A perfect fit at the Non Pro

Reno, 57, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Famer from Kerrville, Texas, found a perfect fit in Double L Lena as she scored a 220 to win the 4-year-old Non-Pro by a point over Danny Motes, Weatherford, Texas, riding Starring CD.

The victory was worth $7,090.19, while Motes picked up $5,453.98.

Love, 40, Sunset, Texas, continued her habit of earning sizable bonuses from Day 1 of the 18-year-old event when she captured the 5/6-year-old Non-Pro with a 219 on Dash Rip Rocks, earning $7,100.57. Love, who earned a year's use of a truck at the inaugural event in Amarillo (1984) and the first year the show was held in Oklahoma City (1994), scored a 218 to win a shootout for a Coats saddle.

Julie McCloud, Weatherford, Texas, was 5/6-year-old Non-Pro Reserve Champion with a 217.5 on Movin Oak, owned by Julie and her husband, Tim, and earned $5,014.16.

"I just stuck to the basics and cut clean," said Love, who worked first in the 5/6-year-old Non-Pro finals.

In the shootout, she said "It was pretty fast and furious, but we got lucky."

The event drew 690 entries competing for $283,521.90, including $62,500 added.

In the eight unapproved classes, which form the backbone of the unique cutting event, 453 entries competed for $234,887.09, including $52,500 added and $16,000 in cash bonuses from The Non Pro stallion fund. Champions and reserve champions received cash bonuses of $1,500 and $500, respectively.

The six NCHA-approved classes drew 237 entries and paid out $48,634, including $10,000 added.

This year, there were four winners age 19 or under, including the two NCHA Youth classes, although another champion is only 23.

Motes, though pleased with her second-place finish, was bursting with pride when her 14-year-old daughter, Mica, pulled off a mind-boggling feat in her first outing aboard a 4-year-old horse. Mica, who had just marked a 220 on Dually Lena to finish second to the 222 scored by Sara Bingham on Assets Gay Bar in the $20,000 Non-Pro, recorded a 221 on Starring CD to win the 4-year-old Amateur by 4 1/2 points over John Logan and Cash Moria.

Logan, 43, Okemos, Mich., and Dual Me Dry won the 5/6-year-old Amateur with a 216.5, a half point better than Larry Haney, Wellston, Okla., riding Leos Last Gun.

Waylon Overstreet, 23, Kissimmee, Fla., scored a 219.5 on Bouncer Solano to win the $50,000 Amateur Any Age, a half point ahead of Cody deCordova, Groesbeck, Texas, riding Playboys Nu Gun.

Bill Booth, 60, Kansas City, Mo., won the $10,000 Amateur with a 220 on Cals Little Uno, and Nancy Graham, Rockledge, Ga., took the $2,000 Limit Rider with a 216 on Haidas Sugar Doc.

Polly Hollar, 64, who basically has renewed his acquaintance with Smart Play mainly to serve as a "warm-up" for owner Nancy Moses, 27, Brenham, Texas, did just that at The Non Pro.

He took the NCHA Open with a 220 on the 1987 Smart Little Lena gelding and Moses followed with a 222 that tied for the Non-Pro title with Joey Milner, Southlake, Texas, riding his recently purchased mount, Pappion Cat.

There also was a tie at 221 in the $10,000 Novice Horse between Hollys Little Smarty, owned by Corbe Anderson, Shawnee, Okla., and ridden by Greg Hillerman, and Smart Quick Merada, owned by Furst Ranch, Bartonville, Texas, and ridden by John Wold.

Young Guns Babe, owned by the T-Mac Partnership (Terry Riddle and Stacie and David McDavid), Fort Worth, Texas, and ridden by Riddle, won the $3,000 Novice with a 223, a point better than Smart Be Back, owned by Matt and Donna Gaines, Weatherford, Texas, and ridden by Matt.

Evan Wells, 14, Edgerton, Mo., captured the Senior Youth with a 224.5 on Lenas Flit Star, owned by Marvin Maples. DeCordova's younger brother, Ty, was second with a 223 on Playboys Nu Gun. Wells won the Junior Youth in 1997 on Ima Neat Playboy.

Cooper Cogdell, 11, Tulia, Texas, stepped up from his Reserve Championship in 2000 to win the Junior Youth with a 220 on Work Smooth, owned by his uncle, Jim Cogdell. Chelsea Wilson, Era, Texas, was second with a 218 on Haidas Curiosity. The judges for the event were Randy Chartier, Troy Davis, Rod Kelley, Bill Martin and Merritt Ranew.

