Gold Buckle Futurities Inaugural Event Kicks Off

"Sit with the winners; the conversation is different."

There had to be a meeting of the minds of winners when the Gold Buckle Futurity format was established. The founders have gathered five gold buckles of their own and are now ready to give back to the industry.

After some amount of time and planning, the inaugural event kicked off this week in Belton, Texas at the Expo! Equine and Livestock Complex.

The founders are composed of Taylor Hanchey, a four-time NFR qualifier (twice in the barrel race and twice in the breakaway); Shane Hanchey, the 2013 World Champion Tie-Down Roper and 14-time NFR qualifier; Haven Meged, the 2019 World Champion Tie-Down Roper and five-time NFR qualifier; Shelby Meged, the 2023 World Champion Breakaway Roper and four-time NFR qualifier; Kaleb Driggers, a two-time World Champion Header and 11-time NFR qualifier; along with Jeremy Barwick, the owner of Shadow Oak Ranch, co-owner of Brazos Valley Stallion Station, and the owner of Western Bloodstock, Ltd. along with being a $1.3 million rider in the NCHA.

This group of incredibly successful athletes and minds brought about a new format for roping futurities.

The aged events offered at the Gold Buckle futurities are open to any horse, but the events also offer a Gold Buckle Elite Stallion Incentive for qualified horses who are by stallions who have paid into the incentive fund.

"Elite" is a perfect word for the enrolled stallions who have already produced over $200 million in progeny earnings.

Each of the events held over the course of three days will be three full go rounds followed by a short round. There is an open jackpot payout and then the elite stallion incentive payoff. The event has four judges who score the horses based on a scale of 0-6, with 6 being perfect in each of the four categories. The time is then subtracted from 80, and the scores are tallied as a combination of time and judging.

The first event was the 6-and-under breakaway roping also called the Maturity Breakaway. In the breakaway events, the horses are scored on box/barrier, rate/run, stopping, and overall run.

The first two rounds were won by FQH Chili Cat, ridden by Macie Rae Warken. The third go went to GA Reina Spark Von, ridden by Morgan Sparks.

Each round paid $1,500 to the winner and $1,000 to second place.

The short-round win went to Kendal Pierson riding Itsgonnabemae to pick up $1,000. The average win for the open jackpot portion went to Sparkling CD ridden by Kendal Pierson, with a total score of 918.77 to win $7,500.

The Elite Stallion Incentive win went to Cash Bonus ridding by Beau Peterson for a payout of $25,000. Peterson had a stellar day, winning second as well in the incentive on Rey Ahead of Time for an additional $15,000.

The next event offered was the Futurity Tie Down Roping (horses 4 years old and under). The four categories of scoring are score/box, run/rate, stop, and rope work.

Complete results for the Futurity Tie Down Roping:

1st Go:

Rollin On The River, Trevor Hale, 226.94, $1,500
Serina, Cody McCartney, 226.91, $1,000

2nd Go:

Cr Pepto Tuff Lena, Trevor Hale, 229.81, $1,500
Serina, Cody McCartney, 228.43, $1,000

3rd Go:

Rolling On The River, Trevor Hale, 228.92, $1,500
JH Hotshot Sixgun, Chance Thiessen, 224.15, $1,000

Short Go:

Little Hot, Myles Kenzy, 215.99, $1,000

Average:

Serina, Cody McCartney, 900.92, $7,400
CR Pepto Tuff Lena, Trevor Hale, 896.85, $5,500
CFR Cadete Jersey, Cody McCartney, 892.4, $4,500
JH Hotshot Sixgun, Chance Thiessen, 889.82, $3,000
G Wagon, Dylan Hancock, 876.41, $2,000
Malicious Intent, Cody Oil, 872.67, $1,500

Gold Buckle Futurity Incentive:

Serina, Cody McCartney, 900.92, $24,000
CR Pepto Tuff Lena, Trevor Hale, 896.85, $14,000
G Wagon, Dylan Hancock, 876.41, $10,000

Competition continues on Dec. 29 with the Futurity Breakaway Roping, Maturity Tie Down Roping, Maturity Heading and Futurity Heeling.