Rick Neff and Scootn Ta Fame were second in the draw for the pole bending finals. They turned in a time of 21.658, and it held up through the next nine horses. The Journal caught up with Rick shortly after taking his championship photo to ask him about his winning run.
Q. Tell me about your ride tonight.
They said the ground was heavy before I went in, but I just had to ride him the same way. I went in, and he gave me a good run, and I thought, “Well, the time wasn’t very good.” I just kept waiting and nobody beat it and so it was good enough.
Q. Do you think the times were slower because of the ground?
I think the ground was a little deep. The same way it was in the barrels.
Q. Did you have any problems at all during your ride?
No. He’s a really good horse. He gets excited when his buddies leave, but in the arena he’s all business.
Rick Neff and Scootn Ta Fame were the Select world champions in pole bending.
Q. Tell me about Scootn Ta Fame.
He’s 7. We raised him. We tried to get a palomino but instead we came up with this cremello. At that time, you couldn’t register cremellos. So we just kind of let him run out in the pasture. We liked him so much we didn’t want to sell him. Then they changed the rule when he was a 2-year-old, and we got him registered. He’s just been kind of a third horse for us. Finally, we sold the other horse, and he’s moved up. He’s really got a lot of talent. I hope to qualify him for the open next year.
Q. What makes him so talented?
I think it’s his breeding – Skipper W and Dash Ta Fame, who has a lot of really good barrel horse offspring. Skipper W has that kind of working mind.
Q. This is your second world championship?
I won two years ago in the pole bending on my black horse (Electric Glider), and he was reserve in the barrels that year also. A really good horse with some of the same breeding. We pretty much breed, raise, train and shoe, the whole works, all our own horses.
Q. Does winning it a second time still feel just as good as the first time?
It’s great. In pole bending, it’s so easy to knock down one of those poles and get you put out. I can’t help but be nervous. When I come out and they are all still standing, it’s a relief. A great feeling.
Q. Anyone you would like to thank?
My wife (Abigail). She’s behind me, in front of me. She’s what makes me successful.
Interesting Fact: Rick sold his 2006 Bayer Select World champion pole bender Electric Glider this spring after Rick got sick and was unable to show him. “I was going to qualify him for the open, but I got really sick, and I couldn’t ride any of my horses. Somebody wanted to buy him. I thought I should go ahead and sell him.”
