- Well, here we are at Point Cactus Reining Classic.
- You see this lineup of horses and riders.
- It's gonna be spectacular.
Woo.
- And we're gonna see some penalties for sure.
- That's gonna leave a big mark. - That's gonna leave a big mark.
Ooh.
- So it's not looking very good for us.
- Lookin' around, a lot of these guys,
it looks like they're getting ready to try to qualify
for a million dollar dance.
I mean, they're sweating.
- There's more spots.
That's what we're sh**ting for this week.
But so is everybody else out here.
There's a lot of people showing in this and only places.
- Matt Palmer, look how far he came for this.
And he's tied for th right now.
- These guys are currently tied.
If Tom McCutcheon.
could put up a big score, then they're out.
- If they score a or higher, they knock you both out.
And Tom can do it. Tom can bring out a performance.
- He can do it, but he's gonna have to put the hammer down.
- I call it a hunter's chance.
When you put a showman on there and close that gate behind 'em,
they always have a chance.
- *
- For everyone watching this at home,
in , five riders qualified to be part
of this year's Run for a Million.
There are more spots for a total of riders.
And the highest-scoring riders at the Cactus
are going to the Run for a Million.
They will qualify.
And we've been seeing the rankings change
throughout the day, but now we're closin' in
on that top .
Things are really gettin' heated.
- One thing about it, you can't add more drama than we've had.
- You know, I have to be in the top
where anything can go wrong.
- I'm nervous because we've got some tough, tough horses to go.
- Well, I told 'em the other day I wasn't nervous at all.
Well, I am.
This is the moment to qualify.
- Right now, for the Million Dollar qualifier,
there's a tie between Matt Palmer and Gabriel Borges
in the th spot.
So, if somebody scores higher than a , two and a half,
that knocks out Matt and Gabriel.
- Yeah, I mean like, f*ck.
My mind's in a whole 'nother level right now.
- *
- Well, I don't know what's about to happen,
but I'm gonna try to go mark it up there.
Qualify for the Million.
- So you've got three major contenders for the qualifier.
- You've got Franco. - Yeah.
- Franco Bertolani.
- Tom McCutcheon and Mandy McCutcheon.
It's a family affair.
- It's comin' down to the wire.
You good?
Mama?
Mom, are you ready?
That's not much of an answer.
- Is this the first time you're trying to qualify?
- Yep.
- What made you want to give it a go this year?
- It's just, it's what we do.
It's in my blood wanting to compete and show.
- Mandy being in the qualifier, I'm % supportive.
If we could all get in that, it would be super cool.
- You know all three of them, Tom, Cade and Mandy McCutcheon.
They're just so competitive.
It's like goin' to a horse show every day at their arena
with each other.
- He's actually probably in better physical condition
than he's been in, in a long time.
- I don't want to be in a position
where I can't compete at the highest level.
- Ladies and gentlemen, Tom McCutcheon.
- The first year,
the Run for a Million was amazing for us.
Both my husband and my son showed in it.
- Cade McCutcheon.
- He is bred to do this.
- Big stop, wow.
- [audience cheering]
- Tom ended up in the like sixth and my son, Cade tied to win.
- [audience cheering]
- He was years old when that happened.
And that's almost unheard of in our industry
to be able to compete at that level at that age.
It was a thrill.
I mean, I still get little goosebumps
just thinkin' about it right now.
- I qualified for the Run for a Million
last year in The sh**t.
And it took a load off, so, I knew I'd be back.
- Cade is already qualified for the Run for a Million.
- Right.
- When you think about this, their son standing over there.
- Yeah, right up there watching his parents.
- And he's gonna watch his parents
go head-to-head against each other.
- *
- Come on!
- Wow, wow, that was nice. - That was pretty.
- Yeah, you wonder what the conversation
around the dinner table will be tonight
if it doesn't go according to plan.
- What is the plan?
- Well, all three, they all need to go as a family.
That's the plan. - That would be somethin'.
He's gonna try.
- Yeah.
