National Barrel Horse Association

Amanda Rutledge, Waller, Texas and her 14-year-old black gelding Tidy Fortune left no doubt about who was the leader of the pack of 257 Open entries competing at the 2006 National Barrel Horse Assn. Cowboy National Championships held April 15-16 in Waco, Texas. Running unbeatable times of 14.686, 14.606 and 14.480 Rutledge made a clean sweep of both long go rounds and the finals for checks totaling $2,623.

The Easter weekend event paid out $40,714 of which $13,000 was added money provided by the hosting NBHA headquartered in Augusta, Ga. With $10,000 added in the Open, 257 entries were on the books trying to win a share of the $34,287 paid out. Ninety-seven Youth entries competed for a $4,377 purse while 50 Seniors ran for a $2,050 total purse. Each Open entry received two runs with the top 10 times from each division from each go round advancing to the finals where the championships were determined. Youth and Senior entries received only one run. By the time the last horse had pulled up in the alley on Easter Sunday evening, a total of 733 runs had been made during the 2-day event.

National titles were completely dominated by the ladies with all 12 going to Texas cowgirls. Based on Rutledge's fast time in the Open finals of 14.480, Martha Burnett, Odessa, Texas topped the 2D with a 14.994 aboard Titans Trophy Jet. A 15.489 clocked by Mary Bonogofsky, Lampasas, Texas, riding Cash Lenas Chex earned her the 3D Open championship. The closest to the mark in the 4D was Heather Patterson, Albany, Texas who rode Hanks Gamble to a time of 16.705.

Youth 1D Winner, Kelly Allen

Kelly Allen, Hillsboro, Texas packed a one-two punch in the Youth race winning first with a 15.012 aboard Moons Last Frenchman and second with a 15.041 aboard her ever consistent and ever solid black gelding Special K Edition. Keying off of Allen's 15.012 was Youth 2D champion Taylor Green, Dripping Springs, Texas with a 15.590 turned in riding Darkmoon Type. A 16.019 was the right time to put Tyana Garza, Stockdale, Texas in the Youth 3D winner's circle with her prized mount Sister. Vanessa Vasek, Hallettsville, Texas turned a 17.151 into a Youth 4D NBHA National championship riding Hancocks Red Poco.

Senior 1D Champion Royena Thompson

The resumes of three of the four Cowboy Nationals Senior champs—Royena Thompson, Mary Bonogofsky and Jeanne Sprague—showed a common thread of not only being top notch riders but also registered nurses. Thompson, from Kaufman, Texas, led the field of Senior runners with a 15.050 aboard her ever faithful Paint gelding Bare Exposure. Transplanted Texan Mary Bonogofsky, Lampasas double dipped at the Cowboy Nationals by not only winning the Open 3D championship but also the Senior 2D title, again riding Cash Lenas Chex with a time of 15.551 in the Seniors. Sprague, who gets her mail in Greenville, Texas, rode Tigers Tru Image to the Senior 3D championship with a time of 16.197. Rounding out the list of well known veteran Senior champions was Linda Brune, Valley Mills, Texas who toured the course in 17.102 to earn the Senior 4D honors aboard Genuine Six.

OPEN CHAMPIONS

Open 1D champion Amanda Rutledge showed no mercy on the competition at the 2006 Cowboy Nationals. To add insult to injury, her 14-year-old gelding Tidy Fortune aka Fortune quickened his pace on each succeeding run.

NBHA announcer Alan Moorhead, Beech Island, S.C. summed it up cleverly over the microphone when he said after her run in the finals, "Amanda couldn't have made a cleaner sweep if she'd had a broom tied to her horse's tail."

Winning the first go with a 14.686 paid Rutledge $566. Being fast enough to eliminate all but seven in the 1D in the second go round with a 14.606 brought her paycheck to $615. Laying down the fastest time of the entire event in the finals of 14.480 closed the 1D to only five money winners and earned her $1,442. Checks totaling $2,623 were inside her Wranglers pocket as she walked into the winner's circle to accept her Tex Tan trophy saddle and Gist belt buckle.

"I think Fortune worked better this weekend than he ever has," a significant statement since Rutledge is not one to brag about her numerous wins. "He likes this arena and we both have a lot of confidence when we run here. I've been to all the D&G barrel races here so we've made quite a few runs in here."

Describing her three runs as basically the same, Rutledge felt her finals run was faster because it was Fortune's second run of the day.

