The crowd’s screams never slackened. With each turn, stop, back, and circle, The Firemen drew more cheers. With each maneuver, he seemed stronger and more powerful. By the time he finished his last stop, the crowd’s roar of approval drowned out any other sound in the arena as people leapt to their feet. Through the entire pattern, NRHA Professional Kaci O’Rourke concentrated on communicating with the 2021 stallion (Inferno Sixty Six x Redhot Walla). She’s not even sure whether The Firemen could hear her voice for the final “whoa.”

At the end of the ride, O’Rourke dismounted to give The Firemen a big hug and lead him out, and then she heard the score of 229 and fell to her knees in the arena. The Firemen and O’Rourke had won.

But this victory wasn’t just another championship win. O’Rourke had made history as the first woman in NRHA history to win the MS Diamonds TX Level 4 Open Futurity. “I’m speechless. I have no words,” O’Rourke said. “It’s all been a blur, but I’m so thankful for this horse, and I’m so thankful that God placed him in my life, because he’s incredible.”

Before the evening was over, O’Rourke had signed her first autograph for a shy girl dreaming of being just like her. It was a beautiful moment that marked the culmination of years of dedication, hard work, and the undeniable connection between horse and rider.

The Firemen had less than $4,000 in earnings when he arrived in Oklahoma City for the Futurity. Just a month earlier, he had placed 23rd at the All American Quarter Horse Congress. In the Futurity preliminaries and semifinals, he marked a 218 and a 224 for a 442 composite score—tying for 18th place in the overall standings. Yet, from the very first time O’Rourke worked with him, she knew that The Firemen had the potential to do something extraordinary.

“He’s like nothing you’ve ever felt stopping,” O’Rourke said. “He’s so smooth. It’s so easy for him. I’ve never felt a horse like that up front that just melts into the ground.” She believed in him deeply, and it showed. She and her husband, NRHA Professional Jack Daniels, had acquired The Firemen from Tamarack Ranch LLC when he was just a yearling. Jack started his training and rode him through his 2-year-old year.

“He was such a reactive, intense horse that he was challenging in the first month or two,” O’Rourke recalled. “But my husband just always believed in him and knew how special he was. And he told me from the very beginning that this horse was special, and he was kind enough to let me take him.”

As the years went on, Peter and Courtney Morgan bought The Firemen and entrusted O’Rourke and Daniels with the stallion’s continued training. “Peter and Courtney Morgan are like family to us,” O’Rourke said. “They bought him in the fall of his 2-year-old year, and they promised us we would get the opportunity to show him. The first time I showed him, we had a couple of bobbles, and we had some stuff to figure out, but they never doubted us. They always trusted in the plan. I’m just so thankful for that.”

The Firemen was a sensitive and intense horse, and he required special handling under saddle. O’Rourke compared him to a Ferrari—intense, talented, and incredibly powerful. “He’s so intense, and he’s so talented. Everything is so easy for him,” she said. “But he’s a horse that has to have a really strong relationship with the rider, and so he and I are pretty close. I think that’s what kind of got us through [the finals run].”

As she rode him through the Finals, O’Rourke wasn’t sure how The Firemen could hear her commands with the deafening noise in the arena, but she trusted that he would stay with her. “Every time I asked something of him, he was like, ‘Yep, I’m here,’” O’Rourke said. “He gave me confidence throughout the run.”

Tish Fappani didn’t just wish for success — she made it happen. At the 2024 NRHA Futurity CINCH Level 4 Non-Pro Finals, she showcased her grit and determination aboard Wish I Was Yours, a mare she’s nurtured from the start.

Riding early in the finals draw, Fappani was determined to make a statement with her horse. “I knew we needed to get out there and get it done,” she said. While she did miss one stop and didn’t quite land the right lead, her quick recovery showed her expertise. “I ran in and stopped good, hit her turns, and she circled awesome,” Fappani added. The lead changes were spot-on, and then came the wait—would her score of 222 hold up? It did.

The flashy 2021 mare (Colonels Shining Gun x Whizzen For Chex) added $75,000 to her pre-Futurity NRHA Lifetime Earnings (LTE) of $71,500, further solidifying her place in the spotlight. Fappani’s pride in the mare was evident as she reflected on their journey. “It’s incredible that we raised her,” Fappani shared. “It’s always super rewarding to come to the NRHA Futurity and get it done. I showed her earlier in Tulsa at the 100X Reining Classic, and we won there. And now here we are again.”

Fappani’s connection with the mare went beyond the competition ring. “I’m so proud of her. She’s not going anywhere. We were thinking about selling her, but she’s a keeper,” Fappani added, emphasizing that Wish I Was Yours has firmly cemented her place in the Fappani program for the long term.

In the preliminaries, Wish I Was Yours proved herself with a solid 218.5. But in the finals, the mare brought her A-game, improving to a 222. Fappani had a good feeling about how things were going: “When I stopped her straight and didn’t have any turn penalties, I was like, ‘Alright, we’re solid now.’”

For Fappani, this Futurity was especially memorable. It marked the final competition in the Jim Norick Coliseum, a venue that many exhibitors, including Fappani, were savoring their last ride in. “I know I don’t have the history here that many others do, but I’ve been coming for a long time. To win and be one of the last to show in this coliseum is pretty cool,” Fappani said.

“He was such a reactive, intense horse that he was challenging in the first month or two,” O’Rourke recalled. “But my husband just always believed in him and knew how special he was. And he told me from the very beginning that this horse was special, and he was kind enough to let me take him.”

Tish Fappani and her husband, NRHA Hall of Famer Andrea Fappani, acquired Wish I Was Yours as a weanling from breeder Tamarack Ranch LLC. From the beginning, the mare’s future looked promising. She grew up in the Fappani program, where Tish began riding her as a 2-year-old. “Once they kind of have the buck out of them, I love to climb on them and ride them,” Fappani explained. “So I rode her a lot, and then Andrea rode her.”

From the start, Wish I Was Yours had a lot going for her: a striking coat, impressive bloodlines, and a huge stop. “Her color: When she was born, we were like, ‘Holy cow!’” Fappani recalled. “Andrea rode and showed her sire and then also showed Kayla, a really special mare, which is her mom, Whizzen For Chex. And when Wish I Was Yours came out colored and marked like that, we were like, ‘Alright.’”