The Equinety “Kinder Cup” Barrel Racing Championship pays out more than $812,000 February 3-8, 2025, in Tunica, Mississippi.
The 2025 Equinety “Kinder Cup,” produced by Good Times Barrel Racing Association, came with a few changes in its 18th year of the annual barrel race produced in the Southeast. With a change in venue to Tunica, Mississippi, and the rendition of the nail-biting futurity slot race, contestants of all ages united from the East Coast to the Midwest to Texas with futurity, derby, and open horses to compete at payouts in excess of $812,000, nearly $100,000 more than the year before.
A Sweet Victory: Hallie Hanssen and The Kandyman Kid Crowned Kinder Cup Futurity Average Champions
Hallie Hanssen of Hermosa, South Dakota, winning on a Kandyman offspring has been a common denominator in the last few years of her career as a successful futurity barrel horse trainer and owner of The Kandyman herself, except this year it’s on one that didn’t get its start in her program.
“We have known Shawn and Casey Varpness for a long time,” Hallie explained. “So when they called and asked me to ride their futurity colt, of course, I couldn’t say no.”
Shawn Varpness and The Kandyman Kid had an electric start to the young stallion’s futurity year, winning the Future Fortunes Juvenile Sires Slot Championship along with placing at both the Barrel Futurities of America in November and the Better Barrel Races Oklahoma City Futurity in December.
“Shawn said they were going to be too busy at home to go to as much as they thought “Snickers” deserved to go. When I asked Shawn how to slow work him, he told me, “I got it,” Hanssen chuckled. “I just work him up to his spots, which fits what I do in my training program myself, so it made the transition to me as a jockey him fairly easy.”
Shawn’s keenness as a horseman, combined with his simplicity as a trainer, made him a seamless fit for both Hanssen and Snickers.
“Shawn did such a great job with him. He’s such a solid horse, and it’s a plus that I can run him in an o-ring, which is my go-to bit on the horses I train and jockey,” Hanssen explained.
After placing third at their first futurity together, the Texas Classic Futurity in Hamilton, Texas, the stallion earned $55,000 after just three futurities.
“I did cruise him through in the exhibitions to prepare for the short start to the first barrel at Tunica just to get a feel for it,” Hanssen explained as she had only made a couple runs on Snickers so far.
Hanssens explained that the stallion has a deceiving running style and the ability to clock even without a perfect run.
“I didn’t have a ton of expectations for the slot race. I just wanted to make a solid run as I hadn’t made just a ton of runs on him,” Hanssen said.
Hanssen and Snickers stopped the clock at 14.773 in the Kinder Cup Slot Race, making them the Reserve Champions to earn $15,000 to kick off their week in Tunica, Mississippi.
“He slipped at the second and third in the slot race and got a little out of position, so I was really impressed with how he clocked,” Hanssen said.
Hanssen spent the off-day between runs just walking Snickers through the barrels in the warm-up arena.
“For the second round, I just kept telling myself to ride to my spot, and the rest will take care of itself,” Hanssen said.
Hanssen’s cool and calm demeanor in high-pressure situations paid off when she turned in a 14.768 in the second round aboard Snickers, proving consistency is key to winning the Kinder Cup Futurity Average Championship with a 29.541 on two runs, earning over $55,000 in total earnings for the event.
The talented and flashy young stallion has earned over $114,000 thus far in his futurity year. Hanssen explained that she is enjoying the ride on Snickers while the Varpness family has given her the opportunity to do so.
“It’s really just been friends trying to help each other out. Since he’s by our stud and it’s their horse, it’s been a win-win for both parties involved,” Hanssen explained with gratitude.
The dynamic duo will continue to prepare for the Elite Extravaganza Futurity February 26-March 2 in Waco, Texas.
Hanssen thanks Shawn and Casey for the huge opportunity to jockey Snickers. She also thanks her sponsors: Platinum Coach, Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, Med-Vet Pharmaceuticals, RenoVo, UltraCruz, Bimeda, McColee Land and Livestock, Flexineb, OmegaFields, Dunn Ranch, 3S Custom Equine, Flaharty Bits and Spurs, and 88 Ranch Performance Horses.
Start Your Engines: Ashley Schafer and HP Hotrod Win Kinder Cup Slot Race
It wasn’t Deja Vu to see Ashley Schafer of Comanche, Texas, winning on a direct offspring of Dash Ta Fame.
