Duals Lucky Charm has spent his fair share of time in the headlines lately. After winning the National Stock Horse Association (NSHA) Futurity, which is arguably one of the most competitive pre-futurities in the industry, he showed up in Reno, Nevada, to capture another win at the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity. But who put such a great foundation on the gelding and got him pointed toward the spotlight?
The answer is Will Roden. A look back on Duals Lucky Charm’s American Quarter Horse Association registration papers shows Roden also owned the gelding as a 2-year-old. After several people passed on buying the horse, he was able to close the sale in December 2015 with trainer Kelby Phillips’ clients, Mike and Robyne Stewart.
“I couldn’t quite tell what it was about him that I liked. He has a good presence going around the pen, and he stopped every time that I pulled on him,” Phillips recalled of trying Duals Lucky Charm. “I could feel that he was really cowy, so I called Mike and he said, ‘Go for it!’”
After feeling the solid start Roden had on the gelding, Phillips knew what he had to do. He offered Roden a job at Dean and Leslie Tuftin’s DT Horses in Bend, Oregon.
“He drove up here from Texas, and he’s going to work for us,” Phillips said as he celebrated his most recent career accomplishment in Reno.
“Will actually worked for one of Kelby’s best friends, Jake Murray, so we have known Will for a while,” Phillips’ wife, Abbie, added. “I just think that’s really cool; he [Roden] came up here, and his horse won it!”
Photo: Will Roden was beaming after Duals Lucky Charm, a reined cow horse he started, won the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open. • Photo by Abbie Phillips
Read original article here: http://www.quarterhorsenews.com/discipline/cow-horse/rch-outside-the-pen/14394-will-roden-s-big-start