While researching my upcoming book, Cutting Horse Gold: 50 Years of the NCHA Futurity, I uncovered some interesting facts and footnotes. For example, Leon Harrel and Ronnie Rice are tied for the longest span – 31 years – between their first and their most recent NCHA Futurity finals performances.
Since 1970, when he showed Doc’s Date Bar at age 29 to place fourth, Harrel, 70, has competed in 16 NCHA Futurity finals with 11 top 10 finishes, including two championships, two reserve championships, and two thirds.
Ronnie Rice, 59, showed his first NCHA Futurity finalist, Dry Doc 15, in 1977 at age 25. He has qualified for the finals on 21 mounts and earned top 10 finishes on 15 of them, including two championships, one reserve, and three thirds. He also qualified two finalists in each of five separate years.
Here’s the breakdown of NCHA Futurity finalists for Harrel and Rice:
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
