PASO ROBLES — The National Reined Cow Horse Association brought its finest 4- and 5-year old horses back to the Midstate Fairgrounds for the NRCHA Jack and Phoebe Cook Memorial Derby June 10-15, and California Non Pros were the thunder.

Actually, lightning may best describe Shawn Renshaw, who capped a dramatic comeback from life-threatening injuries when he guided Gennys Prize to a 651 score (213 herd/218.5 rein/219.5 cow) that won the Derby Non-Pro title, earning $7,069.

Twelve years ago, Renshaw rode Gennys Prize’s sire, Smokums Prize (Smokum Oak x Tommy Tivio Tucker x Doc Tucker) to the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Non-Pro Reserve Championship and had also qualified him for the Open finals, but a back injury just before the Open finals forced Renshaw to find a catch-rider. He asked top professional Ted Robinson to take Smokums Prize’s reins – and Robinson rode the stallion to the Futurity Open Championship.

Gennys Prize’s dam, Genuinely Perfect, belonged to Renshaw’s 29-year-old daughter, Nicholle, when she was a child.

“We sold the mare to a friend, Katy Murphy of Irish Oaks Ranch. She raised several foals out of her, and the mare passed away last year. This is her last foal by my old stud horse, Smokums Prize. I won this event [the Derby] on Smokums Prize 12 years ago. [Gennys Prize] has been a blessing since the day I got on him. He’s everything I want a horse to be,” Renshaw said.

Renshaw, a farrier by trade, bought Gennys Prize from Murphy on some extended barter terms.

“I trimmed and shod horses for her for a year to pay for him. He was my comeback project. That’s why he is so special to Kim and me,” Renshaw said.

The 53-year-old horseman, a farrier by trade, sustained a skull fracture and other injuries when he fell from the rafters during a barn construction project six years ago. During the emergency treatment, doctors discovered Renshaw had a potentially deadly heart condition.

“I had to have open heart surgery, and have some of my bowels replaced. It was a long challenge to get back from that. It took away all my balance. I went through hell,” Renshaw said.

The medical bills also devastated the Renshaws financially. Kim obtained a realtor’s license and slowly but surely restored the family’s income stream.

Little by little, Renshaw regained his strength. The horsemanship skills that have helped him win more than $300,000 in his NRCHA career remained as strong as ever, as he guided Gennys Prize to approximately $20,000 in earnings at the 2011 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity – and the comeback has continued ever since. Renshaw plans to continue showing cow horses, and branch out into major National Reining Horse Association competition.

He thanked his wife for her unwavering support, and thanked his herd help. Renshaw also credited his friends, professional horsemen Randy Paul and Tracer Gilson, for their role in his success, and he thanked Murphy for agreeing to sell Gennys Prize to him in trade.

The Derby Non-Pro Reserve Champion was Laurie Ward, Kingsburg, who guided Pumped Up Kix (Smart Little Pepinic x Olivias Response x Dual Peppy) to a total 646 score (216 herd/218 rein/212 cow). The 2009 gelding is owned by Ward Ranch. Ward also scored a big win in the Non Pro Bridle Spectacular aboard No Chic Flicks, owned by Ronnie and Karin Richards.

Texan Chris Dawson rode into the National Reined Cow Horse Association record books when he piloted Travelin Jonez (Smart Chic Olena x Travelin With Sass x Travalena) to the NRCHA Jack and Phoebe Cooke Memorial Derby Championship. Dawson has won all four NRCHA Premier Limited-Age Event Championships thus far in 2013; three of them aboard Travelin Jonez.

The 5-year-old stallion, who Dawson owns, claimed the Derby title by an 8-point margin, scoring a combined 670.5. (219.5 herd/223 rein/228 cow), and winning both the rein work and cow work rounds on his way to the $35,465 Championship check.

Todd Bergen and Smart Luck won the CD Survivor Bridle Spectacular sponsored by Holy Cow Performance Horses, earning $28,500.

Another California Non Pro winner was Jayson Fisher of nearby Arroyo Grande. Riding Little Brown Indian (Hickorys Indian Pep x No Pleasin This Chic x Chic Please), a 2008 gelding who belongs to his 15-year-old son, Wyatt, Fisher won the Derby Intermediate Non-Pro Championship with a 644.5 composite score (219 herd/209.5 rein/216 cow).

The Championship paid $4,418, and Fisher collected another $4,948 for third place in the Derby Non-Pro.

Fisher bought “Tomahawk” from his friend and fellow non-pro competitor, Eric Freitas, as a high school cutting horse for Wyatt.

“My son got so busy in school, that I started riding him, and he just started picking things up so well that I decided to enter him,” Fisher said. “Wyatt gets him back after this. I’m done. I have two Futurity horses, and I wasn’t really supposed to ride him.”

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