4-Year-Old Non-Pro

Reno drew up sixth in the second bunch of the finals and said her help told her that it was going to be a two-cow cutting. "The first cow was gentler than we expected, then when I cut my second cow, she was really tough and I stayed with her to the whistle; my mare was really outstanding for me," said Reno, who tied for third with a 218.5 in the first go and failed to make a check with a 214.5 in the second.. "Bill (Riddle) had her really ready for me."

She was helped by Jody Galyean and Matt Gaines in the herd, while Riddle and Paul Hansma were the turnback men. The mare, which was bred by Dick Cogdell and owned at the time by Slate River Ranch, was spotted by Reno at last summer's Polo Ranch Classic.

"I went out with Linda Mussallem in the mornings when she worked her horses and they were working this mare at the time," she said of Double L Lena, which was trained by John Mitchell. "I tried her and Bill Riddle tried her."

Although the mare and Reno were unsuccessful at the NCHA Futurity and the Abilene Spectacular, they made the Non-Pro Futurity finals at Augusta and Memphis.

Riddle and the mare also gained the Augusta and Memphis finals. Double L Lena had earned over $22,500 prior to The Non Pro. "I've always admired the Cogdell horses and it's really fun to have one, finally," Reno said of the mare, by Maxi Lena out of Sly Glo Return. "I call her a little horse but she's really not little, probably 14.2 hands. She's stocky, an old time-bred horse.You just know it when it feels right. She's easy for me to ride and she's very responsive. If I need her to go faster or slower, it's easy for me to communicate with her."

Reno started off by showing five-gaited and reining horses but showed she could be a champion cutter after marrying Jim Reno. Since 1976, her mounts have earned over $293,000, according to Equi-Stat, a division of Cowboy Publishing Group. She was NCHA Non-Pro Reserve World Champion in 1978. Reno's last aged event victory was the Classic/Challenge Non-Pro on Shorty Lady Lena at Steamboat Springs in 1996. She made the finals of the 4-Year-Old Non-Pro at The Non Pro on Snicker Cat in 1999.

Mary Jo and Jim have six children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Their daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Don Boone, are members of the NCHA Non-Professional Hall of Fame. The Boones' daughters, Kelly and Jodie, also were outstanding cutters. The Renos' son, Jimmy Reno, also is a professional cutting horse trainer and judge.

5/6-Year-Old Non-Pro

Love, who won the first go with 218.5 and was just out of the money with a 217 in the second go, drew first in the finals and said "I just stuck to the basics."

"I cut clean and tried to get as much out of each cow that I could," said Love, who cut three cows. "I just didn't make any mistakes, I finished up strong and hoped it would hold up."

Dash Rip Rocks is by Lenas Jewel Bars out of Dosey Doc, the Doc's Prescription mare that carried Love to the 1986 NCHA Super Stakes Non-Pro Championship. Love earned , $7,100.57 while Reserve Champion Julie McCloud picked up $5,014.16 on Movin Oak, a 1995 mare by Doc's Oak out of Josie O'Lena by Doc O'Lena.

Love, which was a 1999 NCHA Futruity Non-Pro semifinalist on the gelding, rode him to a tie for the 2000 Bonaza Cutting Non-Pro title, the Non-Pro Reserve Championship and fourth place in the Gelding Stakes at the Super Stakes, to 10th at the NCHA Derby and high finishes at Memphis, the Abilene Spectacular and the Texas Cutting Futurity. They also tied for third in the 4-Year-Old Non-Pro at the Non-Pro.

This year, they were finalists at the Super Stakes, Bonanza and Memphis, pushing the gelding's career earnings to over $93,300.

She said the gelding has some of his dam's characteristics but has more stopping power.

"He's just a real kind, gentle horse, really consistent and real good minded," she said.

Riding Demidoc, the mare that carried her to the 1984 NCHA Derby Non-Pro Championship, Love earned a year's use of a pickup truck for winning the most money in the $5,000 Non-Pro Division at the 1985 The Non Pro in Amarillo.

When the show was moved to Oklahoma in 1994, Love won the 5/6-year-old Non-Pro on Freckles Playdough, the gelding that earned her her second NCHA Super Stakes Non-Pro title in 1992.

She thus was an interested observer during the $10,000 Amateur finals where young Megan McBride rode Freckles Playdough to 16th place.

