MARS Equestrian™ National Finals Rodear Results

Madeline Horton and Seven S Hesa Cat, a 2013 blue roan gelding, won the Youth Working Ranch Horse Class with a composite 283.5 (R:139/C:144.5), earning $260. The horse was bred by Terry Stuart Forst and is owned by Horton of Fort Worth, Texas.

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Story and photography by Katie Frank

Qualifying with only two rodear trials under his collar, 6-year-old Australian Kelpie Chock rose to the occasion, winning the Open stock dog title at the MARS Equestrian™ National Finals Rodear for him and his handler, Kevin Lippe of Blue Eye, Missouri. This was the Rodear America Cowdog Association’s fifth year holding the event during the National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity®, presented by Metallic Cat.

The cowdog association invited the top 20 dogs and handlers of 2021 from each of its three divisions—Green, Non-Pro and Open—to compete in the semi-finals, GREEN DOG CHAMPION: Moura Maycon and Flavela; Weatherford, Texas; 190 points in nine minutes; $5,000 NON-PRO CHAMPION: Jason Runfola and Timber; Gainesville, New York; 180 points in 7 minutes, 57 seconds; $8,750 OPEN CHAMPION: Kevin Lippe and Chock; Blue Eye, Missouri; 177 points in nine minutes; $12,500

Open Champion Kevin Lippe and his dog, Chock, manuever through the course.

held October 6-7 at Lone Star Arena in Stephenville, Texas. From there, the top five teams from each division competed in the finals October 9 in John Justin Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

This year’s event offered $52,500 in cash and prizes to dog-and-handler teams who exemplify good stockmanship. The clock starts when the horseback handler enters a holding pen of cattle and sorts out three head. The team works the cattle through a series of obstacles in the arena, and a judge awards points based on how well teams complete each obstacle. The goal is to earn the most points. Each run is timed and the time serves as a tie-breaker.

Chock, Lippe and his horse, Birdie, worked a set of cows through the maze of panels, marking a 177 out of 180 total points, in just nine minutes. They received a check for $12,500.

“He did a good job handling his cattle, keeping control of what I picked for him to work,” said Lippe. “Chock likes to gets amped up, kind of like a barrel horse. But when it’s his turn to work, it’s his turn.”

Lippe wasn’t expecting to enter Chock into this year’s competition.

“I had a border collie in his place, I wasn’t going to use Chock for a rodear dog,” he said. “But I gave the border collie back to the guy I got him from, so I thought, ‘Well I paid the entry fee, I’m going to go ahead and put [Chock] in there.’ And it’s worked out good.”

Lippe said the mare he was riding, Birdie, is a 7-year-old unregistered Quarter Horse who is pretty cowy.

“I really like her,” he said. “A good friend of mine, Mike Young, fixed me up with her. I can’t thank him enough because she fits me pretty good.”

Lippe is well-known in stockdog competition, having raised and competed in them in the late 1980s and early ’90s. He took a break for several years and started back about eight years ago. In 2017, Chock was the Southwest Cattledog Association futurity champion, with Lippe as the handler. In 2020, Lippe and his dog Steele won the Non Pro Finals. He raised both dogs and says he has about dozen more young dogs back home.

Lippe runs cattle and sheep he uses to train his dogs.

“Competing in rodear requires horse, dog and handler to work in combo,” he said. “It is very challenging, and I like a good challenge.”

When asked where Chock got his name, Lippe’s eyes twinkle.

“There’s no meaning behind it,” he said. “I just try to keep my dog’s name one syllable and pretty short—like Sue, Red, Spot—because I don’t like to use up the ink.”

For more information on stock dog rodear trials, visit rodearamerica.com.