INCENTIVES: Riata Buckle

Oklahoma’s Ty Smith bought This Catt Shines as a yearling, and he immediately put the colt in some of the best hands in the business to set the horse’s career up for success in every direction.

“I sent him off to Austin Johnson to start,” Smith said. “And then he went to Ty Benson’s for the Snaffle Bit, and he showed him at the Futurity. Right after that, Tom Lohse and I started a partnership to go into the roping. We both like him whether he wins or loses. We plan to keep taking him to the AQHA shows and the calf roping futurities, and we’ll see where he goes in the team roping, too.”

At 15 hands, This Catt Shines has the size to rope both ends, something Smith liked about him early on.

“From the time we bought him and put him to work, we knew he was put together and wanted to work like the kind of studs we need in the industry today: bigger boned, with the look, the run and the size,” Smith said. “Studs anymore are so small. We can cross him on mares that aren’t quite big enough and on mares that are big enough.”

This Catt Shines has won the AQHA’s Reserve World Championship in the Level 2 Junior Tie-Down and made the Open Finals in the tie-down there as well. Cody McCartney and Tavis Walters will share the training and competition duties on him in 2024.

“This horse is built uphill: He can run and stop, and he has all the factors,” Smith said. “He has all the attributes that a stud needs. He’s got big enough bone and all the right stuff.”