By Kenny Andrews
Skip and Elaine Jones ended up in the rodeo business in a roundabout way. The couple has been very active in the cutting horse industry for more than 20 years. Not just raising, training and showing; they are very involved in every aspect. Skip serves as a national N.C.H.A director and serves as chairman of the Open Show Committee. The couple has helped produce the West Texas Futurity in Amarillo, Tx for the past 14 years. The Joneses still have close to 50 cutting horses, from broodmares to finished show horses ready to go.
When their youngest son Roger (who was a very successful cutter, winning over 35,000 while still eligible for the youth) was a sophomore in high school he decided he wanted to ride saddle broncs. They decided to enlist a family friend, Clint Johnson, as a coach and mentor. A couple bucking chutes and some practice horses later, they were on their way to a whole new adventure. At about that same time, Skip and Elaine attended a mini bull riding event with a family friend. By the end of the night they were thinking Roger would make a better stock contractor than a yard dart. Over the next 90 days they acquired 15 head of mini bulls and a handful of cows. They were in business! The lessons learned from this venture were (1) Roger didn’t care for the contracting business and (2nd) Skip and Elaine loved it.
In 2010 while attending the PBR finals in Las Vegas, they purchased their first ABBI registered bulls. In 2011 they went back to the PBR finals and bought a CBR franchise. At that time, they bought their first bull, Bel Air. Bel Air ended up being the anchor of their team for 2 years. They purchased two more bulls and started attending events in 2012, qualifying for the finals in their first year. They now attend 9 CBR events a year and have qualified for the CBR finals in Cheyenne 3 times.
In 2012 the Joneses read where Guy French was starting to form and promote an organization to compete with young bucking horses, similar to the futurity events that are held with bulls. Skip contacted Guy and decided to invest in what would become the United Bucking Horse Association.
In 2012 Skip and Elaine bought a handful of young horses, some mares and a stud from Charlie Thompson, and the rest is history. The couple qualified colts for the first UBHA finals held in 2014 and have colts heading back to Bowman, ND for the 2015 finals being held Oct 10th of this year.
For more info regarding events, standing and the UBHA, please visit UBHAbucks.com