- I like this, turn arounds and circles.
- They're average. - They're average.
He's a little conservative right there.
- Come on.
- *
- Come on.
- That was nice.
- But that's not gonna be enough.
- Well, he's gonna have to have a massive finish.
- Yeah, it's gonna have to be a-
- Tear off your clothes and the rest of it.
- Yeah.
- Woo, I'll tell ya what-
- That was pretty though. - He sure tried.
- That's a plus one last stop.
- Yes. - That was.
- Guys, I think he might have done it.
- Yeah.
- This is gonna upset the apple cart right here.
- Gunner's Rockstar and Tom McCutcheon is a .
- [people cheering]
- Wow, he did it.
- Excellent.
- He did it.
- *
- We've been workin' at this for a long time.
A lot of long nights.
A lot of hard days.
And the ups and downs have been pretty crazy.
Especially with this horse ya know?
Uh, we're proud of 'em both.
- Almost, my friend.
Good job, man.
- Tom McCutcheon and Gunner's Rockstar with a
on that ride here in the Derby.
Tom, I know you gotta go watch your wife, you did a great job.
- Thank you. - All right.
- When I walked out of the pen and I heard the score,
it was a huge sense of relief.
And then I had that two seconds.
And then I had to turn right around
and watch Mandy try to qualify.
- Okay, I hate to take my eyes off of the horse,
but look at the gate.
That's Tom and he's white knuckles on that gate.
- This is gonna be fun to watch.
- The guys that I have to show against
are the best in the business.
So I might be steppin' into a bigger pond than I can swim in.
It's a lot to live up to and keep the family name going.
- There's an interesting scenario that's developing here.
If Mandy or Franco put up a big score,
Brian and Craig are gonna have to run it off
for the th spot in the qualifier.
- Well, if somebody could do it, it's this one. All right, Mandy.
- This is not over.
- She shows as good as anybody that does this professionally.
Nobody counts Mandy out.
For sure nobody counts Mandy out.
- *
- When you think about this, we all as parents expect
to be nervous and watch our kids compete for something.
But right now, we've got their son standin' over there.
- Yeah, watchin' his parents. - He's gonna watch his parents
go head-to-head against each other.
- Okay, here we go.
- We need more than that.
- Yeah, that's not gonna do it at all.
- Mandy knows that. She just scrunched her nose.
That's a tell-tale sign.
It is though. - Of what?
- Well, when it's like, oops.
She's not giving up.
So she could have a plus / stop.
- Come on, Mandy.
- That's pretty good. - She picked it up on this side.
- Yeah, she did. - Yeah, she really did.
- Woo-hoo. - Oh yeah.
- Oh my God. - That was big.
- And the roll back.
I mean, the whole thing.
- She's not afraid to go fast.
- Wow!
Oh, oh, oh.
Now what do you do with that?
- Yeah, you gotta take a little bit of it away.
It's not a penalty.
It's just part of the maneuver.
- Woo, that's a stoppin' number, isn't it?
- Yeah. - I'm gonna tell you what.
What do you do with-- what you do now?
What just happened?
I don't know what to make of that.
- That's the best part of it.
- But how cool is that
to have mother, father and son show like that?
- Exactly. That is cool.
- No matter what comes out of the mix.
That's an incredible thing.
- The score for number ,
Giamosa and Mandy McCutcheon, , .
- , Mandy, you seem disappointed,
but what an incredible run. What a stopper.
- Yeah, a big stopper.
I just made a few little mistakes.
- It's this close.
Uh, Mandy was so close.
Just one little maneuver away from bein' in,
and that would've been amazing.
- Here's our final exhibitor showing in the qualifier.
- That leaves one left, and the qualifier, Franco Bertolani.
And that's not the guy you want comin' up behind you
when you're sittin' on the bubble.
- Oh, no.
- Sitting th right now is a .
We already have two reiners tied.
- All right, so our bubble's .
We've got Brian and Craig sittin' at .
- Well, if he beats us, then we're gonna tie.