"The first go of the Open was on Saturday and the second go was on Sunday morning," explained Rutledge. "They ran the Youth and then came back with the Open finals late Sunday afternoon. I don't like running my horse twice in one day and wouldn't have here except I ran early on Sunday morning and he had plenty of time to rest before the finals. He came back strong in the finals and really ran hard to the first barrel. But all of his runs here were just about as good as you could ask for. I'm certainly proud of him."

Texas' Open 1D star is a working lady who started running barrels only twelve years ago at about the same time she began working for the Waller County Sheriffs Office where she is still employed as an Administrative Assistant. Her husband, Mike Rutledge, is a Waller County Deputy Sheriff and shares a common interest in horses enjoying team roping for his competition. He often is a part of the D&G ground crew at their barrel racing productions.

Rutledge credits Mike for finding her dream horse while patrolling the Waller County countryside. Friends had given Rutledge an older barrel horse that had got her hooked on the sport. He had been recently killed when a group of horses ran him through a fence in the pasture. Mike was keeping an eye out for something he thought might make his wife a good, young, replacement barrel horse.

"Mike saw several horses in a pasture and really liked Fortune's looks," related Rutledge. "He drove to the people's house where the horses were and asked if Fortune was for sale. They quoted him a high price but we went and looked at him anyway but decided it was too much money for a 4-year-old that was only race track broke. Probably six months later Mike noticed all the horses were gone and drove back up to the house and learned that the husband had died and the wife had taken all the horses to a nearby vet facility to sell. She was asking only half of what the original price was so we bought him."

Being a colt with a lot of snort, he promptly dumped Mike the first time he tried to get in the saddle. After two weeks of riding, Fortune was sent to Kim Jackson, Bellville, Texas for two months of basic training. After that, it was Rutledge who finished him as a barrel horse.

"I just took him slow and didn't push him," said Rutledge who had only ridden one other barrel horse in her life. "I took him and made exhibition runs and just kept him calm and quiet. He's the type of horse that you have to handle carefully because even today at age 14 I think he could be blown up."

With a husband, two sons, Cody 19 and Tyler 15, and a full time job, Rutledge has found NBHA, D&G, BBR and other 4D events better suited for her than rodeoing.

"I'm picky about the ground I run him on and I've gotten accustomed to going where the ground is good and where they work it after every five runners," said Rutledge. "Our oldest son is in the Army and I knew last year was his last year to be home so I didn't rodeo much and our youngest son competes in high school rodeos so it works better for me to go to 4D events."

In recent years Rutledge has turned down several generous offers to sell Fortune and her phone has likely been ringing after the Cowboy Nationals. But she has no plans to pocket the cash.

"Mike has been behind me in not selling him," said Rutledge. "Fortune is like part of the family and paid for himself many, many years ago. No one would treat him like I do, so he'll die on our place. We enjoy the wins he's brought us and he's my best friend."

Open 2D champion Martha Burnett, Odessa, Texas, spends her days training barrel horses while her husband, Howard Burnett, is out working as a pumper in the nearby oil fields. Judging from the runs she turned in at the Cowboy Nationals aboard her 5-year-old mare Titans Trophy Jet aka Jet, her training techniques are working.

"All three of my runs were good at the Cowboy Nationals," said Burnett. "I felt I could do better if I rode Jet better. When I show her right, she does great."

Burnett credits the Lord and her husband for being the most responsible for her barrel racing success and lists her friend and neighbor Sheila Zant as her most admired barrel racer. "Sheila has such tremendous faith in the Lord and I admire her for the way she shares it."

Open 3D champion Mary Bonogofsky, Lampasas, Texas is no stranger to the winner's circle although many of her barrel racing credentials were earned while living in the cold country of Carson, N.D. In 1988 she was the top Badlands Circuit champion in the Women's Professional Rodeo Assn. and in 1989 she followed in the footsteps of Charmayne James and Deb Mohon to become the third Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo barrel racing champion.

Bonogofsky rode her 9-year-old bay gelding Cash Lenas Chex aka Nephew to her win at the NBHA Cowboy Nationals in Waco. Nephew is a nephew to Bonogofsky's great palomino gelding Tucker who took her to the majority of her career wins. It was the bloodlines that attracted her to buy Nephew.

"His dam is a full sister to my last good barrel horse, Tucker," said Bonogofsky. "I bought him for that reason. He was a successful Futurity and Derby horse before I started running him in rodeos and 4D events."

The youngest Open champion by twenty-eight years, 15-year-old Heather Patterson, Albany, Texas, was the only teenager in the Open winner's circle at the 2006 Cowboy Nationals. Ironically, she was riding one of the oldest horses of any entry—24-year-old Hanks Gamble aka Hankster.

