SJR Diamond Mist and Badboonarising Lead NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Freshman Sires

Each year, connections of the newest class of young stallions eagerly await the opportunity for their stallions to have their first 3-year-olds show in the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity. For several lucky owners, that time is now.

Of the 15 freshman stallions with entries from their first foal crop in this year’s NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity, four stallions have offspring make the finals in one of the event’s Open classes — the Open, Intermediate Open or the Limited Open.

The two freshman sires leading the way with the most Open entries are former NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion SJR Diamond Mist and elite cutting horse Badboonarising, who sired 9 and 10 Open entrants respectively.

Will these two stallions or any other’s with finalists in one of the Open levels have a champion in their first foal crop? Only time will tell. The Open finals continues Friday with the Limited and Intermediate Open rein and cow work. The Open finals conclude on Saturday night with its rein and cow work.

SJR Diamond Mist: Carrying On the Snaffle Bit Futurity Freshman Sire Legacy

A San Juan Ranch homebred, SJR Diamond Mist hopes to follow in the footsteps of his sire, CD Diamond, who sired a Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion in his first crop. That winning offspring was SJR Diamond Mist, who won the title with Corey Cushing in 2012.

Several trainers were riding SJR Diamond Mist offspring, including some for San Juan Ranch. The ranch is excited for all of the entries, said San Juan Ranch Equine Program Manager Alecia Ouellette.

“We’re super excited to see them go out there, and hopefully they do well,” she said.

SJR Diamond Mist is one of this year’s freshman sires with a Snaffle Bit Futurity Open finalist in his first crop. He accomplished the feat thanks to the efforts of the San Juan Ranch homebred mare, SJR Mists Natasha, and Matt Koch. One of the 30 horse-and-rider pairs in the Open finals, Koch and the mare out of SJR Oaks Natasha (by One Time Pepto) made the cutoff by marking a composite of 653.5 (218.5 herd / 216 rein / 219 cow) in the preliminaries. They kicked off their Open finals run on Wednesday by marking a 215 in the herd work.

Feedback about the SJR Diamond Mist offspring leading up to the Futurity was that they are cowy and have that coveted good mindset today’s Western performance horse needs, Ouellette said.

“The biggest thing the trainers have all said to me is they’re very trainable,” she said. “[They say] they’re just so easy to get along with [and] they take to it really quick and easy.”

SJR Diamond Mist’s winning cow work run in the 2018 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity. Now a breeding stallion, SJR Diamond Mist’s oldest foals are competing in the 2024 edition of the event in Fort Worth, Texas.

Of all the memories SJR Diamond Mist made at his run at the Snaffle Bit Futurity, Ouellette says the way he handled his finals cow work said a lot about his mentality. The judges offered a new cow, but Cushing ignored the whistle and took the original, white-faced black cow down the fence anyway to the roar of the crowd.

“That horse just took everything in stride,” she said. “[He] just went after that cow, ate him up, didn’t have any any issue with it — even though it wasn’t the best cow to take — and was able to win with that. And, I will say a lot of his babies have been able to do that same thing, take anything with stride.”

Badboonarising: Cutting Horse with Crossover Appeal

The second stallion with an offspring in the Open finals was National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Open Reserve Champion Badboonarising, who earned $367,101 during his cutting career with trainer Adan Banuelos. The stallion was well supported at stud with a large opening book of mares, and his 10 offspring in this year’s Snaffle Bit Futurity Open preliminaries were the most of any freshman sire. They are among 133 AQHA-registered foals he sired in his first crop, which was the largest first crop among Western performance horse freshman sires reviewed by Quarter Horse News.

Owner Elizabeth Quirk was quick to credit mare owners for her horse’s success so far as a stallion. Badboonarising has already sired a winner in the early cutting futurities when LBR Quite Bad, ridden by Banuelos, won the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Super Futurity in September in Las Vegas.

“First and foremost, I think that we have to give a huge shout out to our mare owners that came alongside us in that first year — that said yes and said they wanted to breed to him,” she said. “I mean, as a mare owner [myself], they don’t get enough credit. People really talk, ‘Oh, your stud, your stud, your stud’ … I’m like, ‘Well, it takes two to tango.'”

