Mark Pearson, 38, Spearman, Texas, made his first trip to the Augusta Futurity because of the inaugural Western Horseman Cup and he was rewarded in an unexpected manner - the 4-Year- Old Futurity Non-Pro Championship at the 25th annual event with a 221 on Haidas Merlin.

Pearson, who finished splitting eighth in the Western Horseman Cup finals on Little Jerri Sox, worked ninth in the first group and won by a point over Mary Ann Rapp, Weatherford, Texas, who worked just behind him on Cat Tuesday. The win was worth 18,578.

He was getting his horse ready and said he didn't have to worry about watching cattle because he had some of the best helpers in the business - seven-time Augusta champion Phil Rapp, Lloyd Cox, Boyd Rice and Kory Pounds.

"They picked three cows that were really good and got me in a spot to cut them clean,” Pearson said.

The Augusta pen, which is a little narrower than most of the limited- age venues, actually worked to his horse's advantage, Pearson said.

"I just tried to keep him in a straight line across the pen,” Pearson said. "I didn't want to let him fall back toward the back fence. I wanted to try to hold one in the middle of the pen.

"It's a lot of work, getting your horse trained and showing it. It just makes it all worthwhile when you do good. This is special. I never have won a big event like this in the Non-Pro.”

Pearson, who went on to win the 2004 MillionHeir Classic Non-Pro, now has lifetime earnings of more than $420,000, including unofficial money.

He won the 1999 NCHA Futurity Limited Non-Pro on Possum Zack DG and the 2002 NCHA Futurity Amateur on Flo Little Lena.

Pearson said getting Haidas Merlin was something of a surprise. He had left the 2001 Downtown Futurity Festival Sale, thinking his wife, Anne Marie, was going to bid on a different yearling. She wound up bidding $15,000 for a stud colt named Haidose Prescription, by Haidas Little Pep out of An Apple A Day by Doc's Prescription.

Once the Pearsons got the colt home, they changed his name to Haidas Merlin and gelded him. Although Pearson and the gelding lost a cow in the first go-round of the NCHA Futurity, they were consistent at Augusta, where they marked 214-216.5 - 430.5, easily qualifying for the finals.

A competitive cutter since 1988, Pearson grew up on a farm that's been in the family for three generations and learned how to ride a cutting horse from his dad, Dan. He was a state bareback riding champion in high school.

Pearson, who has a degree in agricultural economics from Texas Tech, and his wife have two children, Charles, 3, and Georgia, 18 months.