Joseph Harrison etched his name in the rope-horse-futurity history books, winning over $168,000 at ARHFA’s 2024 Old West Rope Horse Futurity, taking the top three spots in the Open Futurity Heeling.
Harrison and Copperton, sired by Spots Hot and out of Copperish, took home the $100,000 win, followed by Harrison and Nu One Time Blues at second for $33,600 and Harrison on CR Better Be Tuff at third for $26,880, July 27. In its inaugural year, the Wallsburg, Utah, event paid out the largest purse in rope-horse-futurity history.
“I’m just very appreciative, honestly, for Rhen and the Richard family and the Probst family, and everybody involved with having this deal,” Harrison, a six-time NFR qualifier, said. “I’ve never even gotten to chase one for that much money at a futurity before, and it seems like I’ve done it three or four times this week—chase one for that kind of money in the same weekend. And it’s because they made it possible with all their help and their people and their sponsors. We roped a great set of steers, the weather’s been pretty spectacular, Mr. Probst has got a really, really nice place here. I’m just thankful.”
Tony
The 6-year-old gelding they call “Tony,” Copperton is owned by Cox and Moore Partnership. With cutting in his blood between Spots Hot and Copperish as his parents, and Lloyd Cox’s cutting horse operation, Copperton would have been perfect in the cutting industry as well.
“On paper, he’s the who’s who for the cutting,” Harrison explained. “He was supposed to be a cutter but, lucky for me, he’s a rope horse.”
Harrison and Copperton started the day with a 230.7 in Round 1, followed by second in Round 2 with a 235.66. With a 234.53 in Round 3, the two entered the short round second in the aggregate. They sealed the deal with a 236.51 in the short round.
“He felt good,” Harrison said. “Very first steer tried pretty good, and he handled it real good for the first steer of the day. Pretty cool out this morning and he did good, and then he got stronger as the day went on in his body. You can feel that he’s confident. He hit the turn in a good spot, ready but staying with me.”
Overall in the rounds, Harrison also pocketed $2,000 for second in Round 1 and $4,000 for the Round 2 win on Nu One Time Blues and $2,000 for second in Round 2 on Copperton. Going into the first round No. 1 on Nu One Time Blues, second on Copperton and third on CR Better Be Tuff, Harrison was confident any of the three horses could have walked away with the win.
“He’s just a talented sucker, man,” Harrison said. “All three of those horses are. All three of those horses are very nice horses, it could have went either way. At any time a draw here or there, anything could have changed it up. I’m just thankful that I had my three of them.”
As a 4-year-old, Copperton made his name known with wins like the Platinum Medal Futurity Heeling Preliminaries. In this 5-year-old year, he’s got size on his side.
“He just gets bigger and stronger,” Harrison said. “He can run more and is stronger in his body, more mature in his body. He’s just better, honestly; he’s a better horse.”
Proven program
With the top three horses at the largest-paying futurity, Harrison showed the legacy he’s building through his program while giving credit to the horses and owners.
“It always helps to get lucky, lucky’s good,” Harrison said with a laugh. “But they’re very good colts, all three of those colts are They’re very, very nice horses. I’m just grateful that the people that own them, they could have wanted to send them to someone else. So, that’s just lucky that I was the guy that they wanted to ride them; that’s awesome. I look forward to doing business with those people in the future and, hopefully, we’ll have some more horses like them.”
While every aspect of the run counts, Harrison focuses on establishing best positioning in each horse that comes through his program, teaching them to find the best position during the run.
“I want to be in good place down the arena where I can get in a good spot through the turn where I’m able to get my rope over the steer’s back and catch all the time,” Harrison said. “They’ve got the buttons on them—they’ve got the butt drag and stuff like that—but my main goal every time is to get in a good spot to be able to catch and let them show themselves the best I can.”
Harrison had the No. 4 header in the PRCA world standings Jake Smith heading for him in the Open Futurity Heeling, as well as a much-needed team on the ground for the other moving parts.
“I had my wife and Justin Ochs that stays with us quite a lot,” Harrison said. “He owns two of the 4-year-olds I rode [Friday]; the 4-year-old that I won second on [Friday], he owns. They helped me wrangle them all day, getting them ready. You can’t do it without a team. It takes a village. If you’re going to bring that many horses to town, it takes some help.”