So, we have to have a runoff.
- If Franco goes higher than a ,
Brian and Craig are currently tied,
and they'll have to run it off for the th spot
in the Run for a Million.
He holds the keys.
- I think he could set this place alight
even if he is the last horse.
- *
- That's a big, ground-eating horse, isn't it?
- Yeah.
- Franco's goin' now.
- He really is.
- Man, these judges are in a pickle.
This whole show.
- It's kinda like you're on the edge of bein',
oh sh*t, we've gotta go home empty handed.
Or hell yeah, we're gettin' ready to go
to the Run for the Million.
You're sittin' on the fence and you're not sure
which way you're gonna have to jump off.
- Oh, Franco.
- He didn't like that hop. - Yeah.
- He's gonna have to be spectacular.
- He can be spectacular. - Yes, he can.
- That was a big stop right there.
- That was huge.
- Woo.
- He wants to go to Vegas.
- Franco had a good run.
If he has higher than our , then there's a runoff
for the Run for the Million.
- All right, the score for Franco Bertolani
is being held for review.
- Oh.
- They're reviewing it. - Oh, God, a review.
- Yeah.
- So the suspense deepens here...
- They're gonna review Franco's run there.
He had a really good run, but his horse kinda threatened
to kick at him a little through a lead change.
So, they're gonna look at it.
- Oh, Franco.
- He didn't like that hop. - Yeah.
- Having reviewed these four criteria
Franco Bertolani is a , .
- Oh, they got him. - Ooh, they got him good.
. - Wow.
- We do not have a tie now for th place in our qualifier.
There will be no runoff.
- No runoff. - Franco didn't b*at us.
They reviewed his score and there's no runoff.
- We're headed to Vegas.
Chevy Chase style.
- Luckily, we got in by the skin of our teeth.
- It has been a long day. - It's been a long day.
- I've never been so happy to mark a in my life.
- I'm like, this is the adrenaline drips, right?
The highs and they go low.
And then they go high.
- Woo.
- These are the top that have qualified to go to Las Vegas
to the Run for the Million.
- [people cheering]
- You know, guys, this has been spectacular.
- What an evening, what a day.
- That was a lot of fun. - A big chunk of heaven.
- I'll see y'all in Vegas.
- Tom, you big sandbagger, all week long.
- You know about the blind squirrel.
- We're gonna have a big time in Vegas.
And look out because we're gonna come a-runnin'.
- My dad is crazy about the Run for the Million.
He booked hotel rooms before we were even qualified.
He wants to win and so do I.
But any of the guys showing those horses could do it.
- Qualifying this year for the Run for a Million
has validated that thought in my head
that I am a long way from being done.
- So many riders qualified for the Run for a Million.
Tom McCutcheon, Craig Schmersal, Brian Bell,
Casey Deary, Gina Schumaker.
And now they're facin' off against the five riders
who qualified in the last sh**t
for a total of riders.
Andrea Fappani, Matt Mills and Cade McCutcheon
are all serious competitors.
And this could be anyone's run.
- *
- The first time I just wanted to prove I belonged there.
Now I wanna prove I'm the top of the class.
- Money, money, money.
- My goal is to be the best at the end.
And the best in our business is the guy who wins the most money.
- Fappani, Schmersal, Flarida.
They're extremely, extremely hard to b*at.
We're kinda hangin' out there.
Those people know we're chasin' 'em.
I think they all know that we're young and hungry.
And we just wanna win this deal.
- It'll be a lucky son of a g*n
who wins the Run for a Million this year.
- *
- [doorbell rings]
- Hi.
- Hello. - Come on in.
How's it goin'? - Pretty good.
- How about you, little champion?
- Gina Schumaker makin' it into
the Run for a Million is unbelievable.
First of all, she's a non-pro.
She's a girl.
And she comes from such a competitive family.
Craig and I are very close to the Schumakers.
So, I feel like Gina's kinda like a daughter to me
in some weird way.
