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December 20, 2007

Murchison horse trainer hits it big at NCHF event

By Rich Flowers

The 45th National Cutting Horse Futurity in Fort Worth was an unexpectedly big success for a Henderson County horse and trainer.

At the championships, held Nov. 25 through Dec. 16 at Will Rogers Coliseum, two horses trained by Lee Francois of Murchison placed among the top 19 at the event, which offers one of the biggest purses in the sport.

“I was fortunate to get two horses in the finals. Only three had two in the top 25,” Francois said.

One of the horses, H.L. Ridn With a Twist, owned by High Lonesome Ranch near Eustace, was the 10th best finisher at the event. That finish was good enough for a $83,949 payday. Miss Ciquita Boon, owned by Lonnie and Debra Hedges of Mount Pleasant, took 19th, which was worth $50,000.

Larry Tiner, manager of High Lonesome Ranch, said he thought Twist would do well at the Futurity, but was a bit surprised by the dark brown three-year-old’s showing at his first competition.

“We knew he was a nice horse but didn’t know how well he would compete,” Tiner said. “We tried to sell him. Now he’s won more than we tried to sell him for.”

Tiner said the plan now is to enter Twist in more events in 2008.

“He’s positioned to win more than $100,000 during the year,” Tiner said.

The National Cutting Horse Association was organized in 1946 by 13 ranchers at the Fort Worth Livestock Show. Now, over six centuries later, Cowtown remains the “Mecca” for the sport.

Francois said Twist’s future is likely to include two trips to Fort Worth in the next few months.

“There’ll be the Super Stakes in April and the Derby in July. Neither of those pay as well as the Futurity, but the payout for the Fort Worth events is 1-2-3 in the country,” Francois said.

The Futurity competition consists of four rounds. Each contestant is given two-and-a-half minutes to cut at least two cows from the herd. Once the rider has separated one cow from the herd, he must loosen his grip on the reigns.

“Then its up to the horse,” Francois said.

The event began with 711 horses entered. After the first round (or go), the field was whittled to 240.

“It was in the second go that I knew Twist was really going to do well,” Tiner said. “The cows are more difficult to deal with in warm weather. He was just as in control as in the first go.”

Francois said training a winning cutting horse begins with the animal.

“We look at the pedigree to see if they have winning in their blood,” Francois said. “Then as we train them we start to see which ones are athletes and which ones are smart.”

Twist not only exhibited those qualities, but also had a personality that endeared him to Francois, his wife, Holly, and daughter, Sydney.

“He had a funny personality,” Holly said. “One day he picked up our cat by the scruff of the neck and just held him.”

“He was easy to train. When he got to the competition, he just seemed to step up to another level,” Francois said.

The Francoises credit Tiner for his ability to select quality breed mares. Twist was the foal of one of those.

“He has two more good ones coming along,” Francois said.

Francois’s interest in cutting horses began by watching his father as a trainer.

“I began riding when I was 10 and started training when I was 18,” he said.

He and his wife have operated their stable near Murchison since 2001. They train for about 25 to 30 customers.

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