After spending a couple of weeks in Las Vegas for The Run For A Million events and then the National Stock Horse Association (NSHA) Futurity and Derby, Clay Volmer hit the jackpot. Volmer and 2017 red roan stallion Ricato Suave (Metallic Cat x Hip Hip Sue Rey x Dual Rey) put in a steadily improving series of runs to attain a composite score of 664 (218 herd/220 rein /226 cow). Their winning purse topped $17,000 in the World’s Richest Stock Horse event. In the process, they also qualified for the 2025 The Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge, for an additional $5,550.
Volmer has worked with the 7-year-old stallion owned by Shaleah Hester and Madeleine Fountain since the middle of his 2-year-old year, and his enduring quality is his laidback personality.
“He’s just pretty steady, he doesn’t get too wound up about much,” Volmer said. “He’s very quiet, he’s always been that way. Everybody thinks he’s this big old pet, but he’s very ‘watchy’ at the same time.”
Rico was bred by Flag Ranch LLC. His greatest strengths are his physical attributes and thought processes, Volmer continued.
“He’s a beautiful mover—he’s just incredible, and he’s always stopped, from the first time I ever rode him,” Volmer said.
The pair has had a busy few months, criss-crossing the country from the Hackamore Classic in Tulsa, Oklahoma, back home to Millsap, Texas, to Fort Worth for the Southwest Reined Cow Horse Association Pre-Futurity, to Las Vegas, where they competed at The Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge the week before this event.
“We just didn’t have a very good lockdown and fence work for The Run For A Million, so we turned around and showed him right back, and it worked out really good,” Volmer said.
NSHA SuccessSticking to their tried-and-true strategy, Volmer piloted Rico through the events. They didn’t have great luck in the cutting, ending with a score of 218.
“I never really got that horse shown in the cutting as good as he can be,” Volmer said.
In the reining, they were awarded a 220, putting them in a good position for the cow work.
“In the fence work, he was absolutely amazing that night,” Volmer said. “He did everything, I just kind of held on. He was real smart about it. He stopped super hard and was very explosive. He ran to that cow and circled about as good as he could—he just wrapped his nose around that cow and away we went.”
Their 226 topped the class, and put them in first place for the event.
Volmer says he and his wife, Open cow horse competitor Veronica Swales are a team, their horses did well at the show and he’s thankful for the team that produced the event. He’s also relieved to have qualified for next year’s The Run For A Million so early in the competition cycle.
“[Rico] will have a lot of focus on breeding this fall, so with that [The Run For A Million Qualification] taken care of, he’ll be able to focus on that [breeding],” Volmer said.
2025 Cow Horse Challenge QualifiersBrendon Clark led the 2025 The Run For A Million qualifiers aboard 2018 bay stallion CR Hes A Tuff One (Woody Be Tuff x Cat Digs Lucinda x High Brow Cat). He took home $7,400 for his 448 composite score (224 rein/224 cow) The top five competitors with composite scores from reining and cow work qualified for next year’s event. They do not have to ride the horse they qualified on at next year’s cow horse challenge.
Qualifying for NRCHA The Run For A Million event:
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