When Joseph Harrison sealed the deal on the $50,000 Old West Pre-Futurity Heeling win aboard Stunnerr June 20, he etched his name in the ARHFA history books as the first rider to cross $1 million in futurity earnings.
For the six-time NFR qualifier, this is a goal he’s had his eyes set on for a while, and he knew he was on the brink of it when he arrived in Heber City, Utah.
“It’s just something that I’ve been after for about $700,000,” Harrison, 38, said. “I mean, it’s been a little over a year and a half ago, Audrey (Hart) put on there that I was $315,000 or whatever and winning it. And in my mind—my mind is weird—but I thought if I could just be the first one ever to the $1 million mark, that’d be worth more to me than a lot of stuff. And it really is.”
The road to $1 million wasn’t easy, and it didn’t come without hard work and loyal customers.
“It was a lot of blood, sweat, tears and good colts,” Harrison, of Marietta, Oklahoma, said. “They got to be good enough, and I’m super blessed right now. I got an awesome group of customers. If [the colts] ain’t good enough, we swap ’em, we find another one, and if they give me free rein, I get to do whatever I want, however I want to do it. So my customers are awesome.”
Stunnerr, owned by Darren and Tara Johnson, just so happens to be one of those good colts. The 2021 stud by Stunned out of Hicaboon Doc won second in the first round with a 231.14 for $2,000. At high call, a 226.16 in the short round put them at No. 1 with a 913.68 on four with the help of two-time World Champ Clay Smith. Despite being a 4-year-old and a stallion, Stunnerr’s mind stood out to Harrison this week.
“He’s just so good minded, and nothing bothers him right there,” Harrison said. “I got in a little bit of a jam and bad timing and had to take another swing, and he’s just said, OK, I’ll step one more time and go ahead and catch so we can quit. I mean, he really is that simple minded. He’s just a good horse.”
With good customers who continue to trust Harrison with their prospects, as well as the growth the rope horse futurity world is seeing with numerous talented trainers, things just keep getting better.
“I’ve got the same customers and they just get us another 3-year-old, and they turn into 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds, and we just keep going,” Harrison said. “The other guys, we try to be as good as we can for each other and help each other out and that kind of stuff. And I’m going to give one guy a shoutout, he is an appreciative guy. Jeremy Buhler has been working so hard at it and I’m looking forward to watching him kick their butts.”
That camaraderie amongst trainers and being able to feed off of each other is another thing Harrison loves about the direction the industry is going.
“Trevor (Brazile) and Miles (Baker), I go rope with them all the time and we’re all friends,” Harrison said. “And Milesy and I have been buds for a long, long time, and Cade Rice, and all the guys, really. I mean, they’re just the closest guys to me, so I see ’em more, but it’s good to watch guys do good. It’s just good. I’m super pumped to just have a chance against them.”
