Rapp and Dont Stop Swingin Win Again at The Cattlemen’s

Last year, Ryan Rapp and Dont Stop Swingin had big runs at the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity that led to them winning the Open semifinals and making the finals in both the Open and Non-Pro. The duo continued that energy through the first shows of 2024, placing in the top five in the 4-Year-Old Open at the Abilene Spectacular and the Arbuckle Mountain Futurity, and winning the 4-Year-Old Non-Pro at the Augusta Futurity. After coming up short in the 4-Year-Old Open at The Cattlemen’s, they took a shot at the Non-Pro title and came out on top, winning it with a huge 228.

“It’s a great blessing to have a run like that and be able to win that cutting,” Rapp said. “A run like that is pretty special no matter where you have it, and I just feel very blessed to have been able to show that horse to a level that I know he can compete at and to be able to keep up with him.”

Dont Stop Swingin (Dont Stopp Believin x Swing Thru The Drive x Hydrive Cat) is a product of Rapp’s parents, Phil and Mary Ann’s, breeding program. Rapp said the gelding is his first Open-caliber horse, and he’s enjoyed experimenting with showing him in the Open, in addition to the Non-Pro.

The Rapps didn’t originally intend to keep Dont Stop Swingin. He was supposed to be consigned to the NCHA Futurity Sales as a 2-year-old, but the gelding tweaked his suspensory right before the deadline, so the Rapps withdrew him. Rapp started working him as a 3-year-old, and while the horse wasn’t his favorite at first, once they got hooked up together, things quickly improved.

“It’s kind of funny how you can see God’s hand on things because it wasn’t a big injury that we saw down the road, but it was just enough to pull him out of that sale,” Rapp said. “That’s how I got to keep him and how we ended up here. I’m going to just show him and try to do the best I can and learn how to show with the big kids — just kind of test our capabilities out and see where we stack up with everybody.”

Rapp thanked his family for their support and help with training Dont Stop Swingin. He also thanked Brett Stiles for loping the gelding and Matt Gaines, Sean Flynn, Clay Johnson and Phil for turning back for him.

In addition to taking home the Championship and a $6,600 paycheck, Rapp also tied for Reserve. Both he and Rieta Dufurrena marked 220s, and each collected $5,537. Rapp’s second horse was Creeepin (Dont Stop Believin x Sweeet Memoreyz x Kit Kat Sugar), who is also a homebred belonging to his parents. Dufurrena rode Mazel Tov (Reyzin The Cash x Mizpah Cat x Auspicious Cat), a homebred stallion belonging to her mother, Shona Dufurrena.