Lanham Brown Amasses $265K with NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Intermediate, Limited Wins Riding Rebel De Rosa

Non-pro Lanham Brown took on the professionals at the 2026 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity and came out on top, riding the R.A. Brown Ranch’s Rebel De Rosa to wins in both the Intermediate and Limited Open with a composite score of 661 (H: 216, R: 220.5, C: 224.5) and earning a total of $206,095.

Brown also won $33,120 in the Solo Select Incentive and $25,600 in the Valley Equine Incentive, bringing his total to $265,815.

They also finished Reserve Champion in the Open behind Corey Cushing and Candy Shopp. The effort capped a week where the pair led from the start. Brown and the gelding, called “Hugo” at home, topped the Open prelims with a 662 composite out of 345 entries.

Even more impressive, the Snaffle Bit was Brown’s first foray into the limited-age events as an open rider. He’s competed in the World’s Greatest Horseman the past two years, but otherwise, stuck to the non-pro ranks where he’s amassed titles including two NRCHA World’s Greatest Non Pro championships and the 2023 Snaffle Bit Futurity Non Pro Champion.

And according to Brown, competing in the open division versus the non-pro didn’t add pressure.

“The pressure I felt was knowing I had a nice horse and wanted to do my best to present him to the best of his abilities,” Brown said.

Last Call for the Limited

Brown knew this was his window. He has won enough over his career that 2026 was his final year of eligibility for the Limited Open.

“It’s been a goal of mine to show in the open, and I felt I was mounted, and so I thought I’d try it on,” Brown said.

Bred by Stella Swanson, Hugo is by Metallic Rebel and out of Rosa Del Pepto (by One Time Pepto). Brown remembered the mare from her years in the show pen with Zeb Corvin. So when Tyler Oliver, who started the colt, called to say Hugo was for sale, Brown paid attention.

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“I always remember [watching] the mother show and I liked her a lot, and I’d never ridden a Rebel, but I’ve seen some really good ones,” Brown said. “Tyler let me ride him for a few days, and I felt like I would get along well with him.”

The R.A. Brown Ranch bought him in June of his 2-year-old year.

“One of the first things that stuck out to me was his thought process when you stepped him to a cow, and his ability to stop,” Brown said.

Catching Up in the Rein Work

Hugo came from a cutting program, so the cow work came naturally. The reining took longer.

“I’ve always liked this horse on a cow, just the reining has been the biggest challenge for us,” Brown said. “He can get distracted. And so just getting him [focused] without there being a cow involved is what I was fighting the most.”

The turning point came in Scottsdale. Brown hauled the 3-year-old to the NRCHA Derby while he showed his older horses.

“That was where I felt like we were heading in the right direction in that event,” Brown said. “Getting him broke in the reining contributed to those other events too, and it just all came together.”

Brown thought Hugo was still a little green for the bigger prefuturities in Fort Worth or Las Vegas, so he stayed home and kept training. The gelding’s first outing was a South Texas Reined Cow Horse show in Bryan over Labor Day weekend, and they won it. Then, Brown took him to the fall pre-futurity in Scottsdale.

“He did even more growing up there, and he was fantastic at that show and just gave me a lot of confidence,” Brown said.

Brown said the show pen brings out the best in Hugo.

“He’s one of those that the pressure just magnifies what he does well,” Brown said. “He’s just got that ‘it’ factor. He gets in there, and he stops a little harder. He turns a little faster.”

Snaffle Bit Futurity Time

Brown and Hugo delivered in the preliminaries of the Snaffle Bit Futurity, putting together a 662 composite with a 219.5 in the herd work, 220.5 in the reining and 222 fence run.

Just a few days later, they marked a 216 in the finals herd work. On Saturday finals night, they secured a 220.5-point reining run, and Brown’s wheels started turning.

“I knew I was going to need some help to win the whole deal,” Brown said. “I knew I was going to have to have a big [fence] score, but really needed to go work [the cow] they kicked out and complete the course. That pen can be tricky to show in down the fence. My horse felt locked in and tied to the cow, and I rolled out of that corner and just tried to stay out and stay patient and just let everything develop.”

The resulting score of 224.5 points was the highest fence run of the night.

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Where You’re Supposed to Be

At the completion of the fence run, Brown didn’t celebrate. Instead, he softly patted Hugo and took everything in.

“I’ve thought about this for a long time and envisioned myself showing in the open, and [the result] didn’t feel like an uncomfortable spot,” he said. “I don’t know if I’d say that’s what I expected, but I didn’t feel out of place.”

He credited the people around him, including the family and ranch friends that packed the boxes at the end of the Coliseum.

“I surround myself with people that are better than me, and make me better,” Brown said. “That support system makes it to where, when you get into a spot like that, it’s not a big deal. It’s where you’re supposed to be.”

He said the win still hasn’t really sunk in.

“I have a ton of respect for all those trainers that were in the open finals, and to just be in there with them was amazing, and then for it to finish how it did was unbelievable,” Brown said.

As for the $206,095, Brown already has a plan for the money. He and his wife, Josey, have twin boys, Ross and Cade. The winnings will go into raising the next generation of Brown ranchers and horsemen.

2026 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Results

Intermediate Open Results

Limited Open Results