EC Blog – Proud Owners of the Paul Horn Numbered 1 Bronze

 

An EC Blog by Shannon Rafacz:

Do you remember the first show you went to, and you looked at all of the prizes and awards that you “might” win? A saddle maybe? Maybe a belt buckle?

Well, for me, I was 12 and it was a trophy. I was at the NRHA futurity and with wide eyes I saw the saddle and buckle and this incredible trophy. The trophy wasn’t one to keep but to have on loan for a year and return for next year’s highest scoring youth rider… well by dumb luck, I won the 13 and under in 1988, but Shannon L. Fowler won the 14-18 with a higher score… she won the trophy. A trophy that I saw given out a handful of times over the years but then it somehow just disappeared…

I found it again at the NRHA Hall of Fame in more recent years and found myself still drawn to it… That trophy was named the Paul Horn Memorial Trophy.

The background… The trophy was commissioned by Mitch Zuckerman, owner of Trashadeus and customer of Bill Horn for many years. Mitch is even in my win picture that year. He commissioned 10 of those bronzes. Mitch kept one and donated the number two trophy to NRHA as a perpetual youth award. There is a lot of speculation on the other trophies. I have heard they were destroyed but perhaps BH had one – I don’t know…

Fast forward nearly 40 years and a newly retired racehorse trainer reached out via FB to our local reining affiliate. I happen to be one of the admins and her reach was regarding asking if we knew anyone that might be interested in a bronze she had… She proceeded to talk about it and attached pictures… low and behold… It is the Paul Horn bronze.

I quickly reached out to her, and she told me how Mitch sold her the trophy a number of years ago and she loved it as she rode as a child with Dale Wilkinson, had been great friends with Dr. James Morgan, had trained with Walter Hughes, etc. Turns out she was a Maryland girl, too. She was now retiring from the racing world and was going to be touring the country in an RV with no space for this trophy. She was hoping to find someone who would appreciate it and make sure it got displayed as it deserved to be…

So I do believe in fate because the little girl inside of me hasn’t stopped smiling since I picked it up a few days ago!! Mark has his own ties as he spent many memorable years working for BH.

Thank you to Joan DiLibero for reaching out. I promise you Mark and I will cherish it. Proud owners of the Paul Horn numbered 1 bronze. ❤️

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Thank you to Shannon Rafacz for allowing us to share this beautiful, full circle story! If you have a blog to submit for consideration, contact us at Delores.Kuhlwein@EquineChronicle.com.