Pride And Joyy’s career earnings hit $183,605 with his win March 15 at the American Rope Horse Futurity Association’s show in conjunction with RodeoHouston with World Champion Jeremy Buhler at the helm.
Pride And Joyy and Jeremy Buhler set the tone with a first-round win worth $1,500, and they held their lead throughout the roping. At high call, Buhler, heeling for one of the stud’s owners in Miles Baker, had a 4-point cushion and scored a 235.45 to seal the horse’s second major futurity win of 2024—this one worth $11,155 plus $1,100 in APHA Chrome Cash for the double-registered stud.
By Stevie Rey Von and out of the Peptoboonsmal daughter Fun N Fancy Free, Pride And Joyy spent his first two years under saddle in the cow horse, winning $32,500 at the iconic NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in 2022 with Chris Dawson. He earned $50,134.05 in the NRCHA before Solo Select and the Relentless Remuda purchased him after the Futurity, and he made the transition to the heel side flawlessly. He made his first competition appearance in August 2023 at the Royal Crown in Rock Springs, Wyoming, winning first with Trevor Brazile on the heel side in the 4-&-Under there. He was the reserve champion in the Platinum Medal’s heeling futurity, and Baker walked out of the Riata Buckle with the #14.5 Futurity Incentive Championship there.
Buhler first jump-rode him for the owners Solo Select, Relentless Remuda and Kaleb Terlip at Buckeye’s Royal Crown in early February, winning the title in the 6-&-Under Heeling there. They were fifth at the Arizona Sun Circuit ARHFA show two weeks before Houston.
“I don’t really feel like there’s much of a weak spot in his game,” Buhler said. “I feel like he should get plussed all the way through just because of the way that he works. There’s no smoke and mirrors…If something happens, the steer puts you in a weird spot, or something happens, he’s going to overcome it with who he is as a horse and how athletic he is. That’s the special thing about him. I think that sucker’s on your team. And then he’s got all the goods to back it up.”
Baker puts in the reps at home on Pride And Joyy, getting him ready for Buhler to ride while Brazile is out recovering from shoulder surgery.
“It’s a real testament to the horse when you can, you know, never run a practice steer on him,” Baker said of Buhler’s jump-rides. “Every run that Jeremy’s been on his back has been for money. And we’ve run 12 steers, and I think we’ve won over $30,000 together. It’s pretty crazy. And I really think that anybody gets on him and, and takes care of business, they’ll win money on him. He’s as good of a heel horse as I’ve ever swung a leg over. And he’s, you know, one year into training. I literally started tracking cattle on him in April of last year. So we’re not even to April. It’s March and, yeah, this time last year he had never been roped off.”