"He's been retired for three years," Love said of the gelding, 13, which was sold to McBride a month ago. "They took him out of mothballs. I was so nervous watching but it was a lot of fun."

Love, a native of Fort Worth, has shown cutting horses to earnings of over $789,600 since 1983. She has a son, John, 12. Demidoc and Dosey Doc were sold to Polo Ranch and CL Winchester (out of Demidoc), which carried her to a tie for fourth at the NCHA Futurity, is the last offspring of the great mares that she owns. Lola Pistola, 4, a mare by Playgun out of Dosey Doc that was hurt and never was shown, has produced a Lenas Jewel Bars stud colt and is in foal to Dualin Jewels.

4-Year-Old Amateur

Mica Motes had grown accustomed to riding a "Cadillac" in Dually Lena, or "Cookie", but she really didn't know what to expect when her mom, Danny, and trainer Paul Hansma, surprised her by entering her on a Porsche-like gelding, Starring CD, or "Cookie Junior," in the 4-Year-Old Amateur.

Starring CD, by CD Olena out of Cari Me Starlight by Grays Starlight, had prior earnings of over $39,700, including the Championship of this year's NCHA Gelding Stakes and eighth place in the Super Stakes Open while ridden by Hansma. Danny Motes rode the gelding to the NCHA Futurity Non-Pro semifinals.

When Danny and Hansma decided to let Mica show Starring CD at the NCHA Summer Spectacular, they sent in the entry and then told Mica she was going to show the gelding at The Non Pro.

Mica, who had worked the gelding on only one cow prior to the show, marked a 213.5 in the go-round, so she had to wait a while to see that she had advanced by a half point.

After wrecking in the Senior Youth on Dually Lena and in the 5/6-Year-Old Amateur on Savannah Hickory (DNA), she wasn't disappointed when the 220 on Dually Lena fell short in the $20,000 Non-Pro.

"I didn't want to be worried about losing a cow when I went down there on the 4-year-old because he's so sensitive," she said. "I was so excited to make the finals, I was just hoping to get through the run.

"My help said they had five or six picks, so instead of going for specific cows, we brought a whole little herd out because the cows they had picked earlier had run over me. I ended up cutting three cows they really liked. I was really shocked. I didn't know how good the run was."

Danny wouldn't let Mica start showing until she became 10, but since 1997, her mounts have earned over $45,000, most of it coming on Dually Lena, which has won well over $345,600.

At the 1999 Bonanza Cutting, where Danny won the 5/6-Year-Old Non-Pro, Mica and Dually Lena won the $20,000 Amateur, the $5,000 Amateur and the trailer work-off.

Mica, who won the $2,000 Limit Rider on Dually Lena at the 1999 The Non Pro, captured the 5/6-Year-Old Amateur on Savannah Hickory (DNA) at this year's Bonanza and was a finalist at the Super Stakes Classic Amateur.

A rising ninth grader at Peaster High School, Mica's profile sheet at Oklahoma City wasn't long enough for her mother, who added under hobbies, "basketball, photography and confiscating her mother's horses one by one."

But after the winning run, Danny was shouting, "Mica, I'm so proud of you!"

5/6-Year-Old Amateur

John Logan, who finished eighth in the 5/6-Year-Old Non-Pro, drew fourth in the second group, or 14th overall, in the 5/6-Year-Old Amateur finals and said the cattle were tough.

"I cut three good cows, the horse was good and it was enough to get us there," he said after marking the 216.5. He won $5,294.50 on the gelding, 5, which is by Dual Pep out of Dry Sugar by Dry Doc, while Reserve Champion Larry Haney picked up $4,005.05 on Leos Last Gun, a 1995 son of Young Gun out of Brogans Wimpy Leo.

Dual Me Dry, which was bred by Bristol Ridge Inc., Canby, Ore., was purchased by John and Kelley Logan in March 1999 from Billy Martin, Gettysburg, Pa.

"This was the first time I've shown him since he was cut," Logan said. "I showed him as a 4-year-old stud but didn't get along with him. I cut him last July and sent him to Kevin Miller, who showed him a little in Missouri. He's been a late bloomer." Cash Moria, the mare that he showed to the 4-Year-Old Amateur Reserve Championship, is by Cash Quixote Rio out of Smart Moria by Smart Little Lena.

Logan, who owns a cleaning supply and service company in Lansing, Mich., has been cutting for about six years.

