NCHA Hall of Fame Rider Larry Reeder, 69, of Cross Plains, Texas, died August 22, following a lengthy illness.
Known for his work ethic, and his allegiance to the history and traditions of cutting, Reeder won the NCHA Futurity on Lynx Melody in 1978.
Larry Reeder came to understand the pursuit of excellence at a tender age, when his father, Sid, took him along to pick up a colt. “We went in this pen and there were probably twenty colts in there,” Reeder once said. “I was just a little boy, but my father asked me which one I liked. Then he picked a colt. I don’t remember if it was the same one I liked, but I remembered that and always worried whether when I got older, I would be able to pick out the best horse.”
Growing up on a West Texas ranch during the 1940s and 1950s, Reeder had an opportunity to evaluate a lot of horseflesh. His father was the sheriff of Borden County, which in 1945 had a population of 1,106 people, 1,076 horses and mules, and more than 22,000 head of cattle. Gail, where Reeder was born, was the only town in the entire 914-square mile county. By the time he was 15, Reeder had become a solid hand, tracking cattle and doctoring them for screw worms in the rugged, dense brush of Borden County.
Reeder had never ridden a cutting horse when he got a job breaking colts for Matlock Rose in 1969. “It was ground floor for me,” he said. “I’d never been where horses were kept in stalls and had blankets put on them. I’d never even seen it.
“Matlock tried you hard,” he added. “I guess he wanted to see how much grit you had and how much you wanted to learn. That’s probably the reason we got along good. I wasn’t afraid of work.”
It was through Matlock’s recommendation that Reeder ended up in California, first working for Hadden Salt, then striking out on his own with a pair of first-rate horses that launched his career as a public trainer. The first was Cal Bar, owned by Pete Mattioli. The seven-year-old stallion had already distinguished himself as the Reserve World Champion Stock Horse and All-Around Horse. But after just seven months with Reeder, Cal Bar was on his way to becoming the Pacific Coast Open and Novice Cutting Horse of 1974, and he set a record for novice horse earnings.
“Then that same year, I got a horse by the name of Jay Freckles that Buster Welch had trained,” Reeder said. “I showed him for third in the NCHA Maturity. Those two gave me a real start.”
Reeder spotted Lynx melody at the 1977 Futurity Sale and Billy Cogdell bought the little mare for just $6,500.
“When I rode her, she was carrying about 250 pounds altogether with tack,” Reeder said. “It always amazed me that a mare weighing in at a mere 750 to 800 pounds could work so easy with my size and that weight.”
“I knew I had something special,” he added. “She was a mare that could really run and stop. And she’d come back to a cow and have a pretty little way about her. I’ve had horses that I’ve won a lot more money on, but the purses were bigger,” he added. “She definitely goes in the with the greatest.”
In 1980, Reeder rode Paloma Quixote to third place in the NCHA Futurity while Lindy Burch was the catch-rider, and champion, on another Reeder trainee, Mis Royal Mahogany. The next year, nine of Reeder’s charges qualified for the Futurity semi-finals, with five of them advancing to the finals.
Among Reeder’s most famous horses were Lynx Star Lady, a Futurity reserve champion that earned over $340,000, and Royal Blue Boon, a Super Stakes reserve champion that went on to become the sport’s all-time leading broodmare.
“A horse and a man are a lot alike,” he once said. “It’s something inside that makes you want to work. If a man’s got staying power, he’ll reach down and get his bootstraps and go another mile. A good horse is the same way. It’s all mental. One man can think he’s dead tired and give up. Another man can be tired, but he’s not going to give up. He’s going to go on. That’s the way good horses are.”
Funeral services handled by Bell Seale Funeral Home will be on Thursday, August 29 at 1pm at East Side Church of Christ in Snyder, Texas. Burial will be afterwards in Gail, Texas.
The Larry Reeder Memorial Fund will support crisis funding through Cutters In Action. Send donations to NCHA Charities Foundation designating “Larry Reeder,” 260 Bailey Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76107.