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Sonitalena, 1987-2019

Mar 28, 2019, 08:45 AM by Sally Harrison

Sonitalena, the Open World Champion died at the age of 32.

Sonitalena, 1987-2019

Willie Richardson on Sonitalena. Don Shugart photo.

Sonitalena, the Open World Champion Cutting Horse of 1996, owned and shown by Willie Richardson, died on March 23 at the age of 32.

Richardson had won the 1985 NCHA Super Stakes, in a three-way tie with Doc Per and Boons Sierra, riding Sonitas Joy for Herman Bennett Ranch. After Bennett sold Sonitas Joy to John Gerhardt, Richardson continued to ride the Sonita’s Last daughter, and eventually convinced Gerhardt to breed her to Doc O’Lena. Sonitalena was the result of that breeding.

Phil Hanson started Sonitalena, before Gerhardt sent the bay stallion to Richardson, who was interested in buying him. “It’s pretty tough to talk a banker into loaning you money to buy a cutting horse,” Richard said. “It surprised me that they did. But by that time he was three and I had been riding him and really liked him. His mother was a great mare, and I thought Doc O’Lena was about the greatest stallion that ever lived. So I just knew this colt had to be a special horse.”

Richardson was a Memphis Futurity finalist with 4-year-old Sonitalena and the horse just missed qualifying for the World Finals that season. He placed fourth in the World the following year, while also adding to his aged-event credentials, despite the fact that Richardson was sidelined with a broken leg for several months, early in the year.

When Richardson was showing Sonitalena, following a good run, he would offer the stallion a packet of sugar. “He knows when he’s had a good run, because when I get off, he’ll start looking around for that sugar,” Richardson noted. “But if he’s had a bad run, he doesn’t even bother looking.”

In 1996, Sonitalena earned $91,628 to win the World Championship. He retired with career earnings of $188,876 and was inducted into the NCHA Hall of Fame in 1996. In addition to his own NCHA earnings, Sonitalena sired 87 earners of $850,215.