Brian Pearse is certainly no stranger to the NCHA World Finals. In 2016 he made the finals in both the $2,000 Limit Rider and $15,000 Amateur. In 2017 he was crowned the champion of the $35,000 Non Pro, and this year he is back in the $35,000 Non Pro, sitting fourth with $8,692 in earnings. In addition, he will be competing in the $50,000 Amateur, where he is currently fourteenth, with $16,435 in winnings. A regular fixture in the world finals circle, Pearse says he is most c

As I type this the final shows of the 2018 season are underway, with November 16th being the cut off for weekend haulers attempting to make the NCHA World Finals. Hailey Schafer, of Arizona, has officially "made it", currently sitting sixth in the 15,000 Amateur class with $6,812 in earnings. No stranger to the Watt Arena, Schafer was Reserve Champion in the 2,000 Limit Rider in 2017, with the help of her great horse, Smart Chula Dual. Western Twist Media sits down with Haile

Another Canadian makes an appearance on Haulin' today! Amanda Smith is a consummate competitor, and the pairing of Amanda and her great gelding, I'm Short And Smooth, is always one of my favourite's to watch. Currently hauling in the NCHA 25,000 Novice Horse Non Pro, the pair are sitting 9th with $12,981 won in 24 shows. Since Amanda and I sat down for this interview she has headed South, making appearances in Arizona and Waco, and is well on her way to making NCHA World Fina

Deb Harrison is taking the 5,000 Novice Horse Non Pro by storm this year. Currently sitting second in the NCHA World Standings with $17,628 won in 26 shows on her home-grown mare, Sophisticated Rey. Harrison, a successful and recognized veterinarian that specializes in equine reproduction, is finishing out the year in Arizona before she makes the final leg of the trip to Fort Worth, Texas. Western Twist Media sits down with fellow Canadian, Harrison, about the ups-and-downs o

Tulsa Beck is currently sitting third in the NCHA 2,000 LR World Finals standings. Alongside the gelding, Mr. Willy Dual, Beck is making sure that her first year in the show pen is a big one. However, Beck is already "seasoned" when it comes to cutting horses, as she works for NCHA Hall of Fame trainer, Tim Smith. At Western Twist Media, we have a soft spot for haulers, but especially one's that are lopers too. We'll let Tulsa take over and tell you about her year, and her be

With the NCHA World Finals on the horizon, Madison Melasky of Groesbeck, Texas, is sitting pretty in the 15,000 Amateur standings. As we go to press, with thirty shows under her belt and $6,701 won, she has found herself comfortably sitting at third out of the top fifteen. Third is a familiar placing for Melasky who placed in the top three in the Senior Youth this year, finishing the year with 109 youth points on two horses DR Cuzin and Smarty's Star. We sat down with Melasky

As the race heats up for the NCHA World Finals, it is not uncommon to scan the lists of top 15 riders across all weekend classes and determine that a large majority are coming from one barn, Mike Wood Performance Horses in Scottsdale, Arizona. The barn churns out a record amount of world finalists every year, and for the last three consecutive years, the 2,000 Limit Rider World Champion has come from their barn. This year, it seems that Mary Penner is going to be able to cont

In 2016 Dannica Percevich and her horse Smooth (ImASmoothLittleCat) took home the title of Denver Nationals 50,000 Amateur Champions, fast forward to 2018 and she has her site sights on a world title. Photo Credit: Ted Petit Photography What is your horses registered name? I am showing 2 horses right now - ImASmoothLittleCat in the $15k Amateur and Wild Haired Lilly in the $35k Non Pro. How is your horse bred? Smooth (ImASmoothLittleCat) is sired by Smooth As A Cat and out of

Fun fact, I bartend a few banquets at a golf course every month. I started doing it for an old manager of mine from my serving days last summer and really liked it. It was super easy, great hours, super chill and I got to walk away with some extra money. It wasn't like my serving days when I would think about lighting myself, and all my customers, and everyone I worked with, on fire. :) So this summer when he asked me if I'd do it again, even though I didn't really have too,

Slightly pin-eared, tail swishing around, pushy Canadian cattle shoving us back into the herd, but we're still out here doing the damn thing. Photo Credit: Roughstock Studio Cutting, it's the variables that get ya and make you question why we do this insanely expensive sport. Those variable that weasel into your brain and tap dance around in that category labelled "mental toughness." From questioning your physical and mental capacities, to questioning your horses abilities an

