Three years after attending his first Cinch RSNC show, Mason Moore teamed up with Seth Stanfill to win his first title, sorting 19 head in 157.27 seconds to take the US Rider #5 Gold Shootout Oct. 18 in Jackson, Ohio.
Mason Moore of Howard, Pennsylvania, and Seth Stanfill of Lexington, Tennessee, won the US Rider #5 Gold Shootout Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Cinch RSNC Congress Super Sort in Jackson, Ohio. The pair sorted 19 head across three rounds in 157.27 seconds to earn $4,086 and their first Gold Shootout title. Moore rode Little Ruby Cat (High Brow Cat x ARC Little Rubylena), while Stanfill rode High CD Nurse (High Brow CD x Nurse Gray).
Held Oct. 16-18 at Henderson Arena, the Congress Super Sort was an official satellite event of the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
Three Head, Teamwork and a Long Wait
Moore and Stanfill entered the final round leading the field, and Stanfill had already done the math: Three more head would be enough to hold the lead.
“I said, ‘Let’s ease three head out, come back to the gate and stop,’” Stanfill said. “That was our game plan. Of course, Mason was a little nervous and getting a little fast, but it worked out.”
For Moore, protecting the lead brought its own pressure.
“Not a position I like to be in, sitting on the top. Lots of pressure at the top,” Moore said. “I think three was harder to get than 10.”
The pair had a clear division of labor throughout the class. Stanfill held the gate while Moore sorted, and the two communicated as they worked. Stanfill picked up a cow that hung back while Moore turned to find the next number.
“He was trying to slow me down the whole round, all three rounds,” Moore said. “Just wanting to go and just nerves.”
After sorting three head, they returned to the gate and waited for the clock to run out.
“It seemed like 10 minutes we sat there waiting for the timer to go off,” Moore said.
The Numbers Lined Up
The partnership came together shortly before the class. Moore grew up in the same part of Tennessee as Stanfill but has since moved to Pennsylvania. They knew each other through Reese Stanfill, Seth’s cousin and a friend Moore had bought horses from. When Reese mentioned that Stanfill was headed to the Congress, Moore reached out and asked him to ride the #5 Gold Shootout.
“Mason’s new to the sorting sport,” Stanfill said. “He’s a 1 and I’m a 4, and with it being a 5 shootout, it kind of lined up just right for us.”
Making This One Count
Moore started riding four years ago and has been sorting for three. His first sorting show was the Congress Super Sort three years earlier. Since then, his daughter’s high school rodeo schedule has taken up much of the family’s time, leaving him to do most of his sorting practice at home.
“We practice a lot at home, and we’ve gotten a lot better in those three years, but just hadn’t got to get in the pen,” Moore said.
The Gold Shootout was also Moore’s first win in any Cinch RSNC class. He upgraded to a Gold membership the morning of the competition with one clear motivation: the money.
The Horses Behind the Win
Little Ruby Cat is an 11-year-old mare who has made a strong impression on Moore.
“Best horse I’ve ever been on,” Moore said. “Her disposition and her willingness to work. She does whatever is asked of her.”
Stanfill has owned High CD Nurse, now 15, for about 10 years. He bought her as a cutting horse and moved her into sorting when he took up the sport a couple of years ago. She’s now a family horse, too: Stanfill’s daughter rides her, and he flushes embryos from the mare to raise foals.
“She’s going to be a keeper,” he said.