Jhonda Cox and JRF Gottbemonster tops Open 1D average at NBHA Colonial Super Show in Lexington, Virginia, from August 16–18.
The National Barrel Horse Association Colonial Super Show in Lexington, Virginia, is a favorite every year for regional competitors. This year, the event featured $10,000 in Legends of the South stallion incentive money and paid out more than $94,000 over the three-day show.
Open 1D Champion Jhonda Cox and JRF Gottabeamonster
Jhonda Cox accomplished a special win aboard JRF Gottabeamonster, a gelding bred and raised by she and her husband Tom Cox by their late stallion Justins Rare Fuel. The pair topped the Open 1D average at the NBHA Colonial Super Show as the most consistent 1D team of the weekend.
“We’ve had him his whole life. He’s just been a joy. He’s 16.2 hands, and I’m only 4’10” and weigh 97 pounds, so it’s an odd combination but it seems to work!” Jhonda said with a laugh. “My husband is trying to get me to quit doing the colts, because I’m 57 now, but it’s just more rewarding when you raise them yourself. I think I’ve bought one outside horse in the last 12-15 years, and all the stuff I’ve rode has been by our stud. That’s the most rewarding part of it.”
Jhonda says her only struggles in “Monster’s” training came during his 3- and 4-year-old years due to his size. As the good-minded gelding matured, he grew into his large frame and has now become one of her most reliable partners.
“He gave me quite a bit of trouble [as a colt], because he was so big and gangly. He’s been a real pleasure though, just easy, and now he’s a little boring at the house. I don’t ride him much at the house,” Jhonda laughed. “He’s just so lazy, so if I’m going to show him that weekend, I’ll ride him a couple times a week, and the rest of the time he’s turned out or gets lunged. About twice a year he has to get a little tune-up because he’s a lazy gelding, but he’s pretty easy.”
The pair was the picture of consistency in Lexington. A 14.781 placed second Friday for $1,099. Saturday, the duo clocked a 14.993, out of the money but still in the 1D conversation. A 14.774 Sunday finished eighth for $264 and cinched up their winning average of 44.548.
“Nothing was lightning fast, it was just consistent. He worked good, so it paid off,” the Grayson, Kentucky, barrel racer said. “It was hot, and he was being lazy, but he usually likes it down there. We’re about four hours from there, so we go to the Virginia Barrel Classic, but this is the first time we’ve been back to Colonials in six or seven years.”
Jhonda thanked her husband, Tom, for taking time away from the family’s construction business and busy horse and cattle operation to help support her barrel racing endeavors.
“Thanks to my husband for taking the time to go with me and doing the drive. We’ve been staying close, because it’s hard for us to get away. He has a construction company, and we have 350 acres, 50 mama cows and 20-something horses, so it’s hard,” Jhonda said. “We breed and raise them, and Tom always says, ‘If we don’t have one better than our best one, we’ll sell them and keep our best.’ Monster is 12 now, so that tells you a little about him.”
This article was originally published in the October 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
