![](\"http:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/features\/pix\/Motes%20Mica.jpg\")
Mica Motes, 20, Weatherford, TX, delivered a one-two punch on SL Jaybird in The Non-Pro Cutting\u2019s 5\/6-year-old non-pro division, with a 222-point go-round win and a 223-point victory in the finals. The pair also won the go-round and finals of last year\u2019s 4-year-old division of the same event.<\/p>\n
Paula Wood was reserve champion to Motes with 220 points on 6-year-old Donas Cool Cat by High Brow Cat. Wood had also tied Julie Hansma, on Bob Dualin, with 219, as the second-highest scoring rider of the go-round. Hansma tied for seventh place in the finals.<\/p>\n
SL Jaybird, a 5-year-old son of Smart Little Jerry, has earned more than $135,000 under both Motes and her stepfather, trainer Winston Hansma, who rode the gelding as reserve champion of the 2007 NCHA Super Stakes Classic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Non Pro last year was my first show with him,\u201d said Motes, who collected $7,263 for this year\u2019s win. \u201cIt was a big surprise, but he\u2019s just gone up from there. We\u2019ve really clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Motes noted that SL Jaybird requires very little preparation before a show, she was concerned leading up to The Non-Pro, after the gelding fractured his skull five weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very easy and simple to work, doesn\u2019t take a lot of loping, and has no soundness issues,\u201d she pointed out. \u201cBut he tends to hurt himself a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Motes was riding SL Jaybird up from the pasture, he stumbled and pitched forward onto his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knocked himself pretty silly,\u201d Motes said. \u201cHe had his mouth open for about two hours and he wouldn\u2019t stop shaking his head. Then, not long after that, he sat back when he was tied up and the pressure from the back of his halter (in addition to the fracture) caused one of his eyes to swell shut.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although SL Jaybird had his veterinarian\u2019s clearance to show in The Non Pro, Motes was still a little apprehensive, before the first go-round.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Jaybird, there is really no playing it safe,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s always going to try his hardest. He likes to go full-blown.\u201d<\/p>\n
SL Jaybird reminds Motes of her favorite mount, Dually Lena, who she retired last year at 14. Sired by Dual Pep and ridden by Winston Hansma in open competition, Dually Lena is an all-time leading cutting horse winner with more than $375,000 in earnings.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody will ever be Cookie\u2019s replacement, but (SL Jaybird) is as close as I could get,\u201d she said. \u201cCookie didn\u2019t want to have anything to do with anyone but me, and Jaybird is the same way. He\u2019s the sweetest horse, but he\u2019s scared of everyone and everything. He\u2019s always been hard to take to shows because he\u2019s such a psycho and can\u2019t be left alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Equine therapist Karen Griffin received an arrangement of flowers from SL Jaybird at the Super Stakes, along with an apology for the black eye he gave her at the Bonanza, when he shied from his blanket and hit her with his head.<\/p>\n
Motes\u2019 affinity for horses is shared by her mother, Danny Motes, a former trick rider and the daughter of a rodeo producer, who has operated a nationally recognized broodmare care operation for nearly 20 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like getting to know the babies and getting them to trust people,\u201d said Mica. \u201cIt has taught me about horsemanship and how to deal with people, too. I\u2019ll always be involved with horses \u2013 maybe one day I\u2019ll run a broodmare operation like my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danny Motes and Winston Hansma raised and own the young stallion CD Lights, earner of $235,000, who Hansma rode as 2006 NCHA Open Reserve World Champion, World Champion Stallion and winner of the World Finals.<\/p>\n
In other action on Saturday, June 16, Eddie Young, San Angelo, TX, won the 4-year-old division and $7,491 with 218 points on BBR Miller Time, by A Chic In Time. Julie Hansma was reserve champion with 215.5 on Flo And Tell.<\/p>\n