Patterson credits getting into the arena without any trouble in the alley as a primary reason she was able to win her first trophy saddle as the Open 4D champion. "He also turned all three barrels excellent," said Patterson. "He gives his all every time I run him."

A high school tenth grader, Patterson enjoys playing softball and learning to rope when not barrel racing.

YOUTH CHAMPIONS

Youth 1D champion Kelly Allen, Hillsboro, Texas has to consider herself a hometown entry when she competes at any event in Waco since she lives only 45 minutes away. The short haul certainly agreed with her 6-year-old mare Moons Last Frenchman. In fact it also agreed with her black gelding Special K Edition who earned her second place in the Youth 1D. Her two equine partners are half brother/sister both being out of Allen's mom's long retired barrel horse Foolish Moon. It was a remarkable performance when Allen went to the lead on Special K Edition with a time of 15.041 and beat it with a 15.012 aboard Moons Last Frenchman aka Shaggy.

"This was Shaggy's first major win, which makes it special, and she had to outrun her half brother to do it," said Allen, a high school junior.

Kelly credits her mom, Lori Allen, and father, Kenny Allen, for keeping her mounted on good horses and allowing her to follow in her mom's footsteps as a top-notch barrel racer. Lori, a consistent top 10 finisher in the Texas Barrel Racing Assn. riding Foolish Moon, the dam of both of Allen's winners, trains the barrel horses and keeps them tuned for both Kelly and her younger daughter, Kory.

Youth 2D champion Taylor Green, Dripping Springs, Texas made her first trip to the NBHA Cowboy Nationals a memorable one by winning the second trophy saddle of her young barrel racing career. At 12, Green was the youngest of the 12 national champions crowned at the 2006 NBHA Cowboy Nationals. Her mount in the Youth race was Dark Moon Type aka Tiny, a 17-year-old gelding.

"Tiny usually doesn't run as fast as my other horses," said Green. "But he can turn good and that's what helped us run as fast as we did."

A 6^th grader at Dripping Springs Middle School, Green enjoys track and basketball in addition to being a barrel racer.

Youth 3D champion Tyana Garza, Stockdale, Texas has had some wild rides in her brief barrel racing career. Her wildest was three years ago at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo while competing in a Youth 3D event. Her horse fell at the second barrel and in the fall her foot became caught in the stirrup. She was dragged around the arena and kicked in the head before the wreck ended. Despite a bad concussion and a hole in her skull, she recovered. The 2006 Cowboy Nationals will hold happier memories as it was there that her 8-year-old mare, Sister, took her to her first trophy saddle win.

"We had a really nice first barrel," said Garza a 15-year-old sophomore. "We had a wide second barrel and we blew off the back of the third. But it was the right time to win the 3D which made me really happy."

A gift that keeps on giving pretty much sums up Youth 4D champion Vanessa Vasek's birthday present received from her parents last December. As a surprise, Vasek, 14, was given a 7-year-old AQHA registered gelding Hancocks Red Poco aka HEB. The gelding has now taken her to a major barrel racing win.

"This was my first big show on him in an indoor arena," said Vasek. "I've certainly made better runs on him but when we came down the alley I could tell he was nervous. Even though he was scared of the big white wall as we headed to the first barrel, I concentrated on having a clean, safe run. Once we got around the first barrel, which was wide, the rest of the run was great."

Purchased from Janet Arnold, whom Vasek considers her best friend and trainer, the gelding was nicknamed HEB because he was once owned by a calf roper who turned him out with the calves. "We figured he thinks Here Everything's Better once he found his new home with us," said Vasek. "We just shortened it to HEB for fun and it seems to fit him."

SENIOR CHAMPIONS

Whether the site is Abilene, Texas or Waco, Texas doesn't matter to Senior 1D champion Royena Thompson, Kaufman, Texas, as long as it's the NBHA Cowboy Nationals. Her total saddle count is up to 11 of which 4 have been earned at NBHA Cowboy Nationals and 1 at the NBHA State Championships. All have been aboard her 10-year-old American Paint Horse Assn. registered gelding Bare Exposure aka Bare.

When Thompson entered the arena for her run in the Seniors a time of 15.262 was on top of the leader board recorded by Leslie Harrison of Stamford, Texas. But earlier in the day Thompson and her consistent Paint gelding had clocked a 15.263 to take fourth place in the 2D of the first go round of the Open.

"I knew I had to really push hard because of what had already been run," said Thompson. "I tried to stay focused and ride tough and let Bare do the rest."

Her time of 15.050 was never challenged with Harrison ending up as Reserve champion.

