$2,000 Limit Rider Finals led by youth ladies

Champion Sutton Eddings, Reserve Champion Ariel Sbarra

(Fort Worth, TX) — Two young ladies led the way to the winner’s circle of the $2,000 Limit Rider class at the 2002 Chevy Trucks / National Cutting Horse Association Eastern National Championships.

Sutton Eddings was named Champion of the division, winning the finals with a score of 218. The Somerville, Texas, cutter rode Rude N Sassy, owned by John Jacobs of Houston, Texas. Sutton also serves as the 1^st Vice President for the National Youth Cutting Horse Association.

Ariel Sbarra and SR Free Hickory were named Reserve Champions after cutting for 217 points. Ariel, from Ashland, Ohio, borrowed SR Free Hickory from David & Kathryn Pickrel of Liberty Township, Ohio. Ariel is an NYCHA Director for Area 15.

In addition to the money and prizes Sutton and Ariel earned for their rides, they also earned points for their affiliates in the AQHA Affiliate Challenge program. As champion, Sutton picked up 50 points for the Bluebonnet CHA. Ariel, as reserve champion, added another 40 points for the Ohio CHA. All other class finalists earned 25 points for their affiliates.

For the first time ever, entries at the Chevy Trucks / National Cutting Horse Association Eastern National Championships have topped 1,000. A record 1,005 contestants will vie for a share of the $288,391 purse in the big show which opened in Jackson, Mississippi on March 11. The annual cutting will continue through March 22, with cutting beginning every day at 8 a.m.

The City of Jackson, Mississippi, has been home of the Eastern Nationals cutting for 22 years. The 2002 show will be another 12-day cutting, and will bring 1,005 cutters and their families to the metro Jackson area. Past figures credit the Chevy Trucks / NCHA Eastern National Championships for bringing an economic impact to the city of $8 million.

The public is welcome to come see what the sport of cutting is all about at the Chevy Trucks / NCHA Eastern National Championships. Admission is free to watch the top cutting horses and riders from across the eastern United States.

The Chevy Trucks / NCHA Eastern National Championships are also home to the AQHA Affiliate Challenge. The Affiliate Challenge format encourages affiliates to send as many entries as they can to the Jackson cutting. In addition to the individual competition, all entrants in the show will also compete on behalf of their local NCHA Affiliate.

The sport of cutting has roots in Western ranching traditions, where good horses were a necessity for everyday ranch work and cattle handling. The National Cutting Horse Association was formed in 1946 by a group of cowboys and ranchers who wanted to promote cutting competition, standardize rules and preserve the cutting horses' Western heritage. Today, the Fort Worth-based NCHA represents over 14,000 people and oversees more than 1,400 NCHA-approved shows with more than $26 million in total prize money awarded annually. For more information about the NCHA, the Chevy Trucks / NCHA Eastern National Championships, or the sport of cutting, please call 817-244-6188 or visit www.nchacutting.com.