"I guy in Lansing that I had known for years had a lot of cattle; he invited me to come and 'cut' and I said 'I don't know what you are talking about,' " he said. "He said 'we're going to have cold Miller Lite and we're going to cut a couple of cows.' I cut my first cow, went home and told my wife, 'We have a big problem!' It's been a hobby going mad ever since."

John and Kelley, who also shows, have a daughter, Kaitlin, 15, who plans to start showing this summer.

$50,000 Amateur Any Age

Although Waylon Overstreet posted a solid 219.5 to win the $50,000 Amateur Any Age, he said "I was more proud of the go-round, which I won with a 221."

"I worked two cows in the go-round and three pretty good cows in the finals," said Overstreet, who worked fifth in the 14-horse finals. "I was a little worried. There were some good horses in there behind me that just had some back luck." Overstreet,who was competing at The Non Pro for the second time, marked a 218 to finish eighth, the last place to earn a check, in the NCHA-approved Non-Pro class.

"It was a good run," he said. "I had a little miss and the judges got me for it."

Bouncer Solano, a 1989 gelding by Doc's Solano out of Taris Sug by Son O Sugar, was purchased by his parents, Rawl and Sharon, from Todd and Cassye Blanks, Celina, Texas, in December 1997. The gelding, which was bred by E.C. Bryant Jr., Weatherford, Texas, and High Point, N.C., had prior earnings of over of over $59,200.

Overstreet started cutting at age 11 and has ridden horses to earnings of over $27,000, including the Non-Pro Championship on Bouncer Solano at the NCHA Chevy Truck Eastern Nationals in 2000 at Jackson, Miss.

"We're in the cattle business and I show just about every weekend, whenever I can get away from the ranch," he said. He said he was sitting seventh in the NCHA $50,000 Amateur standings, but the horse he had been showing in the class, Cranky Kid, had an infected hock that required surgery. However, the gelding is back to 100 percent and was ridden by Overstreet's sister, Jodie, at The Non Pro, where they failed to advance to the $2,000 Limit finals.

$20,000 Non-Pro

Sara Bingham, 19, who worked second in the 12-horse $20,000 Non-Pro finals, said when Assets Gay Bar was crawling on the ground to hold their first cow, "I was so happy. I knew I had the momentum going if I could keep it."

"The second cow just stepped up there and was great and I worked the third cow for just a few seconds, but it was all right in the middle, just what I wanted," said Bingham, who had marked a 216.5 in the go-round.

Assets Gay Bar, a 1984 gelding by Freckles Asset out of Last Space by Gay Bar King, was bred by Tom Baron, Azle, Texas. The gelding, which has career earnings of over $20,000, had earned only $7,000 when purchased by Allen Bingam from Justin Owen, Southlake, Texas, in May 2000.

Sara, who was Reserve Champion at last year's Freedom Youth Classic and this year's Abilene Spectacular ($20,000 Non-Pro Any Age) and Bonanza Cutting, said the gelding literally showed up on their doorstep one day.

"The Lord blessed us," she said. "A horsetrader who doesn't deal with cutting horses called my dad to help sell him. We took him to a couple of shows and decided we had better buy him. He's been great."

Allen, the nephew of Bill and Terry Riddle, was a trainer until about 12 years ago when he went into the hay business "Ironically, I trained some Freckles Asset colts but we never did come up with one that we really liked," he said.

Sara, who has been cutting about three years, is a sophomore business major at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls and plans to attend law school.

"My dad was out of it for a long time, then he and another guy partnered on a stud and took him to the Futurity," she said. "I was the loper, went to all the pre-Futurity works and I loved it. Dad told me that when they sold the stud, the next horse was mine. They sold him at the (NCHA) Derby and bought Doc's Smokestack (Pt) for my 16th birthday."

And Allen said, "The rest is history."

Allen and Judy Bingham have another daughter, Emily, who showed Assets Gay Bar in the Junior Youth at The Non Pro. Emily has been ranked seventh in the NCHA Youth and Sara is in the top 15 in the $20,000 Non-Pro, but she said "I'm not hauling. We just go every weekend, somewhere close."

$10,000 Amateur Any Age

The $10,000 Amateur Any Age, which was one of the event's largest with 71 entries, was the eighth class of the final day, and followed only by the saddle shootout, which was held shortly after midnight.

It also provided the most drama. Ralph Wade worked 16th of 20 and marked a 217.5 on Roobun, then after Booth drew a 217 while working 19th on Cals Little Uno, Debby Hubbert closed out the class by scoring a 217.5 on Smart Little Smokee.