But, you know, I just adore her
and seein' all this is just great.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
- I'm glad that is over. - Congratulations.
- Down to the last horse.
- I mean, it was just like.
- Yeah, you should've been me.
I had to go like--I was sitting in front of the stalls.
I'm like, I can't do this.
- Abby Lengel and Gina, both of them bein' a part
of the Run for a Million are so inspiring for Addi.
And all the girls in the reining world.
- Let's go sit outside and let the boys serve us.
Shall we?
I've been sayin' to Francesca for me, for Addi,
you know to have you, not only a girl,
but a non-pro girl.
I mean, how cool is that for our industry?
It's really awesome.
I hate that your mom's not here this week.
- She's already planning the trip to Vegas.
- Oh, I'm sure. Yeah, my parents too.
I watched your run. It was incredible.
- Thank you.
- I had my horse out. - Oh, we were ready.
- I was gettin' ready for the runoff.
I knew I was in big trouble because you know when
these group of people get backed against the wall,
they can do extraordinary things.
- Yeah.
- Tom's horse is nice, but that was all Tom in my opinion.
It was spectacular showmanship on Tom's part.
- You just never know in our sport when magic can happen.
And you have a bunch of guys and gals that are super competitive.
And I take everybody seriously.
Whoever walks through the gate, they've got a sh*t.
I think you're a fool to count anybody out.
- *
- Missin' the Run for a Million qualifier at the Cactus
was very, very hard for me.
I feel like you miss % of the sh*ts that you don't take.
And not being able to give that try to qualify
was extremely hard for me.
- The one person that I would have liked to have seen back
is Abby Lengel.
- I was so honored to be a part of the Run for a Million
that first year.
- Come on, Abby.
Come in here and crush it.
Bam!
- Ace and I, we ended up sixth place there
at the Run for a Million.
I think what gave me my edge in the Run for a Million
was just I am and I was just very hungry.
I knew that I was the underdog.
- Bang, right there.
Woo.
- I think it just made me want it that much more.
And try that much harder.
And I just you know, I think I just went out there
and laid it all out on the line and I felt like I didn't
have anything to lose and everything to gain.
And I think that might have gave me a little bit of an edge.
- Great job, Abby.
- Ace went home. He got retired.
He just gets turned out every day
in the pasture, breedin' mares.
Ace is livin' the life right now.
- Abby was a crowd favorite in .
And I hope she brings one to Vegas, I really do.
I hope she can show in the sh**t
and get qualified for .
- At this year's Run for a Million,
it's a qualifier to compete in .
I really want to get qualified really, really bad.
And I'm gonna give it everything that I have.
And I know my horses will too.
- She's in the same boat everyone else is in.
She's got to chase the top five at the sh**t in Vegas.
Does she have enough horse?
That's the eternal question for everybody.
- I'll probably just carry these in, all that way.
Whenever I flop 'em in there, they just get more tangled.
- Yeah, true.
- I think there's a lot of reasons why there's not
as many female pros, the lifestyle, it's very tough.
The hours are very, very long.
It's a very physical job.
Just unloading and loading hay.
And I mean, it's hard on your body.
But chasing perfection is what I absolutely love.
I love the speed of the sport.
I love goin' fast.
I really think that women can do it just as good as men can.
I want to be one of those women to pave the way.
- Abby quit a good payin' job workin' for Casey
to go out on her own.
Now she's gotta go grind it out herself.
That's the harsh reality of horse training.
And she's accepted that.
And she's excelling.
- Josie's very special 'cause this was the very first
three-year-old that I had the year I went out on my own.
I pretty much just had Ace and a couple
of other older horses.
And she snapped into my program right away.
Ended up goin' to the charity with her.
And made my very first level four during finals
with my only horse.
And I've been trying to do that my whole life.
I had to push her very hard to get her there.
And she said, yes, ma'am the whole way,
was with me the whole time.
She just keeps gettin' better.
She's got a special place in my heart too for that reason.
- *
- This is Charlotte.
Her paper name is This Chick Has Big Dreams.
