Spencer Harden, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame member and a ground-breaking competitor and breeder, passed away March 28.

Harden was a Florida dairyman when he got involved in cutting in the late 1950s. He bought Rey’s Dixie, a 9-day-old palomino by roping sire Rey in 1959 and made her AQHA’s 1963 World Champion Junior Cutting Horse.

When he bred her to the Thoroughbred Wee Folk, the result was Wee Darlin, the second of three NCHA Futurity Non-Pro Champions he rode. Along with Wee Darlin (1975), he won the Non-Pro Futurity in 1972 on Pecos Billie, and in 1982 with another homebred, Jazabell Quixote.

Harden was one of just two NCHA Futurity Non-Pro Champions who also won the event’s Open crown. (The other was Dr. Allen Hamilton). Harden claimed that spot in the record books in 1989 with July Jazz, an unregistered son of Jazabell Quixote. July Jazz also gave him the Non-Pro Futurity reserve title that year. Harden was an early adopter of embryo transfer in the cutting horse world, and his son Mark also qualified for the 1989 NCHA Futurity Open finals riding Sons Royal Jazabell, a full sister to July Jazz.

Jazabell Quixote produced earners of more than $1.2 million, including Royal Serena Belle, the dam of  2010 NCHA Futurity Champion One Time Royalty.

In 1992, a record four Jazabell Quixote babies cashed checks at the NCHA Futurity, with Non-Pro finalists Jazz Em Up (Gil Porter) and Jazzy Joe Lena (Mark Harden) and Non-Pro semi-finalist Chickasha Jazz (Monty Johnson) and Open semi-finalist Beau Jazz (Spencer Harden).

When asked about his consistent success as a rider, Harden, who left Florida to devote more attention to raising cutting horses in Texas, said, “I’m not riding what people bring me to ride. I have some faith in my breeding program. I’m riding horses that I have a little knowledge about, and some background in.

“I don’t have that many to train. When I train one and go to a show with it, I’m pretty well satisfied that I’ve got a trained horse. And I was satisfied before I started training it that I had something to train.”

Harden earned a standing ovation for his ride in the NCHA Futurity Champions Cup, which drew a packed house to Will Rogers Coliseum marking the 50th NCHA Futurity in 2011.

In a 1993 interview, he told me, “I’ve been in the business all my adult life. I’ve had a lot of disappointments, and I’ve had a lot of great things happen. You just have to hope that a little more good than bad comes along to keep you going.”

Services for Spencer Harden are pending.