PG . 18
AQHA FEATURE
OWNER SPOTLIGHT - RACHEL CAMPBELL -
RELIVING THE NIGHT HER MARE WHIZA LIL CASH ( LIL JOE CASH X WHIZ ME LUCK ) WON THE $ 50,000 REINING AUSTRALIA 2022 GOLD BUCKLE FUTURITY IN A THRILLING RUN OFF , RACHEL CAMPBELL CAN STILL FEEL THE EMOTIONS OF THAT MOMENT .
ARTICLE BY : KERRI BEHRENS © 2022 • PHOTO BY : KEN ANDERSON EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY
“ It was like seeing your child for the first time on the big stage , you know they are nervous , and you feel for them . My heart was in my mouth every second , for every manoeuvre ,” Rachel recalls .
“ Then the crowd goes silent waiting for the score it ’ s a 218 ! On my god it ’ s a tie - what do I do now ?” she laughs .
“ It was surreal . Watching John and Ashleigh warming up their horses next to one another , knowing how much this meant to both of them .”
“ I can still feel the adrenaline of the run off and the stress of not knowing because the points were held until the presentation .”
Winning a Futurity is the pinnacle of success for most owners and breeders so the significance of achieving this on their first attempt is not lost on Rachel and her husband Kenton .
“ Being our first year having a crack at it and the fact we had two mares competing in the Futurity , we were hoping for top ten finishes . So after the win we were like – did that just happen ?”
Horses have always been a part of Rachel ’ s life , but it was a chance meeting with Quarter Horse Stallion Dr House that led her to the sport of Reining .
“ He was beautiful . His owner said he did Reining and directed me to YouTube to check it out ,” Rachel said .“ I watched it and thought – that ’ s the sport for me . It looked like so much fun and the horses looked like they were having fun too .”
Firmly hooked , Rachel threw herself into finding everything she could about the sport and so began the dream to bred and campaign open level reining horses . Researching the industry and bloodlines included a trip to the US visiting Reining royalty the McCutcheon ’ s and EE
Ranches , INC and led to placing her first-foal crop with John and Angie Wicks for training .
“ John and Angie started Bellatrix ( Whiza Lil Cash ) and she was doing well then went off . So , they gave her to their groom Madi Gauci to ride for 12 months and teach her the basics .”
“ In the meantime , Reining Australia changed the Futurity from a three-year old to a four-year old which meant she still had a chance .”
“ That extra year really helped her mature . When John took her back 12 months ago , she was ready to learn .”
With her ability to learn quickly and the confidence in which she performs her job , Rachel believes we are yet to see the best of Whiza Lil Cash .
“ She will keep competing for the next few years and then we will breed her . I ’ m a strong advocate for mare power as I don ’ t think we give mares the credit they deserve ,” she said .
The Campbell ’ s other mare Sheza Lil Gun ( Sheza Lil Wimpy x Colonels Shining Gun ) came 7th in the 2022 Gold Buckle Futurity with John . Interestingly , Rachel met the sires of both her mares - Lil Joe Cash and Colonels Shining Gun - at EE Ranch in Texas back in 2017 .
“ Looking back now , we didn ’ t know then just how much these beautiful stallions would change our lives .”
With aspirations to match her passion for the sport and backed by a team of dedicated professionals the owner of the futurity winning mare is just getting started .
“ The ultimate dream is to send a home-bred horse to America . Imagine an Australian Quarter Horse winning the Run For A Million ,” enthuses Rachel . “ It would be like the America ’ s Cup all over again .”
AUSTRALIAN QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION - WWW . AQHA . COM . AU