receive the information from the producers. Please! If
you are planning to go to the Top Hatt Show, reserve
your rooms right now as at that time of year in
Wheatland, motel rooms are hard to come by!!! I will
reserve as many as I can so if you need any help with
that, just give me a call.
After Wheatland, I hope that a lot of you are planning
to go to the Western National Championships in Ogden!
If you qualified, you should have received your entry
forms in the next few days or so and entries are due by
April 1, 2010. Judging by the participation in the
Eastern National Championships, I am sure that Ogden
will prove to be bigger and better than before! As you
all know, the $2.00 World Final fee that we all pay at
the week end shows now goes to the Eastern and Western
Championships so the added money is increased by around
60%! For the Eastern Nationals this year, there are
1,128 entries which is a 24% increase from last year.
The total added money is $200,000 which is a 67%
increase and the total prize money is a record of
$454,440 which is a 36% increase. All finalists in
every class will receive larger checks and first place
in each class could pay up to $8,600! And, entry fees
are not increased from last year and remain at only
$500.00! Ogden begins Wednesday, April 28 and
concludes Sunday, May 9.
Next, a couple rule changes that we need to all be aware
of………First of all, the National Cutting Horse
Association Rules Committee unanimously agreed that
effective immediately, Western Attire will strictly be
enforced at all NCHA approved cuttings. Sweatshirts of
any kind will no longer be allowed in the show arena
when astride a horse. So, don’t forget to take that
hoodie off! Please refer to Judging Rule 16.
Also, the $20,000 Non Pro has become the $35,000 Non Pro
and the $10,000 Amateur has become the $15,000 Amateur
with all conditions remaining the same as currently
written. Please take a look at the current rule book
for all of the current rule changes for 2010.
Our Association has a full and exciting show schedule
this year, with some cool changes! It is our turn to
host the Area 4 NCHA Days and that will be held at the
new equestrian facility in Douglas, Wyoming at the State
Fairgrounds, June 4, 5 and 6. The equine facility is
pretty much brand new, with air conditioned stalls
surrounding the cutting arena. It all comes complete
with seating, bathrooms, wash racks and showers! The
WCHA is requesting that everyone pre enter that event by
May 31 and you may do so by calling Cindy Thompson @
307-320-6512. Go to cuttingnews.com and click on Area
4 for all the information on this show and all the
others as I receive the info.
Lastly, saddle classes for Wyoming this year are the
2000 Limit Rider and the 15,000 Novice Non Pro so enter
up! And, get your dang memberships paid! No grace
period this year! After being your secretary for two
year, I am getting a little cranky! Take care all and
best of luck in the upcoming show
season!
Traci
To all WCHA members,
In case you haven’t already heard, there has been a
changing of the guard! Following the resignation of Jack
Enright on January 25th, 2010, I will assume the vacancy
of President of the WCHA. Jack will continue on the
Board of Directors as Past President for one year and
will also remain active on his committees as well as a
member. On January 27th at a special Board Meeting, the
Directors appointed Dick Mulligan as Vice-President. The
two of us will fill these positions until next years
General Membership meeting.
First I would like to personally thank Jack for his hard
work and the many hours he gave to the club. All his
hard work will not be wasted though as the Board and
myself agree to continue down the path we were forging
last year. I will be listing the goals that the Board
and the Officers worked hard on in 2009. The years 2007
and 2008 were difficult years financially and we had to
make some tough but necessary decisions(not popular with
everyone). But in the end we saw some satisfying
results, we were in the black for the first time in 2 or
3 years. Goals are meant to be set high and we didn’t
achieve them all but we had a good start.
2009/10 Goals:
1. Cut expenses
2. Produce profitable shows
3. Increase memberships, member participation,
contributions, fund raisers
4. Promote the sport of cutting and showing cutting
horses
5. Make it fun and enjoyable for all members
Our 2010 goals are the same but not necessarily in that
order. My personal focus will remain on helping to make
or keep the WCHA produced shows profitable, holding
expenses down, cutting where we can. Other Officers and
Directors will be working not only on the above but the
other critically important items as well. As Directors
and Officers it is our responsibility to make financial
decisions for the benefit of the club. A Non Profit
organization is not intended to accumulate money but, it
must maintain a certain amount of liquidity to continue
to due business from year to year. At this time we have
only enough to maintain in operation for 2 to 2 ½ years
(if we don’t remain in the black) at the level we see
now. Operating expenses alone are enormous not to
mention our awards budget. So when we talk about show
profitability, contributions and fund raisers, they only
cover our yearly expenses with a little left over
(hopefully). Every year that we incur a loss the 2 to 2
½ years of longevity are reduced.
PLEA TO THE MEMBERSHIP
Obviously finances are only part of the workings of any
club. It seems that the Board has their hands full as
usual and so many important things go unattended each
year. I am asking for help from the membership. Clubs
are like families and friendships, they require
communication, participation and commitment. Your ideas
are always welcome and your helping hands will be
greatly appreciated. I will list a few areas that need
attention. If you have ideas, talents or can make a
commitment to one of these areas please contact one of
the Board, an Officer or myself.
1. Wyoming Produced shows: NCHA Days, Year End show,
Futurity
a. set up/tear down crews- banners, clocks, equipment
b. help with activities-BBQs, Calcutta’s, fun stuff,
birthdays etc…
c. put together year end banquet
d. help with stalls, shavings or practice pens
2. Sponsorships
a. sell raffle tickets
b. sponsor an award $ 50-$250
c. help with the website
d. help with Western Nationals sponsorship
3. Promotions
a. put on a clinic
b. put together an exhibit
c. help promote youth/youth scholarship fund
d. help with a membership drive/Rookie of the year
e. help with the club history book
Together let’s make this year a fun and successful
cutting season for every member. Hope to see you at the
next cutting.
Cathy Stalcup
President
WCHA
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