Sho Boat Anchors Carpenter Farms’ Next Generation
- Melanie Smith
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
There’s a difference between adding horsepower and changing trajectory.
Sho Boat marks that turning point.
With more than $250,000 in lifetime earnings, the six-year-old Metallic Rebel daughter out of the NCHA Open Futurity Champion producer Reycy Moon brings a deep black-type pedigree full of maternal power and a show record stacked with major wins and finals appearances at the toughest cuttings in the industry. Her dam now has nearly $1.3 million in earners — a maternal dynasty that includes Second Spot (LTE $449,607), Exs N Ohhs (LTE $211,648), and Mezmorize (LTE $105,585).
Now under the banner of Carpenter Farms, Sho Boat steps into a new role: one designed to shape the next generation.
She’ll join the Select Genes Program and be bred in 2026 to multiple stallions, including LBR Hangem, another key piece in Todd Carpenter’s fast-growing vision.
For Todd, this isn’t about adding another name to the roster. It’s about aligning genetics that define the future.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Gary Barker for trusting us with this special mare,” Todd said. “The foundation he built with Reycy Moon and her daughters is one of the best in the business, and it’s an honor to carry that forward. I’m also thankful to Lloyd Cox for allowing us to keep her in his program and continue showing her in the Open as a seven-year-old. It means a lot to have people like Gary and Lloyd supporting what we’re trying to build at Carpenter Farms.”
Sho Boat isn’t just joining the program — she’s helping set its direction.
A Program Built on Purpose
Todd Carpenter isn’t dabbling in the horse business. He’s architecting something meant to last.
The longtime media executive and founder of Carpenter Media Group has built organizations before, but this one trades newspaper headlines for headlines in Quarter Horse News.
Through Carpenter Farms, Todd and his family are assembling one of the most elite groups of mares in the country, backed by the kind of focus that turns strong programs into dynasties. They’re also partners in Third Edge — and another exciting new stallion, with that announcement coming soon.
Sho Boat will fit right at home in that lineup.
She joins Sweet On Stevie, the 2020 Stevie Rey Von daughter out of the legendary, nearly $3 million producer, Sweet Abra, who continues her show career under Colt Moore, and Reyal Money, the 2011 Dual Rey daughter out of Money Talks Smart, whose foals have already earned more than $317,000, including multiple NCHA and NRCHA finalists. Reyal Money’s influence as a producer continues to grow, with her three-year-old Badboonarising colt set to show with Corey Cushing in tomorrow night’s NRCHA Open Futurity Finals.
Alongside these mares, and several other elite producers and performers, Sho Boat stands among the kind of bloodlines driving Carpenter Farms forward: proven, purposeful, and built for the long game.
Bred by Gary Barker: A Legacy of Kindness and Cow Sense
Sho Boat was bred and raised by Gary Barker, whose Barker Ranch Cutting Horses name has become synonymous with great horses. Barker purchased Sho Boat’s dam, Reycy Moon, out of Matt Gaines program as a 3-year-old and quickly discovered she was unlike any other mare he’d owned.
“She’s the kindest horse I’ve ever had,” Gary said. “She just wants to please. She’s smart, low-headed, and she draws a cow to her like a magnet.”
Those qualities didn’t skip a generation. Barker described Sho Boat as a mirror image of her mother, sharing the same quiet intelligence and intensity on a cow. “The way she’s built, the way she reads a cow, she reminds me so much of Reycy,” he said.
That trademark blend of temperament, intelligence and try has anchored Barker’s breeding program for more than a decade, producing horses that not only win, but last — and Sho Boat stands as one of its finest examples.
Adding to that maternal strength is her sire, Metallic Rebel, the NCHA Horse of the Year, earner of more than $438,000, and now $15.7 million dollar sire.
A Team Effort: The Trainers who Developed Sho Boat
Sho Boat’s journey through the ranks has been a true team story.
Dan Edwards is the quiet, foundation builder behind millions of dollars in earners. His approach is deliberate, his circle small, and his results undeniable. For a select group of customers, he puts the kind of start on a horse that allows it to excel in any program that follows — soft, broke, and confident enough to handle the pressure when the lights come on.
“She was incredible,” Edwards said. “I never questioned her talent or her intelligence on a cow. My job was to make sure she didn’t advance herself too quickly. She had just the right amount of quirkiness to be a great one.”
That quiet start became the framework for everything she would become — balanced, responsive, and grounded in feel. It’s a base that’s visible every time she walks into the pen, no matter who’s showing her.
When Sho Boat reached Cass Tatum’s program as a 3-year-old, her foundation was set, and Cass brought out the shine. Known for his ability to harness raw talent and channel it into precision, Tatum guided her through her first major breakthroughs in the aged events.
“She was one of my all-time favorites to train,” Tatum said. “She was super cowy, athletic, and had a huge stop. Training her was fun because you just had to slow her down. The reason she was a winner is because she was so dynamic on a cow. She wanted to trap one so bad she couldn’t see straight. When she got one trapped, she’d get low and crawl. She was an absolute joy to train, just a beast of an animal, honestly. She holds a very dear spot in my heart.”
Under Tatum’s direction, Sho Boat captured the Reserve Championship at The Ike Derby and the Intermediate Open Championship at the NCHA Summer Spectacular, establishing herself as one of the most promising young mares in the industry as a four year old.
Then she went on to Lloyd Cox, who has shown her through the remainder of her aged-event career and will continue to campaign her between breeding seasons for Carpenter Farms. Under Cox, Sho Boat has stayed consistent at the highest level.
In 2024, she picked up strong Open finishes at The Ike, Arbuckle Futurity, and The Non Pro. In 2025, she pushed her lifetime earnings past the $250,000 mark, highlighted by a fourth-place finish in the NCHA Super Stakes Classic Open worth $21,981 and wins in both the NCHA Classic/Challenge Intermediate Amateur and The Non Pro Classic Senior Amateur divisions.
The Next Chapter
Now, she will transition into her dual role as both show mare and cornerstone producer for Carpenter Farms.
From her first rides in Dan Edward’s program to her runs under Lloyd Cox, Sho Boat’s path has been shaped by intention at every turn.
Now, as she shifts from the show pen to the breeding barn, she embodies exactly what Carpenter Farms was built to create: mares that don’t just carry bloodlines forward, but move the whole industry with them.
