which “Travelin’ Jonez” placed second.
It was a phenomenal feat of mental
toughness and consistency. He ended the
year making the Open NRCHA Snaffle
Bit Futurity finals on both horses he was
competing on there; putting his 2013
earnings to $164,158.32!!!
I have been fortunate enough to have had
a lot of opportunities in a short amount
of time in the US. Two months after I
started training Reined Cow Horses
in the US, I competed at my first Cow
Horse event in the Limited Open Bridle
Class aboard ‘Big Chex R Bueno’ - I was
Reserve Champion. One month later I
had an opportunity to show ‘AR Smart
Little Cat’, a mare by ‘Smooth As A Cat’,
to take home the 2012 Colorado Reined
Cow Horse Association Level 1 Open
Derby Championship, cementing in my
mind that I had made the right decision
in taking a risk, investing in myself and
in Chris Dawson’s program!
Lee & Shiners Mighty Mite SRCHA Fort Worth 2014 Photo Fletch Final
Photo Primo
It was great to be a part of a winning
program and to witness his success story
first hand. His success and achievements
continued into 2014, with multiple final’s
placings and a Reserve Championship at
the Snaffle Bit Futurity aboard ‘Shiney
Nu Annie’. He then went on to win the
2014 NRCHA World Show Derby on
the same mare, ‘Shiney Nu Annie’ (a
full sister to Shiney N Nu). So far, in
2015, Chris has been equally dominant,
with final’s placings at every major
NRCHA event and taking home the Open
Championship at the NRCHA Derby
aboard Carol Rose’s stallion ‘Reys A
Shine’.
father and mother, Andrew Deacon and
and Farren Hightower, all of which are
I credit a lot of my early success in the
Charlean Rayner, for their never
continuously helping each other get
Reined Cow Horse to my Australian
ending support, advice and
better as horsemen. The
experience in Reining, Stockman’s
encouragement. Mr. David Briggs,
Challenges and Campdrafting!
for the multiple opportunities
on
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