THE RUNDOWN with Dakota Kirchenschlager

Rodeo fans are accustomed to seeing three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier Dakota Kirchenschlager riding the perfect position to execute masterful heel shots with uncanny ease. What’s less expected, at least until fairly recently, is seeing the Whitesboro, Texas, rope horse trainer changing leads and running down to sliding stops and fast spins (yeah, different spins) in National Reined Cow Horse Association sanctioned competition. But this fall, you may very well catch him entered up in the American Rope Horse Association World Championships, held in conjunction with the Snaffle Bit Futurity, as well as in the futurity or horse show itself.

“Our rope horses have to run; they have to stop and they have to cow,” he said. “It’s actually a lot like what you need them to do if you’re looking for a snaffle bit-er. I like the crossover because the reined cow horses, they’ve been hauled, they’ve been prepared to show, they are very broke and that’s exactly how we need them to be as rope horses. When you look at the top level in the cow horse deal,