Diane Foster, a special ed teacher from Harrisburg, IL, cinched the $20,000 Non-Pro championship with a 222-point performance Monday, on Smart Cinch Olena. Foster and her gelding also won the title in 2008.
“The more aggressive I am, the harder this horse works,” said Foster, who benefited from the help of trainer Zeke Entz during the show, and tied for the second-highest score of the go-round with 216 points.
Foster, who used to show reining and reined cow horses, switched to cutting after Smart Cinch Olena demonstrated a talent for the sport.
“His mama was a cutter and he was so much better at the cutting part (of the reined cow horse) that I decided to switch over,” said Foster, who has owned the 11-year-old Smart Chic Olena son since he was three. Rick Jackson trained the horse that was shown by Dell Bell as reserve champion Senior Cutting Horse at the 2007 AQHA World Show.
Foster and Smart Cinch Olena are also entered in the $50,000 Amateur and Non-Pro go-rounds.
Zac Knowles, Springfield, TN, claimed reserve of the $20,000 Non-Pro with 217 points aboard Glows, the horse he rode to place third in the 2008 Eastern National Senior Youth division.
“I knew I had a good horse and a good shot to do well,” said Knowles, 20, a student at Western Kentucky University. Glows, a 9-year-old gelding by Smart Lil Ricochet, was shown through limited age events to earn over $220,000 by then non-pro rider Skip Queen. Knowles has owned Glows since late 2007.
Middleton takes $15,000 Novice/Non-Pro
Lauren Middleton
Lauren Middleton, Flora, MS, who won the Eastern National Non-Pro championship on Widows Freckles, when she was 15, topped a strong field, including her future mother-in-law, Kelle Chartier, to win the $15,000 Novice, Non-Pro with 219 points.
“It was tough and there weren’t many good cows, but he’s such a good horse and smart about a cow, so I was pretty confident,” said Middleton of Cees Little Poo, an 8-year-old gelding by SR Instant Choice, who she showed as reserve champion of the 2008 NCHA Classic Challenge Non-Pro Limited and as a finalist in the Southern Futurity Non-Pro Classic.
This year’s Eastern National Championship has been somewhat of a family affair for Middleton, whose future brother-in-law, Scott Chartier, won the $2,000 Limited Rider championship earlier in the week. Lauren and Scott’s brother, Cullen, are getting married this year, on October 16.
Kelle Chartier, mother of Scott and Cullen, as well as trainer R.L. Chartier, and wife of trainer Randy, scored 215 points to tie with Swiss native Constance Jaeggi and Jason McClure, Hayesville, NC, for the reserve championship.
Chartier rode 7-year-old Miss Rey Hickory, by Dual Rey; Jaeggi was aboard Explicit Lyrics, by CD Olena; while McClure rode SS Shooting CR Cat, by High Brow Cat.
McClure, 25, was reserve champion of the 2007 NCHA Non-Pro Futurity on Jaebars Miss Quixote.
“I got really lucky and cut clean and they were real good cows,” said McClure, who raised and trained 5-year-old SS Shooting CR Cat, one of 22 cutting horses that he owns.
Jaeggi, 19, a freshman at Texas Christian University, who rides with trainer Chubby Turner, was 2009 NCHA Rookie of the Year. She and Explicit Lyrics were also finalists in the $20,000 Non-Pro division on Monday.
“She’s the princess in the barn,” said Jaeggi of Explicit Lyrics. “We just click.”
Robert Fullwood
Fullwood wins $5,000 Novice/Non-Pro
Robert Fullwood, Como, MS, scored 218 points for the championship win in the $5,000 Novice/Non-Pro. Marcy Blanchard, Bebe, TX, claimed reserve with 216 points on Lena Dulces 004, by Dulces Smart Lena.
“My second cow was scary, but I think that’s where my points came from because she had to run and stop,” said Fullwood of his performance on 6-year-old Colored Child, by Playdox.
Fullwood, owner of a construction and landscape business, was co-champion of the 2008 Eastern National $50,000 Amateur championship riding Playdox Honey, also by Playdox.
