Ranch Horse riders compete at Colorado

By NCTA News

Aggie students from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture hit their stride in the show arena recently in a ranch horse competition.

Six members of the NCTA Ranch Horse Team competed, taking seven horses for the collegiate event.

“Our team hit milestones at the Colorado State Celebration,” said Joanna Hergenreder, Aggie coach and animal science professor.  “Each student and horse combination did well and earned strong prizes of experience.”

Students train their horses for versatility in ranch work. Skills evaluated in one or more events were:

• Working Cow (sorting a cow along and away from the arena fence)
• Trail Course (maneuvering obstacles such as a bridge, walking over logs, opening and closing a gate while mounted, dragging a dummy calf with a rope, and backing the horse in a timed event)
• Reining a specific pattern for each show, demonstrating rider control, horsemanship skills
• Pleasure Riding, teamwork training, control at walk, trot, lope, stop, back and gentle stand

Coach Hergenreder’s summary of the two-day show:

Connor Crumbliss, Fairfield, Nebraska, and his mare, PR She’s Packin, finished All-Around Reserve Champion in the Collegiate Non-Pro division. They were 1st in Working Cow, 2nd in Trail, and 3rd in Reining and Pleasure.

"The CSU show was this duo’s first show bumping up to the Collegiate Non-Professional category,” Hergenreder said. “We are excited to see the progress with this pair.”

Cauy Bennett, Elwood, Nebraska, and his mare, Katy Sugar Lena, finished third All-Around in the Collegiate Non-Pro, placing 2nd in Working Cow, Reining, and Pleasure classes, and 3rd in Trail.

Bennett also showed his younger mare, Easy Street Lady (aka Jewels) for a 6th place All-Around finish in the Collegiate Limited Non-Pro.

Macy Zentner, Cedar Rapids, Nebraska, and her gelding, Blue, took home the All-Around Reserve Champion Collegiate Limited Non-Pro. They placed 2nd in Working Cow, 3rd in Pleasure and 5th in Reining and Trail.

Devry Bellomy, Keyes, Oklahoma, and her gelding, CD Bar Booger 3, conquered major milestones this trip and secured a 12th place finish in the Collegiate Limited Non-Pro All-Around. They were 6th in Working Cow, 12th in Reining and Pleasure, and 13th in Trail.  “We are beyond proud of the progress of this duo.”

Jessica Burghardt, Fedora, South Dakota, and her gelding, PR Remake, finished 14th in the Collegiate Novice All-Around with an 8th in Trail, 10th in Pleasure, 15th in Reining, and 19th in Working Cow. “This duo also made huge strides this trip into the arena.”

Emma Hollenback, Ewing, Nebraska, and her family-owned gelding, JND Command Seeker, finished 17th in Collegiate Novice All-Around with 4th in Reining, 16th in Pleasure, and 18th in Trail and Working Cow classes. It was their first trip out into collegiate ranch horse contests,

“Truly, the reason why we do this has nothing to do with placings, but we can use such to show the absolutely, worthwhile progress that these horsemen and women make with horses they, themselves, have put the time into build,” said Hergenreder.

The Aggies compete March 18-19 in Cheyenne, Wyoming with host Laramie County Community College.

NCTA holds a three-day Punchy in Pink Spring Roundup April 8-10 at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds in McCook. The public is invited to attend and compete in this Open and Collegiate Ranch Horse Show, a fundraiser for cancer awareness. Aggie students will host and compete all three days in the that features scoring by two judges.

For details, contact Hergenreder at (308) 367-5291 or jhergenreder2@unl.edu.

Part of the University of Nebraska system, the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is a two-year institution with a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology and related industries. NCTA is known for its affordable tuition, high job-placement rate for its graduates, and for the success of student teams in competitive activities including crops judging, ranch horse events, livestock judging, shotgun sports, stock dog trials, and intercollegiate rodeo. The college is consistently ranked as one of the best two-year schools in the nation.