Miles Baker and Lil Bit O Cash got the win in the 4-&-Under Heeling at the American Rope Horse Futurity Association’s Cowtown Classic, marking a 696.89 to win $6,459 for the Open win and another $2,320 for the Intermediate.
Lil Bit O Cash is by Lil Joe Cash and out of Quick Lil Texan by Sugar Bar Buckaroo, and the 2020 gelding is owned by Dasco Cattle Co.’s Atlee Snyder. Before the Cowtown Classic, Baker had won $29,369 on the horse he calls Ringo.
“I showed him there last October, so it’s been nine months since he won $15,000 in that same arena at his first show,” Baker said. “He was so green, I had a pattern I stuck to. Even when I won the futurity in Buckeye in February, I set him up like a greener horse. What’s changed about him is that I can ride him like a real heel horse now. The steers were super fresh and wild this weekend, and I wanted to be able to have a swing over their back and not lose momentum if I needed to. He let me ride good enough position that if they took a good jump on the first or second hop I could rope, but he let me come through there and keep forward momentum if I needed to, too. He’s gone from being a good patterned colt to being able to ride him like a real heel horse. That was about as full-contact as you can get. And there was nothing about those runs that were predictable. It was exciting for me leaving there knowing he’s progressed.”
Baker’s goal is to get Ringo ready for Snyder’s teenage son. Snyder bought the horse with the long-term goal of having a good one for his son to ride eventually, but that ‘eventually’ might come sooner rather than later given the horse’s user-friendly style.
“Atlee’s such a good client,” Baker said. “He’s super cool and knows the ups and downs. He’s been in the race horse industry, and he knows there’s more loses than there are wins, and he’s just excited when there are wins. His son is going to come stay and rope on him this next week, and he’ll ride him and show him in the non-pros the rest of the year.”
Watch all Baker’s training videos on Roping.com
Baker started Ringo tracking calves in the breakaway in the spring of 2023, and since then he’s used the Relentless Remuda’s training program to develop him slowly but surely into a top-level talent.
“I put him in game-type situations at home, and I see how he reads them, and I make adjustments,” Baker explained of the horse’s training program. “If I put him in an aggressive position and he doesn’t read the cow checking off, I pull him down and make sure he’s thinking on his own. At the futurities you don’t have time to help a horse and to win on them. You can’t do both. You can’t win if you’re having to help them through every run. I put them in game-type situations and make sure the fundamentals stay really good.”
—TRJ—
