Barbara Hodges was honored with being inducted into the Nevada Horsemen’s Hall of Fame, awarded in February 2023, as well as celebrating her 80th birthday the same evening. Other distinguished honorees from previous years of this award were Bobby Ingersoll, Wilma Hybarger, and Wanda Cagalari to mention only a few.
Barbara has been a friend and mentor to many people over the years. She could always see a good prospect in an up-and-coming rider. Some of her more distinguished mentees are Darrel Norcutt, Flint Lee, and Dave Thacker. All have gone on and built great training facilities and have won the reining cow horse’s most prestigious awards. But only after Barbara had paved the way with her tireless dedication to the cow horse profession in the National Reined Cow House Association, the American Quarter Horse Association, and the American Paint Horse Association.
California is where she would begin training at about the age of 20. When she decided she could make a living professionally training was about the mid-1960s riding and showing many horses in halter and it is rumored she even rode jumping horses.
Together with Como Chex, she began a showing career in the early 1980s, starting with the Reno Snaffle Bit Women’s class, winning fifth place. All the while raising two children Ross Hodges and Robin Hodges. She and her partner Jan Smith purchased the Sliding Sisters Ranch in 1989.
This is where Barbara would work training and preparing for reining, cutting, and cow horse shows, and now ranch riding horses, the newest event in AQHA and APHA which is becoming very popular.
In the late 1990s, she won the California Futurity and Derby Reining in Rancho Murietta. She had to run a 3-way run-off with 2 other competitors to win the futurity, she said “I rode quiet and cool, nothing great, but I won.” She was riding Como Chex Hobbit. Barbara was the AQHA World Show Finalist in Oklahoma in 1992 and 1993 in the cow horse event, again aboard Como Chex. She was the first woman to win the Elko County Fair Snaffle Bit Class in 1978 and was the only woman to compete that year, opening many doors for women to follow. She and Como Chex were very used to being in the winner’s circle, winning many events. Barbara won The Woman’s Bridle Class 3 years in a row. She went on to win one year on Como Chex as a six-year-old, then his sister Marcy Doc as a 5-year-old the next year, and finally Chexotic, Como Chex’s daughter as a four-year-old in consecutive order. These horses had to be in the bridle to be eligible for this class. Barbara had brought Como Chex up through the different classes and he would win the hackamore class as well. Other events she participated in at Elko were the Team Sorting winning two consecutive years with the Kenny and Flint Lee. Co-Ed Team Branding was another sport that Barbara enjoyed participating in at Elko, always placing well.
Among other shows was Fallon’s own Fallon Stockhorse Spectacular, which she showed in the reining and cow horse where she won often.
In 2019 Barbara would again be in the winner’s circle, this time in Idaho at the Idaho Reined Cow Horse Association riding Miss Cut N Chex placing 1st in the Limited Bridle Open Cow Horse and 5th place in the Open Bridle Horse class.
Each of these events takes a very specially trained horse which is what Barbara has done for many years. Bobby Ingersoll said it the best, there are rope horses, reining, and cutting horses but the cow horse must be proficient in all of these categories plus he has got to be able to rate a single cow down the fence turn it once each way and circle it each way. Sounds easy until you attempt to do this yourself, then not so much. These are the types of horses that Barbara Hodges has trained for many years. They win and stay physically and mentally sound.
Besides riding, training, and showing Barbara also operated a very successful breeding program with her broodmares and her studs that she had shown and deemed good quality and promotable. Barbara farms her ground and keeps cattle on hand for training purposes and lessons for clients plus on top of that general maintenance of all the aforementioned.
Barbara is semi-retired now. She enjoys training and showing Ranch Riding horses. She is always found in her arena helping non-pro clients and always at the RHAN shows or APHA helping and encouraging fellow competitors.
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