Cash Honeycutt

Every year in the United States one of the biggest sporting events in the world happens. The legendary horse race known as the Kentucky Derby, which is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, a highly coveted award that few have ever won. Many legendary horses have won this race and have been celebrated all over the world. Legends such as Secretariat, War Admiral, Seattle Slew, and the recent legend American Pharoah. What do these horses have in common? Aside from being legendary triple crown winners, these horses have the look of a champion. The champions are large, sleek, beautiful, the champions have that look and often those who don’t have it aren’t champions. 

However, every once in a while lightning strikes. A little colt was born. He was everything but a champion. His father had earned over a million dollars as a race horse, however he did little to impress anyone when he was born. He was small, skinny, and simply put, ugly. He was sold almost immediately without a second thought for the price of $9,500 which in the racehorse world is rock bottom. 

Two cowboys from New Mexico bought him. They believed in the little colt despite everyone telling them they had no chance. Eventually he made it as an alternate to the Kentucky Derby. Already outperforming what anyone expected. He arrived in a truck and trailer driven all the way from New Mexico with two men in cowboy hats. Every other horse was flown in, all the other owners wore fancy suits, but not his. Then another horse pulled out of the race allowing Mine That Bird to enter the race, as a 50-1 underdog —the second longest shot to ever run in the Kentucky Derby. When the gates opened he sat last as expected, as the field came around the last turn he sat around the 10th position. But all of a sudden his jockey saw a gap in the horses and he exploded through it. Mine That Bird won the Derby by 6 ¾ lengths, the longest margin of victory in 60 years. Mine That Bird now enjoys retirement in New Mexico after earning over $2.2 Million dollars racing. 

While every indication showed him and his owners that he wouldn’t belong, he proved that he belonged no matter what. At times you might feel like you don’t belong or people might try to tell you that you don’t belong. Maybe you didn’t grow up on a farm, maybe your parents weren’t in FFA or even know what FFA is. But I encourage you to remember that here you will always belong no matter what. 

“Pull your shoulder’s back Cash, walk with confidence.” My mother was always on me about my awful posture growing up. I often walked and stood with my shoulders slumped down like a child pouting in the corner. I would always roll my eyes and say, “It’s fine, Mom,” as I ignored the advice that she had given me. However, she was always insistent that it mattered and people were always paying attention whether you thought so or not. Confidence is key, no matter what you’re doing, as I soon found out. 

Growing up, one thing I loved was bull riding. The PBR and legends like J.B Mauney were the coolest things to me, and I hoped one day I could do that too. My dad had actually rodeoed quite a bit through his childhood and eventually, after a lot of begging, he reluctantly allowed me to begin steer riding, which is for youth too young for the large bulls yet. I had not been long when I found myself in Barnard, Missouri for a weekend. I had already gotten bucked off and stepped on Saturday, so I was hoping to have a good day on Sunday. However, as I made my way to the draw sheet, I realized I had drawn the toughest steer in the pen. Fear quickly consumed me and as the event got closer, it only got worse. Soon enough, I was lowering myself into the chute and wrapping my hand in the bull rope. Still consumed with fear, I nodded my head; in an instant I felt myself land on the dirt head first. A broken rib and concussion later, I was going to be out for a while. 

I eventually made a comeback and rode a few more steers before realizing it just wasn’t for me like I had thought it would be. But I learned an important lesson – looking back on that day, had I been confident in my abilities and went into it with a more open mind, I might not have ridden that steer, but I believe it wouldn’t have turned out nearly as bad as it did. As we go through our journeys in FFA and life, we might be thrown into situations we don’t feel ready for. However, if you have an open mind and the confidence to try, nothing will be able to stand in your way.