In fact, it was almost a miracle that some of the horses even made it to the show! The Valley has a large population of western riders and many attend this competition every year. Nancy Crawford-Hall and her husband, Phil, took three horses to this important competition, one in the futurity, one for hackamore and a bridle horse. There’s quite a story around them. Crawford-Hall is the publisher of the Santa Ynez Valley Journal.

 

“Our six-year-old stallion CD Survivor, who’s barn name is Clark — which is short for Clark Gable because he is so gorgeous — and it also stands for Clark Kent, because he can do anything — had a really rough start in life and almost didn’t live,” Crawford-Hall told me. “His mother died when he was a young foal, and he would desperately try to nurse on other mares that would constantly kick him and knock him down.

 

“But he was just determined to be alive and would go from one to the other, and somehow get his breakfast,” she said.

 

His Texas breeders finally found a draft mare that would accept him. They grafted him on and she raised him. The breeders were so impressed with his spirit that they called him The Survivor.

 

“Sandy Collier started him for me, and from the time he was a two-year-old, his hind quarters would sink when he stopped, which showed me that he had that natural ability to be a great stopping horse,” Crawford-Hall said.

 

“Survivor did very well in the futurites because he still has that determination to succeed and does his very best every time.  He’s really cooperative and gets along well with his trainer, Jake Telford of Caldwell, Idaho,” she said.

 

 Telford also has their five-year-old stallion hackamore horse that they sometimes refer to as “Bentley,” because Phil told Crawford-Hall that she should have bought a Bentley automobile instead.

 

“But, he’s certainly a lot more fun than a car,” she said with a laugh.

 

“Bentley’s registered name is actually Shady Lil Starlight,” Crawford-Hall said.

 

“He is a red roan with a thick mane and tail and is an astoundingly gorgeous horse,” she said. “When he comes into the arena he has such presence that everyone wants to know who he is.”

 

But this horse, too, certainly has had his ups and downs.

 

“Sandy Collier started him and after his Snaffle Bit competition, he got hurt and spent the next year and a half recovering at Craig Schmersal’s in Oklahoma,” Crawford-Hall said. Schmersal is the second highest earning reining trainer in the world.

 

“After Clark healed, we sent him to Jake Telford in Idaho, and he has been winning on him ever since,” Crawford-Hall said.

 

“He placed Reserve Champion in the Hackamore class at the recent Snaffle Bit in Reno,” she said. “This horse has now won over $111, 000 and this spring we will have our first babies from him! 

 

“Our three-year-old futurity horse, Kiss My Shiny Lips, whom we call Annie, is the first daughter out of Lips chic, who was named America’s Horse by the American Quarter Horse Association and year-end Hackamore Champion, and had many other awards,” Crawford-Hall continued.

 

“Shining Spark is Annie’s sire, so she certainly is well bred,” she said.

 

“Unfortunately, this last spring she got a bad case of dry land distemper back in Idaho and almost died!” she said. “Annie lost three months of training and it was really a miracle that she was even able to compete in the Reno Snaffle Bit.

 

“Then when she made it to the finals we were really thrilled. Out of three hundred horses they took only twenty-five to the finals, and we could see that she had the judge’s eye,” Crawford-Hall said.

 

“During the finals, she lost one of her shoes and twisted her ankle, but she continued to do her cow work in spite of an ankle that was starting to swell,” Crawford-Hall said. “That horse has tremendous heart! Thank goodness, she’s just fine now and will be going to the Idaho Futurity with our other two horses.”

 

One reason that the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurities are so popular is that they have a fascinating history. The California reined cow-horse was the trusted partner of the vaqueros for about 150 years. They developed the equipment, riding style and training techniques that produced these fine working stock horses that drove the herds of longhorn cattle from Mexico to California. Today the legacy of these horses and horsemen has been preserved through these competitions.

 

The snaffle bit is the first bit introduced to the young horses. Crawford-Hall jokes that, “the snaffle bit is kind of like a training bra!”

 

The purpose of the snaffle bit is to train the two or three-year-old horse without undue pressure on the mouth. The next step is the hackamore, which just fits around the outside of entire jaw, and finally the bridle.

 

So when did these competitions start? The first Snaffle Bit futurity was held in 1970, in Sacramento, with only 27 horses competing. Now, hundreds of horses come from all over the US and even from other countries. This particular competition is open to three-year-old horses of any breed.

 

Among people from the valley who enjoy competing in these exciting cow-horse events are Mark and Kelly Gowing, Jeff and Nicki Marmelzat, and John and Shannon McCarty. 

 

The Gowings are having a lot of success with a hot young colt that they bred, named Nics Black Diamond. Their trainer, Todd Bergen, took him to the National Stock Horse Association Futurity in Paso Robles, where they were co-Reserve Champions of the show.  At the Snaffle Bit in Reno, they made the finals and ended up sixth over-all, with the highest score in reining and the second highest “down the fence.”

Kelly showed another of their babies, a three-year-old gelding, Smoken Sula, which also made the finals.

 

Another local rider in the finals was Shannon McCarty of Hollister Ranch. She also won the non-pro reining.

 

Nicki Marmelzat showed her hackamore horse, Wild N Seven, to a sixth place finish in the non-pro hackamore.

 

Jimmy Stickler showed this horse in open hackamore, where he finished in third place in the finals. Marmelzat’s bridle horse, Dun Pleasin’ Chics, placed eighth in novice non-pro bridle with her aboard.

 

Others having a very successful show included Sandy Collier, Mary Dosek and Tom, Judy, and Kelly Crawford.