INCENTIVES: Royal Crown

With all the red roan color and swagger of his $52 million cutting-legend sire, Metallic Cat, the 7-year-old stallion Test My Metal is proving himself. 

The young stallion had already earned $81,390 at both ends by the time he was 6 at roping futurities with Dakota Kirchenschlager at the reins.

Test My Metal stands 15.2 hands and weighs 1,200 pounds, and his first foal crop, at 2 years old, look strong with great bone and color. 

“Metal” won the 2023 Royal Crown Open Heeling Futurity in Buckeye, Arizona, and was the reserve champion at the Roping Futurities of America High Stakes Heeling Slot, plus he placed third in the RFA Open Heading Futurity. The stud also has points at both ends in the AQHA.

“We bought him as a 2-year-old at the NCHA Futurity Sale,” said Kirchenschlager, 31. “I rode him at the Snaffle Bit and did horrible going down the fence. Then we started roping on him, and he’s won quite a bit. He can run, he can stop, and he’s a phenomenal horse. I’m blessed to have him.”

Kirchenschlager competed on the stallion at the futurities, but Metal also became his go-to horse when he was helping other partners, taking the majority of help runs day in and day out.