{"id":403,"date":"2008-02-16T18:27:51","date_gmt":"2008-02-16T23:27:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/?p=403"},"modified":"2008-02-16T18:27:51","modified_gmt":"2008-02-16T23:27:51","slug":"austin-shepard-talks-about-triple-futurity-champion-high-brow-cd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Austin Shepard talks about triple futurity champion High Brow CD"},"content":{"rendered":"

High Brow CD, who was sold<\/a> by Arthur Noble to Chris and Staci Thibodeaux this past week, is undefeated, after winning the NCHA Futurity, the Augusta Futurity and the Tunica Futurity under Austin Shepard. Shepard, who is 30, claimed his first limited age event title in 2000 with a win aboard Kit Dual in the Southern Futurity. Since then, he has earned more than $2 million<\/p>\n

Following the sale of High Brow CD, I spoke with Shepard, who will continue to show the stallion throughout 2008.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> When I spoke with you after the first go-round of the NCHA Futurity, you were very enthused about this horse. You’ve ridden your share of good ones, what sets him apart?
\nA:<\/strong> He\u2019s just so smart and intelligent about a cow. He\u2019s very mature would be the easiest way to put it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Does that mean that he’s easier to show?
\nA:<\/strong> I get along better with a horse (like him) that\u2019s smart about a cow as opposed to one that\u2019s really athletic, but doesn\u2019t think about a cow. One like that just doesn\u2019t fit my style.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Has he changed since the Futurity?
\nA:<\/strong> Not really, and he\u2019s been put in every situation, as far as different pens, different conditions, weather, locations, arenas, buildings. He\u2019s really low maintenance to work and to be around.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> What has impressed you the most about him during the past two months?
\nA:<\/strong> For him to adjust to every situation is probably what has impressed me the most about him so far. The Futurity is a big pen with a big crowd and a big rounded back fence. That\u2019s the one arena that\u2019s different from everywhere else. Then you go to Augusta and it\u2019s a little small, square pen with bigger cattle and a different feel. Then we take him the very next week to Tunica, and Tunica\u2019s a big pen with a flat-back fence and the cows kind of carry you across the pen. <\/em><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Is he different in the show pen than at home?
\nQ:<\/strong> I think this horse knows when it\u2019s time to perform. I\u2019ve had horses that worked and showed really well, and I\u2019ve had horses that showed well in go-rounds, but that I never could win anything with in the finals. I think this horse feels when the stage is set. When it\u2019s his turn to perform, he knows it. He steps up to the plate. He doesn\u2019t let much of anything bother him. A lot of really good horses are like that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> What is he like when he’s not at work?
\nA:<\/strong> He\u2019s pretty laid back. We turn him out and spend a lot of time riding him outside. He enjoys that a lot. But once you put him in front of a cow, whether you\u2019re working him or showing him, he\u2019s pretty much all business, and you can feel him really pick him up to another level. He knows his purpose.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Do you have any concerns about showing him during breeding season?
\nA:<\/strong> I think whether they\u2019ve been bred or not, they know the difference when the weather warms back up. It didn\u2019t really affect him last year. He\u2019s like any other stud. He has days when he\u2019s a little studdier (acting). But it doesn\u2019t take much to get him down to business. It\u2019s obviously going to be a factor, but when we get down to it, I think he\u2019ll know when we mean business. <\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> What is your agenda with him for this year?
\nA:<\/strong> We\u2019ll go to the Super Stakes and the Cotton Stakes and the Breeders Invitational. Then we\u2019ll see how everything goes through the Derby, and after that, we\u2019ll probably all sit down and decide what we need to do from there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Do you feel any extra pressure showing this horse now that you two are undefeated?
\nA:<\/strong> It\u2019s definitely pressure, but I think I\u2019m more excited than I am worried. When you get down to it, if you\u2019re competitive, it doesn\u2019t feel any different than the Futurity. Once you\u2019re nervous, you\u2019re nervous. But I don\u2019t know that when I\u2019m showing that horse, I\u2019ll be thinking about it. It will be more about the job at hand.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> You used to show a lot on the weekend level. Is that experience helpful with limited age events?
\nA:<\/strong> To show that much has given me experience in knowing how to handle different situations. Every time you go down there it makes you better. You take something positive from it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> What other experience has proven valuable to you?
\nA:<\/strong> My dad (trainer Sam Shepard) taught me a lot about how to work a cow. He learned a lot of that through Buster (Welch). It has to do with the fact that these are cow horses. It\u2019s what they\u2019re bred for and what gets their hearts going. It makes them have so much personality and so much extra intensity and look. It all draws off of the cow. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High Brow CD, who was sold by Arthur Noble to Chris and Staci Thibodeaux this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cutting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sallyharrison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}