Day Two of the 2025 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®!
Another big day is in the books here in Fort Worth! Yesterday, sets 17–31 of the Open Futurity reined work preliminaries took center stage, and the competition did not disappoint.
The Open Futurity standings are heating up, with The Rizzler (Metallic Rebel x Starlight Playmate x Grays Starlight), owned by Triple D Ranches and shown by Nick Dowers, and Thunder Strukk (Metallic Cat x Lightening Strike x Dual Rey), owned by Hannes Winkler and shown by Shadd Parkinson, currently tied for the lead on a score of 222.5 points.
Tuff And Arising (BadBoonaRising x CR Rosie Tuff Stuff x Woody Be Tuff), shown by Trent Pederson for owner Kelly Lindell are currently leading the Intermediate Open with 220 points. In the Limited Open, Metallic Sannrey (Sanman x What A Rey x TR Dual Rey), owned by Ruth Nixon, and showny by Trapper Lowndes are in the lead with a score of 219 point. Rounding out the Level 1 division with 217.5 points is No Time For Talkin (Smooth Talkin Style x Annies One Time x One Time Pepto) shown by Laura Coflin for owner Charlene Thompson McCameron.
Today in the John Justin, we’ll close out the reined work preliminaries with sets 31–46. By the end of the day, we’ll know who will be carrying the momentum forward into the herd work preliminaries.
Scott Armstrong’s Quiet Rise as a Reined Cow Horse Owner
Up-and-coming trainers are often easy to spot. Center stage in the arena, on the back of prodigy horses, showcasing their own rising talent, it doesn’t take long to identify a trainer beginning their ascension through the ranks.
Up-and-coming owners, on the other hand, are trickier to spot. Their early success tends to be quieter—celebrated in the stands of the arena or tucked between the aisles of a show barn—but it’s no less significant. Owner Scott Armstrong is one of those quietly climbing, and while he may be relatively new in years, he stands near the top when it comes to devotion.
From Council Bluffs, Iowa, Armstrong didn’t grow up in the reined cow horse industry, but he’s always been surrounded by it. After moving to Florida as a teenager, that’s where he planted his roots, becoming a builder developer. That role led Armstrong into the early framework and poured concrete of barns and the horses that would soon fill them, further instilling his appreciation for the Western performance industry. Watching the World’s Greatest Horseman® a few years ago sealed his desire to get involved.
“We don’t have a whole bunch of reined cow horse shows in the Southeast, so we found Luke Jones, watched him work, and fell in love with it. We fell in love with him as a trainer,” Armstrong said.
Alongside Jones, as well as Dell Hendricks, Armstrong is now several years deep into the title of horse owner and in the process has gained a few family members.
“Luke’s great in this industry, but I think Luke and I have started to develop a good friendship, too, because he’s the kind of guy you like to be around,” Armstrong said.
“You like to be around your family, and he’s family. So that was so easy for us. My wife and I prayed about getting a trainer like we pray when we buy horses, and Luke’s an answered prayer.”
At the 2025 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®, Armstrong has five personally owned horses competing under the guidance of Jones and Hendricks: Pearl Snapps (Stevierey Von x Hummin Melody), Hold My Haloe (Dual Reyish x Broken Haloes), The Wraith (Rollz Royce x Desiresomemettalic), Reysed Uptown (Dual Reyish x Pretty Uptown) and Reyzin The Odds LE (Reyzin The Cash x Dees Cats Meow).
“Last year was our first NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®, and we were fortunate to have one of our horses make the finals,” Armstrong said. “My whole family came out, and we had the best time. This year, we didn't necessarily set out to have five. We just ended up buying a few good horses, and we're so blessed that they all turned out pretty good.”
A trailer full of impressive futurity colts is no small feat, and it’s not one Armstrong takes lightly.
“As Luke’s been training these horses, we talk pretty often and we’d laugh about it because the favorite changes from week to week,” he said. “We’ve taken them to a couple pre-futurities, and for me, every time one went out, that was my new favorite. After watching them train, I think they’re all special. Whether they win or lose, we love them.”
When it comes to picking prospects, Armstrong leans heavily on both Jones and Hendricks.
