Aggie Ranch Horse Team is Reserve Champ, McGinley wins All-Around at Cheyenne

March 23, 2017

By Mary Crawford, NCTA News

Cheyenne, Wyo.  – Ranch Horse students riding for their college team from Curtis, Nebraska ranked well in their second major show of 2017 claiming the Reserve Champion Collegiate Team title.

The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture sent 11 riders to the show ring at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, competing in collegiate or open division events, said Aggie Coach Joanna Hergenreder.

“We competed against colleges in four events: ranch pleasure, trail, reining and cow work for a fine show,” Coach Hergenreder. “NTCA finished reserve champion for the collegiate competition with multiple individual accolades to our name.”

Top titles included Champion Non Professional for Rio McGinley, Oshkosh, Nebraska, and Reserve Champion Collegiate Intermediate for Kaitlyn Thesenvitz, Wood River, Nebraska.

NCTA competes in CoWN, the Colorado-Wyoming-Nebraska Stock Horse Association.  Four colleges competed at the Cheyenne contest on March 17-18.

McGinley rode his self-trained 10-year-old horse, Pretty Classy Hancock (Sally) to win his first collegiate reining class. He also won first in trail, second in pleasure and third in cow work.

“It felt like an average weekend when we started but it turned out pretty good,” said the third-year student who is majoring in livestock management. After his NCTA graduation in May, McGinley plans a professional career training horses.

Last summer, he worked as a training assistant for Knoles Performance Horses at North Platte and added more show skills to compliment his NCTA equine efforts.

“From when we started (training Sally as a 2-year-old), it came quite a ways in collegiate shows,” he said. “Our specialty has been cow horse so winning the reining, that was a big deal for me because I have been working on reining quite a bit in the last few weeks.”

The Aggie team will host a riding clinic on April 7, with its “Punchy in Pink” Collegiate and Open Ranch Horse Show on April 8-9 in McCook, Nebraska at the Kiplinger Arena.  More than 200 riders are expected from several states.

Aggie riders and their event results at LCCC were:

Rio McGinley, Oshkosh, Neb. and Pretty Classy Hancock (Sally) had an exceptional run in the Collegiate Non Pro and finished 1st in Reining, 3rd in Cow Work, 1st in Trail and 2nd in Pleasure to clinch the Non Pro Champion buckle.

Drake Johnson, Thurston, Neb., and Smart War also competed in the Collegiate Non Pro finishing 4th in both Reining and Cow Work, 3rd in Trail and 4th in Pleasure to take home 4th in the All Around for Collegiate Non Pro.

Makayla Forsythe, Garland, Neb. and Four Sieto Gill competed in the Collegiate Limited NP finishing 2nd in Cow Work, 8th in Reining, 1st in Pleasure and 8th in Trail to finish 4th in the All Around for Collegiate Limited Non Pro.

Morgan Schrank, Canton, S.D., and Lil Paddy Spice competed in the Limited NP and finished 5th in both Reining and Cow Work, 2nd in Pleasure and 7th in Trail to finish 5th in the All Around for the Collegiate Limited Non Pro.

Kaitlyn Thesenvitz, Wood River, Neb., and Zip N On A Breeze competed in Intermediate and finished 1st in Reining, 2nd in Cow Work, 2nd in both Pleasure and Trail to finish Reserve Champion Collegiate Intermediate.

Brooklyn Becker, Beaver City, Neb., and NCTA's own Ratchetts Splashy Fly competed in the Novice and finished 9th in Reining, 11th Cow Work, 10th in both Pleasure and Trail to finish 11th in Novice All-Around. This duo nailed their flying lead changes.

Courtney Leach, Lewellen, and Strait Chexy Doc competed in the Novice and finished 4th in Reining, 5th in Cow Work, 3rd in Pleasure and 6th in Trail to finish 4th in Novice All-Around.

Carly Wade, Monroe, Neb., and Justa Pretty Rooster competed in Novice and finished 10th in Cow Work, 11th in Reining, 5th in Trail and 7th in Pleasure to finish 10th in Novice All-Around.

Jessa Lemon, Curtis, Neb., and Lady Stingray Dun It competed in Novice and finished 5th in Reining, 9th in Cow Work, 9th in both Trail and Pleasure to finish 9th in Novice All-Around.

Shane Hoer, Blair, Neb., and Magic Man Dun It also competed in Novice and finished 6th in Reining, 8th in Cow Work, 3rd in Trail, 11th in Pleasure to finish 6th in the Novice All-Around.

Kortney Monheiser, Hershey, Neb., and Troubles Royal Gold competed in the Novice and finished 8th in Reining, 6th in Cow Work, 4th in Pleasure and 8th in Trail to finish 5th in Novice All-Around.

Additional information about the NCTA Ranch Horse team or the April 7-9 events are available from  Coach Hergenreder at 308-367-5291, 1-800-3CURTIS, or jhergenreder2@unl.edu.