She's a four-year-old mare.
First time she was shown I marked on her in Tulsa.
I tied with Andrea to win.
Just a super-talented mare.
I went to Arizona shortly after and that's when I could tell
that something wasn't quite right with her.
She wasn't lame or anything, just wasn't ridin' like herself.
As soon as we got her back home, we took her in for an MRI
and that's when they found
that there was a bone chip in each knee.
We had them removed and since then
she's just been on rest.
My plan was to take her to the Cactus and qualify.
But they wanted to be safe and make sure
that she was % when we brought her home.
That pushed me back a little bit for the qualifier.
And now I'm gonna try for the one in Las Vegas.
- *
- This is my office.
This is where most of the good ideas
and most of the bad ideas all come from.
We got our pictures on the wall.
That was .
I was a double gold medalist with Gunners Special Nite.
Just some mementos.
I get to see out my window and see everything all the time
helps me even when I'm in here doin' book work and whatnot.
I can keep a pretty good eye on the place.
We got Cade's champion saddle.
All the major events give away a saddle.
It was a huge sense of relief to get qualified
for the Run for a Million.
Cade was already qualified, so it was a big deal for me
to go through this whole journey with him again.
- If there's a royal family of reining, it's the McCutheons.
And then of course, Cade,
who's the golden child at this point,
years old and wins the biggest event
in reining his first year.
He's a million-dollar rider and he can't even f*cking--
he can't even buy beer.
The little prick is .
- This is my house.
I moved in, in January of with my winnings
from the Run for a Million, I was able to buy it.
This is my roommate, Jordan Redfern,
and my friend, Austin McCalon.
They're pretty much always here.
Can't get rid of 'em.
My career is unique because I got started so early.
Most people my age are just an assistant trainer,
or riding two-year-olds.
This is one of my roommate's rooms.
This is the master bedroom.
For me to get the jump on it that I have
at this stage of my life, it's pretty unique, pretty special.
Something I think a lot of people get wrong about me is
that they think I've gotten everything handed to me.
And I've been very fortunate,
but I've also worked my butt off.
No matter how much you get handed to you,
if you don't spend time in the saddle,
it doesn't matter.
- Anyone can become a reiner if they have the time
and the horse, and the dedication.
You better get on that horse every single day
and work it every single day.
You have to absolutely live it.
- I didn't have the money, but there was
never a doubt in my mind what I was gonna do.
- *
- I'm skiving this ground seat piece,
so the edges of the leather feathers from five millimeters
to less than a millimeter.
So, when I put it in the tree, it doesn't create a sharp edge.
I think the art is really to find the correct angle
to the horse's back and shoulder
to flare out into the rest of the back of the horse.
And make that horse very comfortable.
My name is Andreas Maschke
I'm a custom saddle maker for primarily reining saddles.
- *
- I came to the States actually to make saddles
that would fit the taste of Europeans.
And then I get stuck here and I really love it.
I mean, we all grew up as kids with Western movies.
The feel and flavor of the Western culture,
cowboys, you know, freedom, pastures, wide, open country.
We use just one specific leather.
It's uh, a vegetable-tint leather
made in St. Louis, Missouri.
And it's the finest leather you can find on this planet.
There's only two tanneries left that make saddles for our trade.
If they ever go out of business, then we're out of business too
because you cannot do this with any other leather.
Some of the most uh, successful riders
like Craig Schmersal, Matt Mills,
Shawn Flarida, Casey Deary.
These are the guys that are riding my saddles.
Western saddlemaking for me is more than a job.
It's actually a passion and it relaxes me.
And it's very rewarding because at the end of the day,
I can sit and can look at what I have accomplished.
It's like an artist that does a painting.
- *
- I was interested in horses for as long as I can remember.
The biggest challenge that I faced growing up,
trying to get into horses was just being able
to afford to do it. It's very expensive.
- *
- My parents took me to a reining lesson.
And the trainer let me get on one of his reiners
and I spun it and stopped it that day.