The decorated futurity barrel horse trainer has built a large sum of her lifetime earnings aboard sons and daughters of Dash Ta Fame, including Freckles Ta Fame, Famed French Kiss, Vanillas Sudden Fame Swoon Ta Be Famous, and more. Now, it’s HP Hotrod’s time to shine.
Started by Zach Curran, the young stallion spent the beginning of his two-year-old year riding outside in Wyoming.
“I feel like he was really set up for success from the start. I picked him up in June of his two-year-old year when I went to the Colorado Classic and Run At The Rose, and the outside riding did him so much good. He was so free moving and had so much forward motion, which for a Dash Ta Fame is great,” Schafer explained.
Schafer’s experience training multiple sons and daughters of Dash Ta Fame proved to be vital in the training process of the successful young stallion.
“I drug over barrels to win five different futurities on his full sister, Chrome Plated Fame, also known as “Johnnie,” Schafer explained. “So I probably spent more time training him not to turn and to wait on me than to turn and run the barrels.”
Schafer’s process training “Boomer” can be found on her training platform, Between The Reins, which she shares with professional futurity barrel horse trainers Jolene Montgomery and Joy Wargo.
“I’ve never rode a colt that was just so naturally confident,” Schafer explained. “I’m not a huge slot race person, but I knew by his natural confidence and ability, he would be one to be ready for the big slot races at the beginning of his futurity year.”
Schafer and Boomer kicked off their futurity year by placing 5th in the Barrel Futurities of America Slot Race in November, earning $14,000.
The team then went on to be the Better Barrel Races Oklahoma City Futurity Rookie Champions as well as the Slot Race Reserve Champions, pushing the special stallion’s earnings to $71,000 by December.
They carried their momentum into the Lonestar Shootout, where Boomer and Schafer continued their winning ways, capturing the Lonestar Shootout Futurity Championship title and Lonestar Shootout Futurity Reserve Champion in the aggregate in January earning over $17,000.
The week before, Kinder, Schafer, and Boomer won the American Quarter Horse Association JR Barrels in Fort Worth, Texas, securing a spot in the 2025 AQHA World Show.
“He worked so well at Fort Worth that I didn’t even cruise him through the exhibitions at Tunica. I actually waited until the very end of the ride times for slot horses until the arena was nearly cleared out, so I could just walk and trot him through a few times and work him at his spots,” Schafer explained.
Running two horses in the Kinder Cup Slot Race, Schafer didn’t have much time between runs. The first horse she ran, her belt loop got caught on her saddle horn, causing her to get out of position and tip two barrels.
“I was pretty humbled by my first run in the slot race. It was a little embarrassing to have that happen on a big stage, such as a slot race. But I just told myself not to worry about it and focus on my next run, which was Boomer,” Schafer said.
Schafer and Boomer put together an effortless run in the slot race to turn in the fastest time of the futurity with a 14.660. Their time also won the first round of the futurity, open, high rollers, and adult side pot, winning nearly $41,000 in just one run.
Unfortunately, a down barrel in the second round kept them out of the average. Still, Schafer explained her gratitude towards the special horse and what he has given her thus far, having earnings of $140,000 just three months into the stallion’s career.
“I’ve had the opportunity to ride so many great horses throughout my career, and don’t get me wrong, they have to be talented,” Schafer said. “But the special ones don’t just have an immense amount of talent and ability; they have the heart and try to go along with it.”
Schafer explained that they plan to take it one run at a time with Boomer’s career, as she knows that horses like him are few and far between. They leave for Buckeye, Arizona, where Schafer and Boomer will compete at The Royal Crown Futurity February 5-16.
“I get teary-eyed when I really think about it. I try not to be emotional about the horses, but it’s really hard not to be when they give us everything they have. They don’t know they are about to win $50,000 when they run; they just do it because we ask them to,” Schafer humbly admitted when recognizing some of the life-changing horses she has ridden throughout her career. “I’m in awe of a horse that will try that hard for me, and I’ve been so fortunate to ride so many that would.”
Schafer expressed the utmost gratitude towards Boomer’s owners, Charlie Cole and Jason Martin, for the opportunities they have given her and the barrel racing industry through Highpoint Performance Horses.
Schafer also thanked her support system — her husband, Seth — and her family, friends, and help at home, as well as her sponsors: Schoneberg Performance Bits, Classic Equine, Kahm CBD, Med-Vet Pharmaceuticals, EquiBoss Performance, Silver Lining Herbs, Summit Joint Performance, Forco Feed Supplement, Martin Saddlery, and Rock and Roll Cowgirl.
This article was originally published in the April 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
