Skip to main content
Saebens was a heading machine at the Gold Buckle Futurities Winter Event.

 

NFR Heeler Billie Jack Saebensโ€™ heading game is on point, getting the win in the 4-&-Under Heading at the Gold Buckle Futurities Winter Event on Bonny Freckles T 4, owned by Bart and Tana Hutton.

The mare, by Freckles Ranger out of Twisselenaโ€™s Ima Bonnie Girl N 4, was bred by the Huttons and started her training with tie-down roper Justin Maass before coming to Saebens in the winter of 2023.

โ€œI had to get her out of the right lead and moved over a little bit,โ€ Saebens explained of her training. โ€œBut chasing cows was already easy for her.โ€

She scored a 900.20, worth $9,000, and she won the third go-round, too, with a 226.52, worth another $1,000.

โ€œSheโ€™s really pretty good everywhere,โ€ Saebens said. โ€œShe locked up to the box and looked out of the front of the bridle. She stood there good, and she ran and rated. She caught up good every time. I took a couple of swings and let her set in the spot for a second to show the judges I wasnโ€™t throwing because I had to. She stuck her hind end down good and faced good, and it all flowed together pretty good.โ€

The mare is bigโ€”already 15.1 at just 4, and Maass sent her to Saebens because she had outgrown the tie-down roping in spite of her talent.

Saebens had the help of NFR Heeler Hunter Koch, fresh off a second-place finish in the aggregate at the 2023 NFR. Koch also helped Saebens win the Maturity Heading on SJR Diamond Billy, the buckskin 5-year-old Saebens has been campaigning for Southern Ranches.

The Team Roping Journal
by Chelsea Shaffer
Read article on TRJ