And on the car ride back home, I said I know
what I'm gonna do with the rest of my life.
Mom was like, what's that?
And I said, I'm gonna train reining horses.
They said if this is something you want to do,
you're gonna have to figure out a way to afford it.
So from that point on, I started savin'.
And I saved until I was and I had enough money
to buy my first reining horse.
- Right here?
- Probably the biggest jump for me.
I went from a small arena that we had a lot
of ground trouble with.
We had flooding in the stalls.
Had to haul out a lot.
To a custom arena built specifically for me
that's one of the largest in the country.
Right now, it's a fully female operation.
The ranch is fully ran by females.
My business is ran by females.
And hopefully someday soon a guy will be brave enough
to come in and pave the way for the other guys.
- *
- You think you can give us a hand
with that theraplate right quick?
- Yeah, we gotta get the theraplate.
- I have two assistants that help me, Casey and Molly.
And they help me groom and ride.
And so, it's just us three kinda handling everything.
- She is good to work for.
And she does keep things on agendas.
- I have a great team right now.
There's no way I could possibly do it without 'em.
- Let's start a load today with the sheets.
- I wanted to work for Abby because you could see
how humble she was and down to earth.
And being a female in this industry is hard.
And she has gotten to the top.
That was always appealing to me.
- I always knew that I wanted to have my own business.
I didn't know how long it would take
and I didn't know exactly
what the business model would look like,
but it's a little overwhelming at the same time.
- *
- Most trainers, they have a wife or somebody higher
that will be in the office pretty much full time.
Answering the phone and doin' payroll.
And just keepin' the books straight.
That's been a challenge trying to figure out a way
to be out in the barn and get everything rode myself.
It's comin' together now, but it's very time consuming.
I wish that I uh, could have somebody else do it.
But I don't have a way to do that quite yet.
- *
- The uniqueness of the operation that we run here
is it's bigger than any other operation in the country.
There's horses here.
We bred mares last year.
We usually carry between and horses in training.
This is Gunners Special Nite.
He's one of the leading sires in the country
approaching $ million.
And a big part of our breeding program.
This is where the magic happens so to speak.
This is where we collect the studs and breed the mares.
And this is basically
the entirety of the breeding operation right here.
- Wee.
- And then this baby is by Gunners Special Nite.
We have stood studs for as long as I can remember.
We've raised babies.
And I'm proud of the fact that we've promoted
several million-dollar sires.
More than anybody else in the industry.
And that's a big part of what we do.
- That mare's gonna be good, I think, huh?
She looks pretty good.
Tom and I are working very hard to build a business
that both our kids can continue on with in the future.
It's what my parents did.
And Tom's family did.
- So, we have a viewing deck for any clients
or people coming to look at horses.
And we have a refrigerator right there.
If they like beer, we want to keep them comfortable and drunk.
If Cade wants to stay in the family business,
of course, I'd be thrilled about that.
If he wants to go do his own thing,
I get that too.
I mean, that's the natural progression of growing up.
That ultimately is gonna be his decision and only his decision.
- *
- Josie needs to get bathed.
She's gonna get body clipped today.
It's kind of an organizational day, I think.
- What do you need me to do?
- Zach comes to a lot of the horse shows with me.
He helps out any possible way that he can.
I mean, just being there for support is huge.
But he pitches in with everything else.
I mean, he's there for it all.
- *
- What we got goin' on with the ground?
- Well, I like the way that the depth is right now.
And also, it needs a little more moisture,
but when you put more moisture in it,
then it packs a little too hard, too fast.
So, the sand's gonna keep it from doin' that.
I enjoy every part of this business,
but I didn't realize, I guess when I went out on my own
how in-depth all these other things were.
Like just the ground in itself could be a full-time job,
keepin' it where it's supposed to be.
It's gotta be drug so many times a day.
And then it needs maintenance.
Like now it needs more sand added to it.
I've learned more about ground in the past two years
than I ever thought I would or ever wanted to, that's for sure.
- Dirt was dirt until reiners got ahold of it.
