For Immediate Release

December 14, 2001

From the NATIONAL CUTTING HORSE ASSOCIATION

Contact: Amy Vorhes

817.244.6188 ext. 113

(Fort Worth, TX) -- Chad Bushaw proved that he had a great horse of the 40^th Annual National Cutting Horse Association World Championship Futurity Non-Pro not once, but twice this evening.

Bushaw, who is a Fort Worth resident and representative on NCHA Corporate Sponsor Merrill Lynch, first rode Jerryoes for 219 points to tie Gail Hamilton riding JR Smart Smokin.

After the scores were verified in the class finals, the tie was official and a work-off was in order to name the 2001 Non-Professional Champion. It had already been a full day of championship cutting, with the Limited Non-Pro, Limited Open, and Amateur Champions named when Bushaw and Hamilton were called back for a one-on-one challenge. In an NCHA work-off, the riders split the money designated for first and second place, and ride for the prizes and the bragging rights.

Bushaw rode first, and Jerryoes laid down his most spectacular run of the show. His fifth work earned the three-year-old Smart Little Jerry stallion the near-capacity crowd's approval and 223 points. Hamilton followed with a solid work worth 214 after having to resaddle her horse. The Weatherford, Texas, rider had already put him up for the evening when she was notified of the original tie. Each rider went home with $44,210 of the $781,685 Non-Pro purse.

The work-off wrapped up a spectacular day of action-packed cutting at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum. The scheduled events for December 15 are the NCHA Select 2-Year-Old Sale and the Open Semi-Finals. The 40^th Annual NCHA World Championship Futurity will conclude on the evening of December 16 with the Open Finals.

The $345,000 added money for the NCHA World Championship Futurity is provided by the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the City of Fort Worth. In sum, the NCHA will pay out $2.76 million in the course of the 20-day cutting.

In addition to world-class cutting, the NCHA also hosts the Cowboy Christmas Extravaganza trade and gift show, nine cutting horse sales, a Cowboy Santa, and a celebrity cutting. All of the NCHA's sponsors are on hand, including Sam's Club, Chevy Trucks, John Deere, Flowmaster, Sooner Trailers, and many, many more.

For more information about the National Cutting Horse Association, the 40th Annual NCHA World Championship Futurity, or the long list of activities that accompany the 20-day show, please call the NCHA at 817-244-6188 or visit www.nchacutting.com.