However, the five scores for Booth ranged from 69 to 75, meaning an automatic review of his run and the eventual 220 score.

"I didn't think it was a hot quit; I thought my horse had stopped, but it was close," Booth said. "I was just out there giving it my all."

Their first cow wasn't very good, and trainer Kevin Miller said "We were a loss for cows, but Gaylon Wells picked out that brown cow (the second one)."

Booth said "It worked out great. I had great help. I owe everything to Mr. Kevin Miller."

Cals Little Uno, a 1994 mare by Smart Little Uno out of Cal Corista by Cal Bar, was purchased as a 3-year-old from the breeder, Leslie R. French, Dodge City, Kan.

The mare has career earnings of over $19,700, mostly with Miller in the saddle.

Booth said he rode bulls and bareback horses as a kid, has had horses about 15 years and although he has been trying to raise good cow horses, he has been showing only two years. He has a contstruction management business and owns the Rockin B Ranch in Havana, Ark.

A father of three grown children, he said owes a lot to his girl friend, Gayle Deese.

$2,000 Limit Rider

Nancy Graham, who worked first in the $2,000 Limit Rider finals, said she had a scary moment when she almost fell off Haidas Sugar Doc.

"I think my horse, instead of stopping, kinda ducked that shoulder and almost threw me off, but I just hung on," she said. "It was a scary ride. This is my first trip to The Non Pro and I was just ecstatic just to make the finals. I never dreamed I would have won it."

The stallion, 17, which is by Docs Sugs Brudder out of Doc's Haida by Doc Bar, has career earnings of over $159,542. He was purchased from Dick Brown, Commerce, Ga., about a month ago.

"I showed him one time (in Monroe, Ga.) to try him out," Graham said. "I had to show in the Open because he wasn't mine. I marked a 76 and won the class; I couldn't believe it. I just got my checkbook out and bought him."

A native of Dublin, Ga., she said she had not shown cutting horses until three years ago, when she married Jim Graham, who has had cutting horses for years. Jim and four brothers own Graham Brothers Contstruction Co. and own a ranch in Argentina.

"We go and stay a month at a time and I've learned a lot by going down there," Graham said.

NCHA Classes

Smart Play and Polly Hollar worked first in the 31-horse NCHA Open finals and Hollar, who said he hasn't shown the gelding a lot in the last four or five years, said "I just cut what would set up for me and let him do his thing."

"He's a pretty remarkable horse," he said. "If I can stay out of his way and cut good cows, he doesn't make mistakes."

The last time he showed the gelding in the State Fair Arena, they won the Senior Cutting at the 1994 AQHA World Show. The gelding has career earnings of over $364,500. He was shown by Terry Riddle to the Reserve Championship of the 1990 NCHA Futurity ($67,021) and 1991 NCHA Super Stakes ($37,191) and to seventh place at the 1991 NCHA Derby.

"She didn't show a lot and he was turned out in the pasture for three years," Hollar said.

Moses got the gelding "legged up" in January, then finished second in the NCHA Non-Pro and won the AQHA cutting at the Houston Livestock Show and rodeo.

"She has done real well since she started back showing him," Hollar said.

Joey Milner, Southlake, Texas, worked first and marked a 222 to take the NCHA Non-Pro lead on Pappion Cat, a horse he had just bought from Tom Warriner, West Palm Beach, Fla., as a replacement for Freckles Docs Oak, which Warriner had purchased.

Moses and Smart Play scored their 222 while working fifth in the second group, or 18th overall in the NCHA Non-Pro. "I went in there just trying to place because the scores were so high," Moses said. "I thought if I could cut clean, I could win some money. It just happened to go very good. This horse took care of me tonight. Polly is trying to keep him working good for me."

Milner said his run on Pappion Cat was "real correct."

"One cow might have been a bad cow, but he got in front of it and made it look good," he said.

His parents, Mary Jo and Jim, were leading the NCHA Non-Pro standings with $48,584.25 and $29,901.69, respectively, as of June 18, but Joey said "I haven't shown in a couple of months; I'm way down (seventh at $12,875.20).

"I'm getting close to the Hall of Fame ($150,000 in NCHA weekend money required)," said Milner, who has total career earnings of over $191,100. "I wanted something I could count on. I had tried several geldings and bought him over the phone. I bred Freckles Docs Oak and ended up selling her."

