#40 Red Hot Jade and I at the CowTown Derby. Such a nice horse. He was 2nd in the open, won the Limited Open,and the Novice Horse Open, he was also 2nd in the NonPro with his owner Bart Holowath.

Jade was very well trained originally by California cow horse trainer Jake Gorrel. He was shown as a 3 yr old at the Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno and The Las Vegas Stallion Stakes by Jake before he was purchased by Bart and Terri Hollowath earlier this spring.

The first thing that caught my eye about Jade when we were scouting for Barts new horse was his ability to carry himself unbridled. I liked that when he galloped on a loose rein he had a look pleasing to the eye. This was important to me as I wanted to find a horse who looked good wether a rider was riding him properly or not, Jade was very balanced, as you can see in his rein work I simply guided him around the pen, very simple.

Jade felt quite cowy, his herd work is not yet where I want it but there is plenty of time and room for improvement. Another thing I liked about him is the fact that he can easily mark a 142.5 as in this case and I know with the herd work being my strongest event I can improve this score a lot.

Another huge factor why I felt Jade was a great purchase is because no matter where or how fast Jade goes he always hits ass first. Meaning, if you could interview Jade about why he never stops on his front end he would tell you that he never knew you cold stop any other way. Horses like Jade are great because the stop is literally maintenance free, that being said it takes far less schooling to keep it right therefore keeping him sound longer.

Down the fence his ability to stop is what causes the big scores, hes very quick to the ground when that cow sets up and his ability to move his front end allows him to keep in time with the cow. Keeping in time with the cow is important as it results in no penalties and more credit, especially when a horse has as much eye appeal as he does, which is my other criteria. Hes just so DAMN CUTE and pleasing to watch.

These are just a few of the things I watch for when Im looking for a horse for my clients or myself, if you have any further questions leave a comment below.

Thanks to Bart and Terri for allowing me to help them purchase such a nice horse that im sure will likely irritate the heck out of our fellow competitors! 😉

Cody