A Look Back at December
December wraps up two of the biggest events in the Western performance horse industry: the National Reining Horse Association Futurity and the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity. Each event puts a spotlight on the best 3-year-olds in its individual discipline, paying out mega bucks to those that rise to the top.
NRHA FuturityThe 2024 NRHA Futurity made history in more ways than one. Held November 25 to December 7 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the show boasted a record-breaking $3.2 million-plus payout, with $1.64 million in added money. It was the last Futurity held in the historic Jim Norick Coliseum, which will be replaced with the new OG&E Coliseum in 2025. But perhaps most importantly, this Futurity saw the first woman ever win the MS Diamonds TX Level 4 Open Championship when Kaci O’Rourke rode The Firemen to a 229, claiming the Levels 4 and 3 Open titles.
“It was an incredible night. I’m back on a horse right now, and we’re just back to work like normal. I have to remind myself sometimes that it actually happened,” O’Rourke says. “It was definitely something that I’ve dreamed about from the very first time I got on a reining horse. It’s something we worked very hard toward, but there’s never any guarantee that it will happen in your life, so it was a very surreal moment. It’s special, especially because the entire reining community felt like they were behind us.”
Owners Peter and Courtney Morgan, who purchased The Firemen (Inferno Sixty Six x Redhot Walla x Walla Walla Whiz) in 2023, collected a total of $420,000 for the Tamarack Ranch LLC-bred stallion’s two titles.
Pictured are the 2024 NRHA Futurity Levels 4 and 3 Open Champions, The Firemen and Kaci O’Rourke. Photography by Waltenberry
NCHA Futurity
As the crème de la crème of cutting events, the NCHA Metallic Cat World Championship Futurity draws riders, owners and breeders from around the world to Fort Worth, Texas, to get a turn in the spotlight. One of those competitors, Kenny Platt, has been making the 12-hour drive from Fort Lupton, Colorado, to Fort Worth for 14 years in the hopes of winning in the Big Pen. At this year’s event, held November 11 to December 7, all those miles paid off when he piloted Too Hot To Tagg to a 227 for the Open Championship.
“It’s just the biggest accomplishment you can have as a cutting horse trainer,” Platt says. “It’s kind of the main goal for everybody and has been my main goal since I started. It was a real sense of accomplishment. I was really happy.”
Platt and the gelding (Hashtags x Too Hot x Hottish) picked up a check worth $337,730 for owner JH Nail Ranch Inc.
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