NCHA News

The Home Run of Cutting

On November 15, 2017, the first set of the first go round of the Open class showed their horse. If you took a look at the draw sheet, you may have noticed that the last horse to work in that particular set, stud horse Reyydiation, was not included in the draw. This was no mistake. Reyydiation, sired by Dual Rey, was a last minute add-on to the draw. Aside from the hefty late fee and the risks, the horse’s owner had enough confidence in the horse to enter him in the NCHA Futurity.

Yoenis Cespedes, professional baseball player for the New York Mets, has acquired a taste for cutting horses over the last year. Xavier Rodriguez, a close friend of Cespede, says that it was the 2016 Futurity that first sparked the interest of the ball player.

“It all started when I sold a horse as a brood mare,” says Rodriguez. “I got that mare for last Futurity, but I couldn’t show her because she got sore. I met Yoenis and he bought that mare from me. After that, I wanted him to get involved in the cutting business.”

“He’s a hell of a trainer,” says Rodriguez in reference to Hanson. “What we‘ve got right now is great results. Chris has done an excellent job.”

Moreover, Rodriguez expresses Cespedes’ excitement about becoming more involved as a cutting horse owner. Yoenis Cespedes will even be making an appearance as a rider in the 2017 Careity Celebrity

Cutting on December 1, 2017!

Cespedes’ confidence in his horse was well warranted as rider, Jon Burgess (Hanson’s father-in-law), and Reyydiation put a 218 on the scoreboard. What’s more, Burgess was a fill-in for Hanson who would have been riding Reyydiation in the Open 1st go. But, Hanson had prior commitment. Fortunately, Burgess was able to get a few practice rides on the horse before walking into the herd, and the two new acquaintances did not disappoint. Hanson shares the series of events leading up to the big score.

“There was a big mix up and the last payment was missed,” says Hanson. “[Yoenis] decided to pay the late fee, but when he didn’t get in the draw I had to make some prior commitments. My father-in-law, who taught me everything I know, had a hole available. He worked him, and they got along so he decided to catch-ride him for me.”

Cespedes bought the stud from David Terrell around the time of the 2017 Super Stakes. After Hanson went to work for Nachoz Quarter Horses, Reyydiation was sent to him to be trained for the Futurity. Although they had considered possibly including Reyydiation in the Futurity, it was a very last minute decision.

“It was yesterday (Tuesday, November 14, 2017) that we came in and a decided to pay the penalty,” says Hanson. “Jon had kind of been on the backburner. He knew what was going on and he had worked

the horse...he was ready. He worked [Reyydiation] on a cow Sunday and then he worked him on the flag last night, and that was the most he’d ridden him.”

With such little time and so little notice, this team of cowboys, Hanson, Rodriguez, and Burgess, were able to, quite literally, pull out all the stops to make Cespedes a proud stallion owner. Reyydiation will continue on to the 2nd go round in the Open class of the Futurity. The time and date is to be determined. If you would like to know more about the stallion, Reyydiation, please visit Nachoz Quarter Horses on Facebook.