After four rounds and 320 teams, Jay Schiffner of Waterloo, Illinois, and Cody Kinderknecht of Ogallala, Nebraska, rose to the top of the Western Heritage #6 class at the 2025 Cinch RSNC World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas. The duo, who had never ridden together before the class, sorted 25 cows in 232.32 seconds to claim the title and a combined payout of $5,736.
For Schiffner, the Western Heritage format was a shift from his usual pace.
“When they first started doing this, it was like, ‘I want to learn how to go fast. I don’t want to do this trotting stuff,’” he said. “But after I did it a few times, I thought, ‘Wow, this really teaches you to be correct.’ Once I started practicing [the angles and fundamentals], I think it helped my sorting.”
Schiffner’s 21-year-old gelding, sporting an RSNC World Finals headstall concho the pair won in 2015, has evolved as well.
“He can just trot in there or he can charge in there—whichever you want to do,” Schiffner said. “His body control’s really come a long way since I slowed it down.”
Kinderknecht entered the class on a homebred 4-year-old mare.
“For her, the biggest thing is running the Western Heritage class sets her up to go run the faster classes,” he said. “She’s super strong in the gate. She don’t really like to be in the herd.”
That natural fit shaped their team strategy.
“She holds the gate really well,” Kinderknecht explained. “The gate is where she will stay, and she will hold whatever I ask her to hold.”
Despite their win, the pairing almost didn’t happen.
“My pick ride didn’t show up, so it would’ve been [Cody’s] draw ride,” Schiffner explained. “The office put us together, so thank you very much, office. I do appreciate that.”
Aboard his veteran partner, Schiffner was surprised to learn Kinderknecht was entered on a 4-year-old.
“It would’ve been a lot of pressure to put on,” Schiffner said. “I don’t know if I would’ve asked him to hold the gate on a 4-year-old, but the way it worked out, it’s probably a good prep for the futurity.”
That futurity, running later that evening, factored into Kinderknecht’s planning.
“We were going to do the non-pro, but in the non-pro, you have to stay in the herd,” he said. “This horse’s strongest suit is holding the gate. So, we bumped up [to ride in the Pro Futurity] to match what she’s going to be strong at.”
With one horse better in the herd and the other on the gate, their team was balanced and effective.
Looking ahead, both riders expect to ramp up their competition schedules.
“I just started in September last year doing this,” Kinderknecht explained. “Where I live, in Nebraska, sanctioned shows aren’t super close, so we’ve got to travel a ways to get to them. But it’ll definitely be a thing by this time next year; it’s worth it.”
A 10-year veteran of the World Finals, Schiffner is also looking forward to digging into the next season.
“Normally I travel and ride a lot,” he said. “But just the last year, family stuff’s been going on, so I had to cut back.”
Considering they won the Western Heritage #6 on the first day of the event, though, Schiffner’s immediate focus was on his next pursuit of a World Champion title: “Tomorrow, the #8, I guess.”
This article appears in the Summer 2025 issue of The Ranch Sorter, featuring World Champion stories, event recaps, regional results, and more.
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