Andy Holcomb and Vintage Belair claimed the 4-&-Under Intermediate Pre-Futurity Heeling championship at the 2026 Old West World Championships in Amarillo, Texas, Oct. 17, with a 901.24 on four head, earning $15,420 for the win and bringing the mare’s total earnings for the week to $22,396.
The mare, owned by Ryan Fowler of Marysville, California, and bred by Robertson Ranches, is by One Fine Vintage out of Little Pink Belair.
“That mare, we’ve had her kind of in the program for almost a year now,” Holcomb said. “She’s changed owners kind of in the middle of the year, and the new owner maybe was the lucky one. She went to doing good, and she did good at Heber, and then we kind of carried it over to here.”
Holcomb and Vintage Belair entered the short round with a 677.16 on three head, putting them in position to go after the intermediate title. Their 224.08 in the finals secured the win by less than a point over Matt Williams and Jae Bar R Tomicat, who finished second with a 900.33 for $12,336. Cade Rice and Lucky Dreams finished third with an 899.63 for $9,252.
Despite an awkward-feeling final run, Holcomb credited the mare for staying with the steer and allowing him to finish the week on a high note.
“I got a good start, and was in a good spot,” Holcomb said. “My partner, Clayton Van Aken, he did a really good job all week, and he got a neck on that steer because it had small horns, and he was not taking a chance.”
The steer presented its own challenges after the turn, forcing Holcomb to make an adjustment.
“The steer was real long-strided around the corner, and I kind of opened up my swing and slowed it down,” Holcomb said. “It was a little awkward, it felt like anyways, but it didn’t look like that. My mare, she really just stayed with the cow all the way through my throw and let me heel him and let us finish.”
That ability to adjust to the cattle had been a part of Vintage Belair’s performance throughout the entire week.
“The first one stepped to the right, and she really just ran up and kept it off the wall and read the steer really good around the corner,” Holcomb said. “The second one was strong. We were a little late, and we were a little low. We were like a 222 on that one. But she worked really good.”
“I think she’s good in the box,” Holcomb said of what makes her successful. “Those One Fine Vintages, they have a nice, tight stride. They’re real collected all the time. They don’t get strung out and in a bad spot with their body.”
According to Holcomb, that natural ability gives the horses an advantage when a run doesn’t go exactly as planned. Rather than getting scattered or losing their position, they can keep working and stay consistent.
“Their feet don’t get to going everywhere, their head doesn’t get to going everywhere,” Holcomb said. “They’re very balanced in their conformation and how they travel. So, it allows maybe even a little run that might not be perfect that looks cleaner because they’re so put together.”
For Holcomb, the Old West World Championships also provided an opportunity to showcase the horses and the program behind them on one of the industry’s biggest stages.
After a slow start in the 6-&-Under classes earlier in the week, Holcomb got it together for the 4-&-Under, finishing the event with seven short-round berths across his horses and a world championship to show for it.
“It’s a marathon all week, and you can start with a good week and end with a bad week and not win nothing here,” Holcomb said. “Or you can start with a bad week, kind of like I did. I started bad off the first couple days in the 6-&-Under classes, but then kind of rallied back through the 4-&-Under classes and came back and made a good week out of it.”
Holcomb credits years of experience, a willingness to learn and the support of his family and team for building a program capable of roping at that level. But for Vintage Belair, the title was another step forward in a season that had already begun to turn around.
“I think it’s just experience, just years and years of experience and doing the wrong thing and learning from them and doing the right thing,” Holcomb said of where the success came from. “And getting hooked up with the right people and asking the right questions to people along the way that help you get better.”