Two Tie For 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Championship on Homebred Horses at The Ike

It’s always fun to get a turn in the winner’s circle, but being there on a horse you bred and raised is even more special. Both Chad Bushaw and Kristen Galyean got to savor that experience after tying to win The Ike 4-Year-Old Non-Pro with composite scores of 436, collecting $7,888 each.

Chad Bushaw and Bitterest

Bushaw and Bitterest drew up last in both the first and second go, meaning Bushaw didn’t get his pick of the cows either day. They were challenging but good, he noted, and they let his mare display her intelligence and athletic ability. The pair marked solid 218s both days.

“The cows tied into this mare’s strong suits well because she does read a cow exceptionally well and she’s a really strong mare,” Bushaw said. “She’s really intelligent about a cow, so those last hole draws were easy enough to overcome.”

Bushaw was excited for Bitterest to finally win a title after several near-misses. The pair competed together at the 2024 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity and missed making the Non-Pro semifinals, but Bushaw’s oldest son, Charles Russell, piloted the mare to the Amateur finals. From there, Bushaw showed her at the Augusta Futurity and did well in the first go, but the pair lost a cow in the finals.

Chad Bushaw riding Bitterest. Photo by Brandon D’Albor

Bushaw believed Bitterest, who is by Once In A Blu Boon, takes after her dam, Bushaw’s great mare Bittersweet (by Metallic Cat). She has the same good thought process as Bittersweet, who he rode to NCHA Non-Pro Horse of the Year in 2019. Another Bittersweet offspring, Gamestop (by Dont Stopp Believin), carried Bushaw to fourth at The Ike, so he was excited about the mare’s future as a dam.

“Last year was phenomenal for Bittersweet, and this year’s starting off pretty good, too,” Bushaw said. “Hopefully she is going to be as special as a producer as she was as a show mare.”

Bushaw noted his good help — Brad Mitchell, Matt Miller, Sean Flynn and Michael Cooper — at The Ike, who aren’t all his normal help but were on top of picking cows.

“It’s a little bit more nerve-wracking when your normal help isn’t there, but I’ve been really blessed to have some really good relationships and friendships with some of the top folks in our sport,” Bushaw said. “It’s pretty fun to go to some events and have different help.”

Kristen Galyean and Ennzo

Galyean and her husband, Wesley, a $6 million trainer, had their hands full at The Ike. In addition to trying to get horses ready and shown, the couple was battling the flu. But those that watched Galyean and Ennzo’s first and second go-rounds, where they marked a 217 and a 219, respectively, might have never realized that Galyean was sick. She managed to work through it and was grateful to come out on top with their homebred gelding, who she believed inherited his cow smarts from his dam.

Ennzo (by Metallic Rebel) is out of Button Down Supercat (by Dual Rey), who Wesley rode to Bonanza Cutting Open and Breeder’s Invitational Classic Open championships in 2016.

Kristen Galyean riding Ennzo to win the 4-year-old Non-Pro. Photo by Brandon D’Albor

“To have another one out of ‘Buttons’ go on and do good makes us proud,” Glayean said. “She’s had a lot of really nice babies. Wes has trained a bunch of them, and they’ve gone on to be really successful. He’s just been a really nice horse to train, and to raise one and be able to win on one you raised is super special.”

The Ike was Galyean’s second time to show Ennzo. The first was at the 2024 NCHA Futurity, where the pair made the Non-Pro semifinals. Galyean said the gelding seems to enjoy his job and wants to please. He’s so good-minded, in fact, that he often totes around her daughters, who are 12 and 9 years old.

“It’s pretty rare that I feel confident that I can put my 9-year-old on one and feel like they’re going to take care of her, but Ennzo is one of those,” Galyean said. “He’s just really easy going and a really kind gelding. The girls get to enjoy him, and I get to enjoy him, so he’s a fun one to have.”

Galyean thanked Wesley for doing a great job training their horses and for working hard even while he was sick. She also thanked her team: Sammy Gillis, Arika Fell, Brooke Hodson and Misty Greeson.