The tie-down roping field at the 2024 NFR is stacked with top-tier horses, but Quade Hiatt’s JJ Shimmer Cat, aka “Big Red,” is turning heads as one of the youngest at the Finals at just 6 years old—and his story is just as impressive as his talent.
Rodeo in the Blood
Hiatt’s first appearance at the Thomas & Mack Arena is the latest chapter in a family history steeped in the rodeo way of life. Hiatt’s grandfather, Butch Myers, was the 1980 World Champion Steer Wrestler and a 12-time NFR qualifier. Hiatt’s uncles, Cash and Rope Myers, also boast NFR qualifications. Uncle Cash made the big show in multiple events, including tie-down roping, steer wrestling and steer roping, while Uncle Rope competed for the steer wrestling title.
“It’s awesome to back in the box here for the first time,” Hiatt said. “It was a little surreal the first night, but after that, it’s been amazing.”
Big Red’s Story
Big Red’s story began in 2017 when Linda Brinkerhoff purchased his dam, Big Mama Cat, while she was in foal. Raised and trained by the Brinkerhoff family, Big Red showed promise from the start.
“It was kind of a luck deal,” said Justin Brinkerhoff, Linda’s son. “My mom bought two mares over the phone through the Western Bloodstock sale that she had looked at and watched. One of the mares was Big Mama Cat and the other was Double Spoonful. I think it’s kind of cool that she bought both those horses over the phone, and their first foals with us did great.”
Justin started Big Red as a calf horse when he was 2, and he’s been a standout since the beginning.
“It was crazy easy,” Justin said. “He’s probably the easiest one I’ve ever started. Most green horses are going to have a bad day or get hot or at some point, and he basically, from the time he was 2, he was so easy to ride. I actually tied some down when he was 2. It’s crazy to go back and think now how good he was. He was just a natural. He was just a freak. He’s always scored like he does now: just stands, and scored outstanding.”
Despite being a standout in the arena, Big Red had one unique quirk.
“I took him moving cows one day and I basically had to get off and drag him across the water,” Justin said. “You could not get him to cross water. That was the only thing I ever had that bothered him. You could run as many calves as you wanted and he would never get rattled. But he refused to cross water.”
After the Brinkerhoffs sent Big Red to Cody and Cheyenne McCartney to futurity as a 4-year-old, the McCartneys bought him.
“I rode him at the Riata in 2022 and he won good,” Cheyenne said. “Cody and I both rode him at the [Roping Futurities of America] in 2022 as a 4-year-old. I also rode him at the first Gold Buckle Futurity in 2023. Cody and I both rode him at rodeos when he was a 4-year-old.”
In 2022, at the Riata, Cheyenne was successful in the open and futurity breakaway aboard Big Red. The team walked away from the event with $12,008 between the Breakaway 2D futurity and the Breakaway 3D Open.
Not long after their success aboard Big Red, the McCartneys sold Big Red to All-Around World Champion and 14-time NFR qualifier, Ryan Jarrett.
In 2023 when Jarrett acquired Big Red, he placed 4th at the AQHA World Show in the Jr Tie-Down, marking a score of 223 and winning $6,925. Jarrett later went on to rodeo on Big Red, winning money on him in Jackson, Mississipi; Guymon, Oklahoma; Vernon, Texas; Prescott, Arizona; Red Lodge, Montana; Fort Worth, Texas; and San Angelo, Texas, all before selling him to Hiatt.
Hiatt rode Big Red at almost every rodeo this summer. He rode him to the win in St. Paul, Oregon, and placed at several other rodeos to qualify for his first NFR in 15th with $101,980 won in the regular season.
“He’s same trip every time,” Hiatt said of Big Red. “He don’t ever not try. If anything, he’s going to mess up because he’s trying too hard. In the Thomas & Mack, I like how flat he is across the line.”
Big Red’s Bloodlines
Big Red is by Shiners Voodoo Dr and out of Big Mama Cat, who is by High Brow Cat. Shiners Voodoo Dr has produced more than $4 million in NRHA earnings and has a total offspring earnings exceeding $6,300,000. Big Mama Cat is by the iconic High Brow Cat and out of Spoonfula Style by Hes A Peptospoonful.
Although Justin wasn’t sure what his mom, Linda, was up to when she bought Big Mama Cat, the purchase has paid off for the family.
“My parents’ program has grown quite a bit,” Justin said. “They raised a few colts when I was young, but took a break for a few years when I was in high school. In the fall of 2017, my mom decided she wanted to start raising horses again, and that’s when she bought those two mares from the Bloodstock sale. We got really lucky with those mares and it’s just grown from there. The past couple of years we have foaled out probably 14 or 15 horses.”
The Brinkerhoff’s program is mostly a rope horse program, but they have started to dabble in cutting horses for fun.
“It’s just like anything you have: you have some success and you just go crazy a little bit,” Justin said. “We mainly focus on rope horses. The mare that won the AQHA world with Cody—”Jewels”—we’ve crossed on The Goodbye Lane. We’ve tried to go a little more running bred on a few of them, but mainly just focus on the cow horse bloodlines. We’re also trying to dabble a little bit into the cutting on a few of them, just for fun. We try to rope on most of the horses, but they could go pretty much any direction.”