"Bare is a very eccentric horse," admitted Thompson. "If he weren't so consistent in his runs it would be difficult to tolerate him. He's thrown me numerous times but I can't part with him because he's so honest in the run."

Thompson and Bare were the epitome of consistency at the 2006 Cowboy Nationals making four runs and placing on four. Their total for the weekend came to $1,590 by placing fourth in the 2D of the Open first go round, winning the Seniors 1D, placing fifth in the 1D of the Open second go round and placing second in the 2D of the Open finals.

Being a registered nurse by profession, Thompson knows how to recognize addictions, even her own.

"I'm addicted to barrel racing," admitted Thompson. "I can't participate in my addiction in Nov. and Dec. because of my work as a nurse and my peanut brittle business at Christmas, but the rest of the time I get to barrel race on the weekends. I appreciate the support from my special friends Ken English, David Boaz and Pat Hennings. My goal is to run as long as Pat has. She's an inspiration to us all."

The only double dipper at the 2006 Cowboy Nationals was Mary Bonogofsky who earned the Senior 2D national title on Saturday afternoon and backed it up with an Open 3D championship on Sunday afternoon. Both honors were earned aboard Cash Lenas Chex aka Nephew and both carried with them a Tex Tan trophy saddle and a Gist belt buckle.

A registered nurse anesthetist by profession, Bonogofsky and husband James, a rancher, spent their working lives in Carson, N.D. Bonogofsky got her first taste of the warm south when she rodeoed in Texas during the winter months.

"I rodeoed in the southern states for about 10 years," said Bonogofsky. "I stayed in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona, but when it came time to retire we chose Texas. We sold our ranch in 2003 and purchased 10 acres near Lampasas. Our first priority was to build a barn and horse pens. We are living in an apartment in the barn but our next project is to build a house on our land in our adopted state of Texas. We love the climate, the people and the barrel racing."

And it goes without saying, Bonogofsky loves adding to her vast collection of barrel racing wins and awards. Two more trophy saddles may call for a larger space than originally planned in her new home to display her barrel racing memorabilia.

Jeanne Sprague, Greenville, Texas, was registered nurse #3 to earn a Senior championship at the Cowboy Nationals. Sprague rode an APHA 7-year-old, registered mare named Tigers Tru Image to the Senior 3D title.

"My mare is young and hasn't been hauled a lot," said Sprague who has worked as an RN for 29 years. "I bought her four months ago from my good friend Charlotte Hubbard whose health caused her to be unable to ride her. This win was special because I wanted it for Charlotte. I just tried to be smooth and keep Tru calm."

Sprague's earliest memories are riding her grandfather's plow horses up one corn row and down the next. Now she has grandchildren to teach the barrel racing basics and haul. "That's what makes being a Senior exciting," said Sprague. "I just hope to keep going and enjoying the wonderful people of the NBHA. Hopefully, this won't be my last championship saddle."

Sprague lists barrel racing legend Martha Josey as the person most responsible for her barrel racing success as well as being her most admired barrel racer. It's no surprise that her plans for the money she earned at the Cowboy Nationals is to enter the upcoming Josey Reunion.

Although Senior 4D champion Linda Brune, Valley Mills, Texas, is not a nurse, she did earn a bachelor of science degree from Texas A&M University in College Station. Growing up, Brune rode cutting and reining horses and started barrel racing while in high school. After deciding that barrel racing was her passion, she attended several Wanda Bush clinics to learn from a master horsewoman. She soon began training her own barrel horses and competing in futurities.

Brune captured her NBHA title riding an 11-year-old stallion registered in the AQHA as Genuine Six aka Copper, a son of Streakin Six out of a daughter of Genuine Doc. Brune purchased the sorrel stallion in Oct. of last year.

"Copper was bred by the 6666's ranch, so he is a product of Dr. Glenn Blodgett's breeding program where he breeds some run into his cow horses," said Bruen. "He spent his entire life on a working ranch and breeding mares. We have really changed his life and he's loving it. This is only his fourth competition in two months so he is really new to this. He's the sweetest and kindest stud you could ever want to be around."

Bruen credits her husband, Paul Brune, for his support in making her barrel racing possible. "I couldn't do any of this without him," said Brune. "He's been so generous both financially and providing encouragement. He loves for me to do this. I'm very proud of him because he is a kidney transplant patient and the bravest person I know."

Interestingly, Open 1D champion Amanda Rutledge has bred a mare to Brune's stallion.

"We are all hoping she can get a colt that will be another Fortune," concluded Brune