Susan Reed Lane grew up loving everything equine so when she was first introduced to reined cow horses as an adult, she knew she had to pursue it. Susan started out sorting and team penning. When the sport folded in her area about 10 years ago, she really missed it and looked further afield. But no
The pinnacle of cow horses is the bridle horse. “The bridle horse is the finished product,” Randy Paul said. Paul is an NRCHA $522,165 earner and has won $1 million in the NRHA. He is also a bit maker. He doesn’t have a website but his bits are a favorite among the cow horse community.
Carrey marking his first 70! Photo by: Performance Horse Photography Carrey Gunderman grew up in Wyoming and had a family friend who was a horse trainer. Gunderman thought reining was the coolest sport until that friend told him he had to check out reined cow horses. Gunderman did and he loved what
Total Earnings: $420,916 Shane Steffen got into cow horses the year he got married. He had never even heard of cow horses until then. His sister-in-law had attended the Snaffle Bit Futurity in years past and invited the Steffens to come along. He thought it looked like a neat sport that he could try.
The exquisite craftsmanship is evident in Randy Paul’s bits. There’s a reason an entire sport has developed from a bit. “The snaffle bit, for me, is probably one of the most important pieces of equipment we have. I start all my horses in a snaffle and I think my main purpose is
Kelly Woodworth was working for a ranch when he spied the NRCHA magazine they received. After seeing the pictures, it ignited his imagination. He saved his money and took a trip to California to take a job working for a cow horse trainer. The first trainer said he didn’t ride well enough. As he
Total Earnings: $220,086 Jared Jones grew up on a ranch in Idaho and has been riding since he could walk. His brother got into cow horses and Jones had always watched. At 22 he went to work for Clayton Edsall where he got some show experience. He then moved on to work for Justin
Jesse Lennox and Spots Hottist at the Summer Spectacular in 2021 Developing mastery over the mind game in any sport is probably the hardest thing any competitor has to learn. So this month we bring you a story about a top cutting horse trainer, Jesse Lennox, who has developed a detailed system that has
Jessica and Billi Rey Photo By: Inflecture Photography/ Noah Fletcher Jessica Strayer attended horse camps as a kid, igniting a passion for life. She always wanted to do more than just trail riding and had dreams of competing in the show pen. A friend introduced her to reining as an adult but after a
Total Earnings: $650,337 Erin Taormino moved from Canada to Texas to pursue a career in the all around circuit. After meeting and working for Ron Ralls, she was introduced to cow horses. She fell in love with the sport and never looked back. She went on to work for Todd
Todd Crawford, NRCHA Hall of Fame member and $2.7 million earner. It may seem counter intuitive, but top trainer Todd Crawford teaches his horses to stop by teaching them how to run. “I believe the stop is all about how well you can run. If you don’t run well your chances of stopping certainly
Timothy Brock had always wanted his own horse and when he finally got one, it did not go well. After he got out of college, he looked for help. He came across natural horsemanship and the method made an impression on him. He learned more about how horses think which helped him improve his own
