The Two-Million-Dollar Man – Published in the September 2006 issue of Barrel Horse News
Troy Crumrine is the decade’s top hand with $2.2 million in earnings.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Troy Crumrine is the leading rider of barrel horses. The Waynesfield, Ohio, barrel racer has ridden horses to $2.2 million in earnings. That’s $1.3 million more than the second-ranked rider Cody Bauserman’s $871,474.
From January 1995 to December 2005, Crumrine has won 37 futurities and 20 derbies. Prior to 2000, he had yet to win one of the “major” futurities. Sissys Little Coin and the Paint Horse HL Sprite changed an that. His first major victory was the Speedhorse Silver Cup Futurity with HL Sprite. He went on to win the Speedhorse Gold Cup, Old Fort Days and World Championship futurities with Sissys Little Coin, the leading money-earning futurity horse of all time.
Since 2000, Crumrine has won the World Championship Futurity two more times with Dont Cross The Bully in 2001 and Cause Heza Bully in 2003 . He’s also won the Speedhorse Gold Cup Futurity two more times with Ima Tiger Toole in 2003 and Bully Bowlan Bug in 2005. Piloting Dont Cross The Bully, Crumrine won the 2003 World Championship Derby, 2004 Speedhorse Gold Cup Derby and back-to-back All-American Quarter Horse Congress Sweepstakes championships in 2003 and 2004. Crumrine also won the Old Fort Days Super Derby with Red Headed Jonsey in 2004 and Mega 4D with Coup De Alibi in 2003.
Crumrine’s earnings, listed by year, are as follows: $102,149 in 1996; $120,238 in 1997; $205,133 in 1998; $106,147 in 1999; $500,944 in 2000; $203,780 in 2001; $159,477 in 2002; $298,427 in 2003; $264,441 in 2004; and $215,928 in 2005.
Crumrine, 34, started riding when he was 9 years old and started running barrels when he was 14. After a brief stint in the construction business, Crumrine started riding horses full time. He and his wife, Renee, have two children: Trey, 6; and Madison, 4.
Bauserman, 33, got his foot through the door of the futurity world with the talented stallion Nik Dell in 1997. Having seen Bauserman handle the stallion, million-dollar cowboy Talmadge Green thought he’d be a perfect fit for the temperamental mare Likely Fuel. Bauserman won two futurities on Likely Fuel, including the 1999 Old Fort Days Futurity championship.
Other impressive championships claimed by Bauserman include the 2001 All-American Quarter Horse Congress Sweepstakes with the Paint Horse Kickin Jo (the event was open to horses of all breeds), 2004 Speedhorse Gold Cup and Silver Cup futurities with Promises To Dash, and the 2004 World Championship Futurity with BF Shenanigan. He was the leading futurity rider in 2004.
Formerly of Zanesville, Ohio, Bauserman now resides in Sallisaw, Okla.
The Old Fort Days Futurity and the offspring of On The Money Red placed Kim Landry of Starke, Fla., third among the leading riders. Landry has guided horses to earnings of $672,264. She won back-to back Old Fort Days Futurity championships aboard See My Money (1996) and On The Money Luv (1997).
Horses ridden by Jamey Hunt have won $619,178, placing the Louisburg, N.C., resident fourth on the leading rider’s list. Hunt’s win record includes a 1999 Old Fort Days Futurity victory with Marthas Smoothover, a 2003 Old Fort Days Derby victory with Roll Sixes, a 2003 National Barrel Horse Association world championship and a 2004 World Championship Derby win with Bellefous.
Chris Coffey, of Glasgow, Ky., is the fifth-ranked rider with horses earning $621,434. His standout victories include a 2003 Speedhorse Silver Cup championship with Romance Amd Money and a 2004 Old Fort Days Futurity championship with Leo Nick Bar.
