Shooting HorseShooting Horse
JUNIOR
Owner: Jim Rodgers, CMSA founder and top-ranked rider, bought him six years ago from world champ Annie Bianco-Ellett.
Particulars: Registered Quarter Horse. Strawberry roan. Sired in 1993.
Wins: Three-time CMSA world champion. Captured numerous other championships. Currently ranked #1 in the United States.
Partnership: “I knew almost instantly [that they’d be a successful team],” says Rodgers. “To get it worked out, it took about 90 days of training. That’s it.”
What makes him special: “Junior is all heart; he never gives up. He’s no-nonsense. He does what he’s asked to do and that’s it,” Rodgers says. “You can run him, turn right, turn left—he’s right on the money every time.”
Workouts: Jim and Junior train and exercise about two days a week, and the horse gets two days of rest for every day of work. They seldom ride a full course of fire. Instead, Rodgers works on elements of the ride—hoof placement around barrels, on right and left turns, etc. “Junior doesn’t have to be the fastest horse,” Rodgers says. “But he has to be the most precise on approaches and turns if we’re going to win.”
Diet: A mix of alfalfa-Bermuda pellets with hay grass from the upper climes of Colorado, Utah or New Mexico. He’s also given a number of supplements.
Future: Rodgers says, “I’m going to ride Junior as long as he wants to and as long as he is healthy. That’ll probably be another three or four years.” The search for a successor—“Junior is irreplaceable,” according to Rodgers–is already underway.  Related posts:
|
|||||||||||||||||
Tags: 
Discussion
No comments for “Shooting Horse”
Post a comment