Pappion Cat, which was owned by High Ridge Ranch/Joe Montana and ridden by Kobie Wood to a tie for sixth at the 1997 NCHA Futurity, later was purchased by Kobie and Paula Wood before being sold to Warriner. The gelding, 7, by High Brow Cat out of That Smarts, has career earnings of over $208,700.

Milner and his wife, Lori, have a daughter, Jordan, 11, and two sons, Jake, 9, and Jett. He said Lori gets Pappion Cat ready for him to show.

Moses, 27, who had prior career earnings of over $194,400, is the daughter of Lannie Mecom, who was raised on a ranch and has had horses all her life. Nancy has an older sister, Betsy, and a younger brother, Bobby, who also show cutting horses.

Although her interest in horses was just weekend riding on the ranch for a long time, she has a number of significant achievements, including $50,000 Non-Pro titles at the Bonanza and Abilene Spectacular and 7-Up Non-Pro at the 1994 Steamboat Springs Cutting.

She was seventh in the 1995 NCHA Non-Pro World standings with earnings of $41,653.80 (Smart Play and Bobby Joe Clark), which included second in the Non-Pro average ($13,903) at the NCHA Finals in February 1996.

Hollar's dad was a cowboy on the famed Pitchfork Ranch and young Donald got his nickname while helping at the 6666 Ranch, where a pet parrot pestered him. He has career earnings of over $475,000.

The $10,000 Novice drew 68 entries and the issue wasn't decided until the last two groups. Hollys Little Smarty and Hillerman worked 49th, while Wold and Smart Quick Merada worked 66th.

Anderson, who has been in the business of raising and trading cutting horses for about 10 years, said he had bought a horse during the NCHA Futurity and was standing in line to pay for it when he spotted Hollys Little Smarty and purchased her.

"She blew a hock before the Futurity and wasn't shown," he said of the dun mare, now 7, which is by Smart Little Lena out of Holly Dolly Too. "X-rays showed nothing wrong, so I sent her to Greg and she got her Certificate of Ability in five shows.

"We haven't gotten a baby out of her yet, but in the meantime, I got a chance to buy her mother, bred her to Smart Little Lena and about 20 days ago, she had a dun filly."

Smart Quick Merada, by Smart Little Lena out of Lenas Quick Merada, has career earnings of over $42,700, not including 2001 NCHA championship results. He was shown by Wold to 16th place at the 2000 NCHA Futurity.

Young Guns Babe, a mare by Young Gun out of Lizzielena, and Terry Riddle marked their winning 223 while working 19th in the $3,000 Novice, which had 69 entries.

The mare, which made the Suncoast Futurity finals at Las Vegas in January, lost a cow in the first go of the NCHA Futurity and lost a cow in the second go at the Super Stakes.

"She's been kinda slow maturing," Riddle said. "She's real physical and cowwy. I've been taking her to weekend shows and it has helped her grow up."

Evan Wells said it was exciting to win in his first year in the Senior Youth. He and Lenas Flit Star worked sixth in the second group, or 18th overall in the 24-rider class to overtake Ty deCordova, who had worked sixth in the first group.

"He has fancy moves in the middle of the pen and is quick on a cow," Wells said of the 9-year-old gelding, which has career earnings of over $131,200. "It was a challenge, but I knew I had the horsepower to do it."

The gelding carried Dustin Bogard to the 1993 NCHA Futurity Amateur Championship and was ridden by Sandra Munsee to the Non-Pro Reserve Championship of the 1994 NCHA Super Stakes.

Wells, who will be in the ninth grade this fall, said he doesn't play team sports. He either rides horses or helps with the cattle each day. He's the son of a trainer, Gaylon, and Sunny Wells. In 1997, he and his older brother, Josh, now 21, swept the Youth classes at The Non Pro. Their younger brother, Gage, 7, competed at the event for the second year and finished fourth in the Junior Youth.

In the Junior Youth, Cooper Cogdell said, "I cut some wild cattle, but 'Herman' handled them. He's a fantastic horse. It was a little tough, nervewracking."

Work Smooth, 13, by Smooth Herman out of Skeeter Miss, has career earnings of over $247,300.

Cogdell's brother, Blaze, 9, was fifth with a 210.5 on Justa Streakin Peppy.

Their dad is Dick Cogdell, a former NCHA Derby Non-Pro Champion. Dick and his wife, Kippi, also have a daughter, Luchesse, 4.