Ashley Schafer dominated the Ruby Buckle Futurity aboard multiple horses, ultimately claiming the Futurity Average title aboard HP Hotrod, while Michelle Alley captured the Derby and Open Average aboard Lipstick N Stilletos.
Held annually at the Lazy E Arena, the Ruby Buckle Central barrel race featured fast times and unpredictable Oklahoma weather. Outside it was wet and muddy, but inside barrel racers of all ages competed for big checks. With a variety of classes for every horse and rider pair, the Ruby Buckle Central featured a Rookie Ruby, Owner/Rider, and Sale Graduate classes in addition to the Futurity, Derby, Open and Youth.
Futurity Champion Ashley Schafer and HP Hotrod
Ashley Schafer dominated the Futurity aboard multiple horses. She won the first round of the futurity aboard her own gelding, The Coffee Guy with a 16.864 worth $10,000.
Schafer spent time with professional barrel horse trainer Kelly Conrado leading up to the Ruby Buckle and changed up bits on “Coffee Bean.”
“I was really proud of Coffee Bean for stepping up like he did, he has been a really nice horse this year and placed along a lot, but that was his first round win,” Schafer said. “I look for big things out of him as the year goes on, he seems to be gaining confidence.
“I ran him in a different mullen that I got from Kelly Conrado,” she continued. “It has hobble straps connected from the corner of the mouthpiece to the bottom of the shank and the reins connect to the hobble straps. I really like this bit on Coffee Bean. I feel like it balances his body without stopping his feet. It almost has the feel of a side pull or a D-ring but with a little more leverage.”
Her wins didn’t end there. She won the second round of the Futurity and Open aboard HP Hotrod with a 16.573, and also claimed the Futurity Average title with a time of 33.824 on two (17.251, 16.573).
“I felt like I could have rode him better in the first round,” Schafer said. “I rode him a little defensively creating some drop at the second barrel which caused him to come out of it wide and give us a bad angle to the third. He is fast enough to still clock with mistakes so he still ran a 17.2 but I was disappointed in myself.
“In the second round I focused on trusting my horse and riding offensively to my spots,” she continued. “I also made sure to have him really soft in my warm up before my run. I could tell he was prepared and I had a feeling he was going to lay down a run, but honestly that 16.5 blew my mind. I knew we would have to be crazy fast to win the average since we were coming from behind with our first-round run. It’s almost as though he knew too.”
She earned more than $30,000 aboard “Boomer,” bred and owned by Highpoint Performance Horses. Conrado also helped with a bit change for Boomer.
“I ran him in a Pelham, which is an English bit,” she said. “It doesn’t necessarily look like a bit I would like, but it feels different than it looks. He ran in a mullen already, but this one has a fat rubber mullen mouthpiece. The shank is short but direct and straight. I think it just really keeps his shoulders squared up and helps keep him up and moving around the turn.”
Though Schafer added that the Pelham is not a bit for everyone, and it won’t fit everyone’s hands. Because it is so direct, she said it is best with light hands and a soft horse. If you are going to pull, it will probably stop their feet too much or scare them to make them runoff. Despite the bit change, Schafer knew Boomer was capable of a big win. “Boomer is truly the whole package,” Schafer said. “He is great minded, beautiful, kind, and incredibly talented. I think the thing that makes him special is how he steps up to pressure. He truly rises to the occasion over and over again. It is so easy for him and it’s like he knows when you need him most and he just steps up.”
In total, Schafer won nearly $56,000 at the Ruby Buckle Central race. With $2.8 million in EquiStat lifetime earnings, Schafer is no rookie to winning at Ruby Buckle races. She is the No. 2 highest earning rider in Ruby Buckle history.
Schafer thanks her sponsors: Classic Equine, Martin saddlery, Equiboss performance, Forco Feed Supplement, MVP, Summit Animal Health and Schoneberg Performance Bits.
Find more on the training process of both Boomer and Coffee Bean at betweenthereins.us.
Derby and Open Champion Michelle Alley and Lipstick N Stilletos
Michelle Alley and Lipstick N Stilletos earned more than $45,000 in Guthrie. A third-place finish in the first round of the derby set the pace for the pair.
“The first run was really nice and smooth,” Alley said. “She did rip her left front shoe off around second barrel, and that probably caused just a little hesitation, you know that 10th of a second that made the difference between first and third. But other than that, it was pretty picture perfect.”
In the second round of the Derby, Alley and “Stilleto” clocked a 16.593 to win the round and claim the Average title.
“The second go-round I was top of the ground and it was just really flawless,” Alley said.
The pair also claimed the Open Average title for the second year in a row with a 33.411. The mare is owned by Heather Moeller, who bought Stilleto from Alley as a yearling. She went on to be a standout futurity horse, setting the arena record on a standard pattern at the Lazy E just last year at this same event when the pair won both the Futurity and Open Average.
“She has done well at the Ruby both times and she did well at the BFA (Barrel Futurities of America so she likes the Lazy E that’s for sure,” Alley added. “She’s just amazing. I know that if I leave the barrels up, I’m going to win a really good check on her every time. It doesn’t matter if it’s a 15-second pattern or a standard pattern, if it’s indoors or outdoors. She killed it at the rodeos last year. It’s a real confident booster to be on a horse like that and we all know that that’s few and far between, those unicorns.”
Stilleto is a lot like her dam Sies Caress, affectionately known as “Saucy,” whom Alley earned more than $235,000 on. Now, Stilleto has excess of $300,000 in EquiStat lifetime earnings with Alley. Because she trained Saucy, Alley said Stilleto was easy because she knew what to expect.
“She’s so literal and I rarely exhibition or even practice her in arenas,” Alley said. “I usually just run her in there cold turkey because she always goes in there and works. I have to be very careful if I do work her or tune on her because whatever I do with her in practice is what she’s going to do that first run back. I try and keep things very simple. I don’t do too much and honestly, I don’t work her much during the week when we’re at home, she mostly rests. I like to keep my horses fresh, I might ride her once or twice. She’s turned out on pasture, so she gets to run around and get exercise that way.”
The ultimate goal is to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo. In 2024, Alley was No. 31 in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association world standings after running Stilleto at 34 rodeos.
“The goal would be to make the NFR, whether or not that happens that’s God’s plan,” Alley said. “She’s capable of doing it with a limited amount of rodeos, but we’ll just see. I love the Wilderness Circuit and the Columbia River Circuit rodeos, we’ll go out in June to the Northwest.”
Flinging Dinero, Literally
The Ruby Buckle Stallion Owner Select Sale high seller was 2016 palomino stallion Flinging Dinero (A Streak Of Fling x Lk Shezapeasadinero x Pc Frenchmans Hayday), consigned by Marty Powers, agent for owner Scottie Johnson and Cross Country Ranch. Trained by Jordan Bailey and jockeyed by Billie Ann Harmon, the stallion has $59,198 in EquiStat lifetime earnings as of press time. He sold for $310,000 to Dakota and Katie Rathbun.
This article was originally published in the July 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