“The first thing I do when picking a horse is call Luke,” he said with a laugh. “But I've studied a lot, and I've learned a lot. We're trying to buy just like everybody else in the whole thing—the best of the best. And that's worked for us, but I can't take much credit for that. I won’t always know the best prospects, but they do. If you’ve got good breeding, you’ve got a good place to start. And then we have some of the best help in the world to take it the next step further.”
Clawing your way to the top of the reined cow horse industry is no easy climb, but the sense of community woven into every fiber and facet of it makes the rise both well deserved and well celebrated.
“This industry is very competitive, but at the same time, if you watch when these guys and ladies ride, they're all cheering for each other,” Armstrong said. “The quality of human beings, the trainers in this thing, are amazing. I haven't met one that I wouldn't have said, ‘Man, I'd be proud to be associated with that guy or that lady.’ They're amazing people, great families and it's a very tight-knit group. That drew us in instantly.”
Armstrong has high hopes of building off last year’s success at the 2025 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®, but above all, he feels fortunate for the team he’s got in his corner.
“Making the finals at last year’s Snaffle Bit was obviously a highlight, but it's rewarding that we've become a part of Luke and Dale’s family, too,” Armstrong said. “We're a team. I do my part of investing, and then they get the best horses they can get to do their part. And I’m proud of it.”
First-Time Competitor Scott Kelly Achieves Lifelong Dream of Competing at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®
Dedication, diligence and discipline. Scott Kelly, a first-time competitor at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®, possesses not one but all these traits, and that's what landed him here at one of the most prestigious Western horse events in the world.
“The two main things for me are I'm not the most talented and I'm not the smartest person here,” Kelly said. “However, I do have the ability to work and discipline, and if you're willing to put in the work ethic and the discipline, I think anyone could get here.”
Kelly was raised in Palmer, Texas, and although his family didn't own any horses, his friends did, which sparked a passion that remained in Kelly's mind for decades.
“I went to Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma State introduced me to the rodeo team and the ranch horse team,” Kelly said.
Upon graduating from Oklahoma State with a degree in plant and soil sciences, Kelly put his horse dreams on hold to establish his career and family, and after patiently waiting for more than two decades, Kelly was finally in the position to buy his first horse and “do it right”.
“I'm an executive now, and so I had the time and the place and the finances to get back into it,” Kelly said. “And so I did with a ranch horse, and I had some level of success at the Stock Horse of Texas, and it kind of led me here.”
After years of attending NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® as a spectator, Kelly made up his mind and knew he wanted to compete. After purchasing his first horse five years ago, Kelly's wife, Tracy, picked out a stunning blue-eyed bay filly by the name of Haidas Bay Cat (ML Gunnerito x Haidas Black Cat x Hes My Cat), or “Blue” as she's known to the Kelly family, that would take Kelly to the show of his dreams.
“The goal of mine was to train my own homegrown horse,” Kelly said. “My wife picked her out, and we've had a couple of weanlings that didn't want to make cow horses or weren't best suited to be cow horses, but Blue is best suited.”
But it wasn't without its challenges, according to Kelly. Blue was almost sold due to her small stature and had to be started later than most horses.
“We started her on April 1–the vet recommended it, because she was so small,” Kelly said. “In fact, we had the Purina rep out at the house a few times, because she was so small. We were pouring feed to her and she wasn't growing. And he goes, ‘No, no, she's gonna pop more muscle than your other baby, and she was just a late bloomer.”'
The Purina rep was right. Blue hit a late growth spurt that would round out a strong list of desirable traits in a cow horse.
“I think one thing that I've learned about this process is that I love the process,” Kelly said. “I love going before work. I love going after work. I love the horsemanship aspect of it, and she's been a joy to train. She's been really willing, and most times when we run into a problem, it's 90% my problem.”
Working with mentors Bob and Jennifer Mirror and Casey Crouch Cutting Horses, Kelly and Blue both learned together the grit and dedication it takes to make it to the top.
“When he sets his mind to something, and he goes and he runs, and he'll do whatever it takes to get to it,” Kelly's wife, Tracy, said.
Despite what happens in the arena for Kelly and Blue, dreams have already come true.
“I've already won in my mind,” Kelly said. “I've proven to myself that I can do this, and no one else has been on my horse except for me.”
Kelly and Blue will show in the Non Pro Futurity which starts with the reined work preliminaries on Thursday, October 9.