- That is no lie. That is no lie.
- *
- Good.
Good, Kim.
Yeah, look at your tracks.
- Sweet.
- All right, I'm gonna watch her roll back.
And then by then the tractor should be...
Do you wanna run over and see if Tracy knows
to come in here immediately?
- Yep. - Do you mind? Thank you.
- Abby has a lot on her plate and she's a workaholic.
She'll burn it down / if nobody's there to tell her
to just take a break.
- I have something to prove not for me specifically,
but for women in general.
And I feel like I owe it to a lot of people that believe in me
and that wanna do the same thing someday.
- *
- This is Super Marioo.
I bought him in .
He's pretty friendly.
If you walk up to his stall,
he always greets ya at his stall.
He lives right in front of the office,
so, every day when I leave, I get to go pet him
or give him a treat.
So, he's pretty spoiled, but he deserves all of it.
I won the Open Fraternity on him,
which is our biggest event other than maybe
the Run for a Million.
He's won about ,.
He's in the top all the time.
He's a pretty special horse to me.
And I'm lucky to get to be able to ride him every day.
I just want to show the world how great he is.
And I know that he can do enough to be first place
at the Run for a Million.
I just have to figure out
how to do that on my end of things.
- *
- Dinner up.
Why do they sit around me?
- Because you're the one that feeds them always.
I don't feed them at the table.
- That's a lie.
Who do you think's gonna win it?
- I have no idea.
- Who do you think?
- I don't know.
I think Casey's got a phenomenal horse, Maverick.
I think if that horse came out there
and did what he's capable of,
I think that he could win it easily.
Because everybody's gonna be runnin' as hard as they can.
And anything can happen.
But we all know, I mean, Andrea's always the one
to be scared of because not only is he phenomenal,
but he's got the horsepower.
I think if Andrea is havin' a good day,
I think he'll win it hands down.
- *
- I haven't quite got Charlotte fully back training wise
as I had her before just because I'm tryin' to ease her back in.
I don't wanna push anything too fast,
but we're really, really close to where we were.
So, I think the next couple of weeks I'll be able
to be full throttle again training wise.
- *
- Had to work on that one just a touch.
She was readin' me.
I'm plannin' on taking Josie and Charlotte both
to the Run for a Million qualifier.
Everybody that I compete against,
they're all great showmen and great trainers.
If I compared my horsepower and everything to everybody else,
I'd probably get a little bit discouraged.
But I know that if I go out there
and keep workin' on myself
and do better than I did last time,
I'm gonna be able to compete with them.
- *
- It's great to compete with Cade.
And the father/son thing is so much fun.
But, you know, he kicks my ass every time
and I'm gettin' sick of that.
And I'm far from bein' an old guy.
And I want to be first place.
- And I want the best for both of them.
Nothing makes me happier than when they are successful.
- I feel good about goin' back to the Run for a Million.
All I need is Super Marioo to go win the Run for a Million.
And that's what I'm gonna try and do.
- *
- On show day, it boils down to who does the best job
of gettin' their horse ready.
- Literally, any one of those other could win this thing.
- The Run for a Million, it's a big deal.
And I am by no means comfortable not being competitive.
- We all need to get our sh*t together.
We don't wanna get b*at by the youngest guy.
- I'm not gonna be happy with anything other
than being the number-one rider.
But the biggest competition is Andrea.
- He's got great horses and he's got ice water for blood.
- I don't think people can b*at me.
- *
- The NRBC's our first major of the year.
It's kinda like an audition for the Run for a Million.
- The Run for the Million is now
the most prestigious event that we have.
I want to b*at 'em all.
- I've been one of the top competitors for a long time.
- Every guy out there is capable of winnin' Run for a Million.
- Nobody wants to win more than I do.
- I would like for, uh, my sons
to be able to look back and think, you know what?
Our dad was one of the best ones.
Just to be remembered as being somebody
that put an impact on the--on the sport
and elevated the level.
- *
- MAN: * MTV