Kaci O’Rourke entered the arena on Dec. 7 as the only female competitor among a field of cowboys who each has a list of accolades a mile long. Aboard The Fireman, O’Rourke left it all in the arena to shatter the glass ceiling and become the first woman to win the Level 4 Open Futurity with a score of 229 points.
“I still don’t think it has. I mean, it was very surreal when it happened and I still feel like I’m going to wake up and it’s going to have been a dream. So I don’t know when it will sink in but it hasn’t yet,” O’Rourke said.
While O’Rourke still describes the win as unexpected, especially this soon in her career, she says the competition she was up against was a group of reiners that she has looked up to.
“You know, I worked for Casey [Deary] when he won the Futurity on Shesouttayourleague. Those were incredible moments to be a part of, I just didn’t expect to have my own this soon,” she said.
As for getting the equine partner that O’Rourke cinched this win on, The Fireman is horse that she has known since he was a yearling. Her husband, Jack Daniels, put a foundation on The Fireman as a two-year old and knew from that point, the horse was special.
“He really believed in him. He made the mistake letting me ride him in September of his two-year old year and I never gave him back,” O’Rourke said.
The Fireman’s owners, Peter and Courtney Morgan, are special to O’Rourke and Daniels as they were some of their first customers.
“They’ve just been amazing owners, you know, through the whole journey, just so supportive and unwavering in their belief of us and that horse,” she said.
When O’Rourke looks back at her iconic run, she says both she and The Fireman were calm. Almost as soon as the run started, the crowd’s roar only grew and when it was over, she could see her husband and her team cheering just as hard.
The 229 will forever be etched in NRHA History as O’Rourke is the first woman to win the Level 4 Open.
