After a run off, Kim Dooley and Country Custom take the National Reining Breeders Classic non-pro championship and a hefty check.

Kim Dooley and Country Custom take home the NRBC non-pro championship April 16, 2010, in Katy, Texas.

Kim Dooley of Scottsdale, Arizona, was counting on her trusty horse Wimpys Little Buddy to beat Draw 5 Samantha Griffin and Dun Playin Tag, who was leading the NRBC non-pro finals in Katy, Texas, with a 222.5.

Kim and “Buddy” were Draw 6. They performed a solid run, but it was only good enough for second — a 220.5.

Kim had one more shot at Samantha’s score at Draw 20 with Country Custom, a horse she’s not near as familiar with.

“I actually thought Buddy would do the best here,” Kim says. “I know him so well, and he’s been right there every time. He’s such a good, honest horse. I thought he was my safer bet. I’ve shown Buddy for a year and a half now. This is my second horse show for “Charlie.” I had a little more confidence in Buddy. But Charlie really stepped up. I couldn’t be happier with him. I’m so proud of him.”

Kim and Charlie scored a 222.5 to tie with Samantha.

Their high score held throughout the 33-head finals, so the ladies decided to run it off. The decision was different from Kim’s 2006 NRBC championship, which she and Mandy McCutcheon decided to split rather than run off.

“You always wonder, how would it have ended up?” Kim says. “Why not! We’re here, and let’s just run it off. And if I ended up second, so be it. I would have been thrilled with second, too. I’m happy to be in the position to be in a run off. Sam wanted to run it off, too.”

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Samantha went first, earning a 222.

“I knew I had a lot of horse left,” Kim recalls. “I thought, let’s go, it’s all or nothing! I like Sam a lot. I’ve known her for a long time, and she’s a great rider. She put down a great first run. I was standing out here going, ‘Oh, boy. This is gonna be tough to beat!’ ”

Kim and Charlie scored a solid 223 to take the non-pro title and about $41,000.

“I always say, if I had to stay home the rest of the year and only go to one horse show, it would be here,” Kim says. “Even when it doesn’t end up like this, I’ve always said that.”

Charlie, a 2006 gelding by Custom Crome and out of Calatrava, is owned by Kim’s father, Tom Dooley, and has been trained by Kim’s husband, Martin, since they bought him at the National Reining Horse Association Derby as a 2-year-old.

“We have a partnership with my dad,” Kim explains. “We bought him as an investment, and I wouldn’t let him sell him! It wasn’t really my dad’s business plan! But he said to go ahead and show him and see how it goes. I think he’ll be very happy!”

Record Payout for Non-Pros

With an almost $1.3 million purse, the National Reining Breeders Classic is one of the richest shows in reining, and this year it’s setting a new record. As the 13th NRBC kicked off on Monday, April 12, word quickly spread that more than $340,000 would go to the non-pro divisions this year.

“It’s very exciting and fulfilling to see the reining horse industry get behind and support the NRBC to the point that we can have the largest non-pro payout in the world,” NRBC President Tom McCutcheon says.

With 158 horses entered in the five non-pro divisions, $51,785 was paid out in the preliminaries with $291,264 going out to the top non-pro finalists on April 16.

“There’s no other reining show that pays as deep, or as big, a return to its non-pro exhibitors,” says Chris Potter of the NRBC management team. “For us to exceed $40,000 to the non-pro champion is unprecedented.”

The NRBC is the most successful stallion incentive program in reining history. In just 13 years, the NRBC has grown to include almost 230 subscribed stallions and, in 2009, there were more than 2,800 foals enrolled. Annually, the payout at the NRBC exceeds $1.3 million.

Jody Reynolds
AQHA Director of Online and Interactive Communications