Kyle Noyce and SJR Smooth Lil Oak Dominate NRCHA Open Bridle World Championship

More than just a horse-rider duo, Kyle Noyce and SJR Smooth Lil Oak (Smooth As A Cat x Shiners Little Oak x Shining Spark) are a team with unbelievable knowledge of and trust in one another. Noyce and the sorrel gelding, also known as José, took home the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Kalpower Quarter Horses Celebration of Champions Open Bridle world championship in the John Justin Arena at Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas February 23, 2024.

With a $57,000 total purse, Noyce and SJR Smooth Lil Oak rode into the Open Bridle Finals having already won the preliminaries the day prior, which is a unique experience that not many can say they’ve accomplished.

“In the prelims for the Open Bridle, we had six or seven guys that entered late because they didn’t make the World’s Greatest (Horseman) Finals. So, we’re sitting there watching the first few horses go, and they were all really good; so we kind of had to take a different approach and decided we better just try to show a horse the best we could instead of cruising through and saving him for the finals,” Noyce said. “He showed up and won the prelims, and then came back and gave us all he had in the finals and pulled it off again. We’ve never been able to win the prelims and the finals, so it’s pretty neat.”

Third out in the second set, the pair had to show off. However, the 7-year-old owned by Janie Dvorak-Compton and bred by San Juan Ranch can be tricky to show when calling for a cow immediately following the reining pattern. When it was all said and done, they marked a composite 443.5 (220.5 rein/ 223 cow) to earn $11,400.

“If there is a downside to him, it’s just that he can sometimes be a little bit short of air. He’s not a horse that can go for days and days, so we just tried to be really smart in the reining and conserve while we ran our circles. We ran a little slower in our circles than we did in the prelims, because that prelim pattern was a two-circle pattern versus a three-circle pattern in the finals,” Noyce said. “Something he’s pretty famous for is stopping and turning around, so we pushed the gas pedal hard for those three stops and two turnarounds; but we tried to save our horse so that if we got lucky enough to draw enough cow to go win something on, we had enough horse to do it.”

A horse with a big personality, SJR Smooth Lil Oak holds a special place in Noyce and his family’s hearts. With owner Dvorak-Compton there for the win, the day was made even more memorable for everyone involved. Others in the duo’s support system that made the win possible include Lucy Lux, Jason Jennings, Wes Ferrazzi, Lee and Ashley Deacon, Clay Volmer, Veronica Swales, Chris and Sarah Dawson and of course, Noyce’s wife Candice.

“He’s definitely my favorite horse. He’s kind of the one that has opened a lot of doors for us, but he’s goofy. Every now and then, you’ll think he’s going to try and buck somebody off. He can untie just about any knot you can tie. You’ll see when he’s tied up somewhere or you’re just sitting on him, he’ll get bored and hang his tongue out the right side of his mouth. He’s always into something, but he’s got a lot of character; and he’s kind of my little buddy,” Noyce said. “Without Janie supporting us and sending us down the road, we’d never get there; and all my help back home and at the shows have been a huge help. Without these people, this would have never happened.”

EquiStat Elite $2 Million Rider Zane Davis and Snapdragons (Gunnatrashya x Catnaps x High Brow Cat) came in second just a half-point behind the champions with a 443 composite (222 rein/ 221 cow). Kyle Trahern and A Starlights Magnum (Magnum With A Dream x Shiny Starlight x Greys Starlight) followed one point behind that with a 442 (223.5 rein/ 218.5 cow) to end up third.