Many of those mares were cutting mares — Badboonarising has dozens of offspring entered in this year’s NCHA Futurity — but he also bred a number of reined cow horse mares his first year at stud. Quirk chalks that up to Badboonarising’s physical attributes, which make him attractive in more than one discipline.

His 2024 Snaffle Bit Futurity Open finalist, The Midnight Train, is out of 2018 NRCHA Stallion Stakes Open Champion Metallic Train (by Metallic Cat). Owned by Beverly Servi and shown by Clayton Edsall, the mare started her finals strong with a 214.5 in the herd work.

“It just goes back to — speaking of the stallion — his confirmation, his ability [and] his size,” Quirk said. “I truly believe he’s going to cross well and be a sire for the performance horse, which is great.”

Intermediate and Limited Open Finalists Sired by Freshman Sires

While SJR Diamond Mist and Badboonarising were the only Snaffle Bit Futurity freshman sires with any entries in the Open finals, other stallions had progeny in the event’s Intermediate Open finalists:

Badboonarising

Badboonarising fathered Intermediate Open finalist Ima Bad Bad Bunny, a gelding out of multiple AQHA Select World Champion Little Bunny Fou Fou (by Meradas Money Talks). He and trainer Brad Lund started their finals out with a 207 in the herd for owner Amy Lund.

Bet Hesa Boon

Bet Hesa Boon is represented in the Limited Open by Ba Da Boon. Owned and ridden by Dylan Sponseller, the stallion out of Playfully Stylish (by Docs Stylish Oak) marked a 213 in the Limited Open finals herd work.

SJR Diamond Mist

In addition to his Open entrant, SJR Diamond Mist also sired Limited Open entry SJR Smokey Mist. Austin Gilley pilots the mare out of Kalightascope (by Light N Lena). Owned by Greg and Nichole Gilley, SJR Smokey Mist marked a 213 in the Limited Open finals herd work.

SJR Smooth Cadilac

SJR Smooth Cadilac will be represented in the Intermediate Open finals by RJ Smooth Sailor. Trainer Roy Rich rides the gelding out of ARC Sailing Chic (by Chic Please) for owner Andrea Lennox. They marked a 214 in the finals herd work.

Full List of 2024 Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Entries by Freshman Sires StallionTotal Open EntriesPedigreeBadboonarising10(Once In A Blu Boon x Show Biz Kitty x High Brow Cat)SJR Diamond Mist9(CD Diamond x Cat Mist x High Brow Cat)A Vintage Smoke5(A Sparkling Vintage x Lady Smoke Peppy x Mister Dual Pep)Quahadi3(Bet Hesa Cat x Ginnin Attraction x Tanquery Gin)Bet Hesa Boon2(Bet Hesa Cat x Flo N Blu Boon x Pretty Boy Boon)SJR Smooth Cadilac2(Smooth As A Cat x Sumkinda Pinkcadilac x Peptosboonsmal)Deeper Shade of Blu1(Once In A Blu Boon x CD Smokin Mink x CD Olena)Doc Seas Whiskey1(Paddys Irish Whiskey x TOS Miss Twelve Four x Ten O Sea)Hazardouz Material1(Metallic Cat x Scooters Daisy Dukes x Dual Smart Rey)Jaguarr1(Dash Ta Fame x Rosas Cantina CC x Corona Cartel)Metallic Cattack1(Metallic Cat x Quiolena x CD Olena)Playgirls Merada Cat1(Cats Merada x Playgirls Miss Grace x Mister Dual Pep)Purrfect Royalty1(One Time Royalty x Itty Kitty x WR This Cats Smart)RN Highbrow Lena1(High Brow Cat x Celenalena x Travalena)Tracer Bullet1(Dual Smart Rey x Dainty Little Step x Wimpys Little Step) Learn More About the 2024 Snaffle Bit Futurity Freshman Sires

Interested in learning more about this year’s crop of freshman sires? The 2025 QHN Stallion Register features an in-depth look at the leading cutting, reining and reined cow horse stallions whose oldest foals reached futurity-age in 2024. Order yours online today.