The McCartney household left the Gold Buckle Futurities Spring Showdown $58,002 richer on one 4-year-old gelding.
Cody McCartney piloted Thiccthirty, “Thicky,” to a 895.3 on four head and a $28,332 paycheck in the 4-&-Under Tie-Down Roping at Hardy-Murphy Coliseum in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Cheyanne McCartney and Thicky also turned in a 922.95 on four head to add another $29,450 in the 4-&-Under Breakaway. The Metallic Cattack gelding out of Nurse Connie, owned by Blake and Hayley Cavataio, did both on back-to-back days.
That haul made Thiccthirty the second highest earning horse at the Gold Buckle in Ardmore, picking up $58,002 across all events. He came in second behind Kryptoniite by a mere $185.
How Thiccthirty Joined the McCartney Rope Horse Program
The 4-year-old came to the McCartney program at the start of his 3-year-old year, about a year and a half ago. He was bred and raised at Solo Select, then started by BJ Avila as a 2-year-old before joining Cody’s string.
“They just did things right with that horse,” Cody said. “He has great genetics and was started good. We’ve had him, I guess, a year and a half now. Showed him last year at the World Show. I think he won fourth as a 3-year-old in the junior tie-down roping and he’s just been a good horse.”
Blake and Hayley Cavataio bought Thiccthirty last fall and left him in the McCartneys’ hands.
“Some clients of ours, Blake and Hayley Cavataio, bought him last fall and we’re just lucky to have him and get to train him,” Cody said.
What Makes Thiccthirty a Standout?
Cody says the biggest thing about Thicky is that there isn’t much to fix or tune on.
“He’s just really good in the box,” Cody said. “He doesn’t move in there. He scores good. He stops good. Really, I couldn’t say that he’s got really a flaw or a hole in his game so to say.”
Cody also Dont Quote Me to second in the same 4-&-Under Tie-Down average, giving him the top two spots.
Cheyanne McCartney 🤝 Thiccthirty
Cheyanne’s $29,450 breakaway check came in her debut on Thiccthirty.
“This is actually the first show that I have rode him at,” Cheyanne said. “So it was really neat to have a lot of success the first time showing him.”
She was quick to give her husband Cody all the credit on Thicky’s training.
“Cody showed that horse as a 3-year-old at the World Show last year and we’ve had him in training since the beginning of his 3-year-old year and just have kind of gotten him ready for these deals,” Cheyanne said. “And he’s taken it really well. He’s a really good minded horse.”
The “it factor,” in Cheyanne’s mind, is what Thicky has that every breakaway and tie-down roper is looking for.
“He just has a lot of eye appeal,” Cheyanne said. “He’s flat. He stays low on the ground running to the calves, hits his butt stopping. He’s good in the box. He’s showy. Kind of just does a lot of things that you want a breakaway or tie-down horse to do.”
Rope Horse Futurity Growth
Cody has been inside the rope futurity world from the beginning, and he has the receipts to compare what it used to be to what it is now.
“I can remember the first calf roping futurity I went to was in 2019, and Jay Wadams had them, the ARHFA, and we’d get 30 horses in one class,” Cody said. “It was 6-&-Under and now there’s hundreds of entries here over two days in the calf roping and the breakaway, and great horses, great genetics, all the best trainers.”
For a horse trainer, that growth changes the math.
“You’re not just stuck at home training young horses and not anywhere to take them,” Cody said. “Now we’ve got places to go win real money on them and season that horse at the same time and get it ready for rodeos or wherever its next job may be.”