Open Bridle Spectacular
Highlighted by a blazing 228 fence work score, Shawn Hays, Nocona, Texas, rode Shine Smartly (Shining Spark x Smartly Dressed x Smart Little Lena) to the first annual Holy Cow $50,000 Open Bridle Spectacular Championship. The herd, rein and fence work competition wrapped up Saturday, June 19, in conjunction with the NRCHA Derby in Paso Robles, Calif. Hays bested a field of 23 entries for the $30,100 Championship check.
When Hays and Shine Smartly stepped into the arena for the cow work, they needed a huge run – at least a 226 – to move ahead of the leaders, and eventual Reserve Champions, Jon Roeser and Mister Smart Remedy (Mister Dual Pep x Ima Smart Remedy), who had a 655.5 composite.
“I knew it had to be really big. I wanted to stay on the end long enough to take some air out of the cow – and it was a tricky cow to read. I had a hard time getting him set up and I thought I messed a good cow up,” Hays said. “It was a great cow and was all I could ask for. That’s how you mark big scores – with a great cow and a great horse.”
The 228 fence work elevated Hays and Shine Smartly to a total score of 658. Earlier in the week, the pair earned a 212 in the herd work and posted a solid 218 down the fence.
The event was sponsored by Nancy Crawford-Hall, owner of Holy Cow Performance Horses, Santa Ynez, Calif. She established the bridle spectacular – now the richest NRCHA-produced event of its kind – in memory of her beloved stallion, CD Survivor (CD Olena x Have A Lil Lena x Peppy San Badger). “Clark,” an NRCHA Supreme Reined Cow Horse, was injured in an accident and euthanized last May. Besides the significant paycheck, the name of each Holy Cow Open Bridle Spectacular Champion will be engraved on the CD Survivor Memorial Trophy, a scaled-down replica of the famous “Great Western Tradition” bronze by Doug Israelsen, to be permanently displayed at Holy Cow Performance Horses.
Shine Smartly, nicknamed “Flower,” is owned by Hays’ wife, Tammy Jo, and her father, Walter Greeman. The 1999 mare had been on broodmare leave since 2007, after Hays rode her to a World’s Greatest Horseman Reserve finish.
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