The Futurity is always a family affair for Carol Bell and her family. Hailing from North Carolina, Carol enjoys heading out west since her step son, NRHA Professional Brian Bell, trains out of north Texas.
“George [Carol’s husband] has been breeding horses for 50 years and he’s been coming to this for a long time” Carol said. “George and I have both always loved horses. And we both managed to get into reining horses and eventually so did Brian. We’ve enjoyed watching his success over the years.”
For the last 13 years Carol has been hitting up Oklahoma City in late November for the Futurity. She’s shown in both the Futurity and ancillary classes. This year she’s reining in the affiliate finals as well as the Futurity in the limited and prime time non pro.
“There are a variety of things that make up the Futurity experience. Every day you can watch all the goes and learn something new. This is just the nicest show and the best time of year for it,” she added.
One area of interest in particular for Carol at the Futurity are all the new up-and-coming trainers on display. This goes for the young stallions set to make big waves in the industry in the years to follow.
“The Futurity puts the future of reining on display,” Carol said. “We’ve bought and sold horses at the sale; we’ve experienced all pieces of the Futurity.”
Carol and the boys all share horses throughout the show. This only adds to the close-knit family experience.
On day one, George and Carol cheered Brian on to an open championship in the ancillary classes riding homegrown Mr Hollywood Cee (Hollywoodstinseltown x Miss Hollywood Cee).
Continuing his hot streak through the week, Brian scored a 223.5 in the first go of the Open Futurity. This held as the high score, tied with Fernando Salgado, after three preliminary rounds ended.
Both George and Carol will continue cheering Brian on throughout the week, but also have their own classes to show in. Look for Carol later this week in the non pro classes.
