Former NCHA President and Hall of Fame member Bob Mayfield, 79, of Wills Point, Tex., passed away July 26, following a lengthy illness. In his 35 years with the National Cutting Horse Association, he distinguished himself as a director, AAAA judge, breeder, and advocate for grassroots cutters.
He was active in his community, serving as president of the local school board and chamber of commerce, and was named Wills Point Citizen of the Year in 1995 and Van Zandt County Man of the Year in 2005.
Mayfield was born July 19, 1939 in Commerce, Tex., graduated from Wills Point High School, and joined the Navy in 1956.
He had never been on a horse before he became a ranch manager in Canton, Tex. in the late 1960s. He introduced cattle to the operation, and paid a trainer in hay to turn his unregistered buckskin mare into a useful ranch horse. That experience laid the foundation for him to later join NCHA.
He went to work for the Garland Fire Department and was also a member of the Wills Point Volunteer Fire Department. He is thought to be the only NCHA President to have delivered a baby in the back of a car.
Mayfield bought a concrete business in 1978 and grew it from four trucks and three employees to 50 trucks and 50 employees. He sold that business after 20 years and focused on breeding and raising cutting horses.
He began showing cutting horses at the age of 45 and won the Non-Pro Big Country Futurity on SR Lady Tari in 1987. In 1990, he was ranked in the Top 5 in the NCHA World Standings in the $20,000 Amateur class. He accumulated career earnings of $95,839.
“My background is strictly with the grassroots cutters who are dedicated to the association because of their love for the sport,” Mayfield said during his successful campaign for the NCHA vice presidency in 2005. “I’ve met many hundreds of members from across the country who come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but in all cases, cutting is the common denominator that unites them.”
He was a lifetime member of NCHA, AQHA and Cutters in Action. He served as NCHA president in 2007 and was inducted into the NCHA Members Hall of Fame in 2016.
With his wife, LaJuan, Bob Mayfield had two sons, Steve and Chris, and a stepdaughter, Jennifer.