Just riding a unicorn, thinking about how I'd probably sell my soul to the devil to do this everyday. Photo Credit: Callaghan Creative Co. Cutting. It sucks. Like, really sucks. I know, you are probably thinking the cows, the ridiculously expensive horses, the fact you need a trainer, the hauling, the cost... Nope. none of that. Not this time around anyways... *refer to all the old Beginner's post if you want to hear me whine about other reasons why cutting sucks* It's th

I could tell you a Cinderella story, the trainers kid on her beloved aged event horse wins one of the biggest aged events in Canada, The Calgary Futurity Non Pro Classic. Yet I think it’s the struggle that makes the Cinderella stories all that more magical in the end, wouldn’t you agree? Emma Reinhardt and Miss Smoke Is Smooth had a year of ups and downs, and through the process learned what it means to become a team, stepping up to the plate, and what it takes to be a champi

I'm going dark people. I'm shutting down the blog for a month. Okay, I'm being dramatic, but I am going to stop posting for a little bit. I want to finish the website i've been working on for.. ya know.. a year and I want to re-evaluate my content and start publishing regular monthly series on more of a schedule. I've slowly moved away from telling the stories of celebrated competitors, and I want to bring that back into the fold, but in a different way. And, of course, I w

1. You head out for dinner with friends, and wonder if the Multiple Elastic Bands on your wrist are a socially acceptable form of jewellery 2. Leggings are a style of shotgun chap, not the tight yoga pant variety 3. What are "Show Saddles" and "Show Bridles"? If people mean that old Roo-Hide you use on atleast five horses per day at home then yeah, that's a show saddle because it made it to the show. 4. Herd-Side and Cow-Side make a hell of a lot more sense to you than Left,

Bringing it back to the OG puking unicorn that started it all for The Beginner's Guide Here it is, a curated list of 6 resolutions for all you amazing novice competitors sparkle throwing, cow-cutting unicorns, out there looking forward to a successful new year in the show pen! 1.Thou Shall Not Switch Training Programs After One Bad Run I know... you bought this magical unicorn that used to mark 75's like it was easy with its previous rider. You spent a lot of money. You're he

Oh, you were starting to think I only interview Canadian riders these days? Who I, ahem, ...know personally. Well ya thought wrong! In honour of the NCHA World Finals having kicked off, and the first go-round of the 2,000 Limit Rider starting tomorrow (Wednesday the 29th), I asked Jameson Grimes if he'd be interested in taking part in the blog. Jameson is the Assistant Trainer at Mike Wood Performance Horses in Scottsdale, Arizona and he is currently number one in the world i

Cheylin Patenaude may be young, but she is fierce competition in the show pen. This year she made sure her presence was known by consistently topping the leaderboard at shows across Canada with her dynamic mare, Gracies Cat. Cheylin worked hard to rise to the top - showing her horse, helping out loping horses at shows, all the while still in school, and always maintaining a humble and kind attitude. When people say, "that's a good kid", I tend to think of Cheylin. Plus, her a

Meteoric. That's a word you could use to describe the year Kate Rusnack had in the 2,000 Limit Rider with her gelding, Bet This Cats Smart. You could also include words such as... awesome, tough-to-beat, and awesome to watch. This duo was undeniable from the minute they cracked out at their first NCHA show this spring. The pair warranted their fair share of hype from the get-go. Bet This Cats Smart is a bit of a celebrity in Canadian circles, having had a very successful aged

If you interview one Roberts (aka our interview last week, Stacey Roberts), you should probably interview the other. Meet Dustin Roberts - husband to Stacey, dad to Sloan, has some great one-liners, is an all-around nice guy, and oh yeah... can be a pretty tough competitor in the cutting horse pen. When I first met Dusty (... am I allowed to call you by your barn name in this post?!) I remember thinking he had nerves of fricken' steel. The guy used to ride broncs back in the

Stacey Roberts, Okotoks, Alberta, recently placed top five in Alberta in the 2,000 Limit Rider and also made the Okotoks Novice Challenge finals this year. Stacey has had her ups and downs showing in the 2,000 Limit, just like the the rest of us, but this year during the Okotoks Classic I remember watching her ride her gelding, Two Spot, like he was a damn Mercuria horse and thinking to myself, "this girl is going to do something big next year." She definitely has what it tak