Armando Costa Neto

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Armando Costa Neto
by Bridget Kirkwood
or Armando Costa Neto, cutting isn’t just a way
of life—it’s a whole different lifestyle to the one
he knew growing up in Brazil, and it forced him
to move 5,000 miles to Weatherford, Texas. Costa rode
horses in his homeland. He competed in team penning
but when his dad, Armando Costa Filho, became interested in establishing a breeding program, they chose
to use progressive, cutting-bred bloodlines rather than
horses from other sports.
“He tried that so I started riding cutters a little bit over
there,” said Costa who cut for four years before throwing
his hand down in America. “I wanted to get better about
working cutting horses so I came
over here (USA).”
Arriving stateside in 2008,
Costa lived on John and Hope
Mitchell’s, Weatherford, Texas,
ranch for 18 months. His original plan was to finish high
school and ride horses, but
when the language barrier and
time restrictions got to be too
much, he opted to focus on the
language of horses.
“There were a lot of hand gestures and a lot of John speaking
very slow English,” Costa said of
bettering his English and learning the cutting lingo. “I’d try to
do what I thought he’d said; it
wasn’t always right, but I ended
up figuring it out.”
His first check came aboard
the Slate River Ranch-owned
Lynx Of Style in 2008.
“John let me show him at Silverado in the youth. That was the first show that I ever
won over here,” Costa said.
Since then, he has won $534,868 to earn a place in
the Non-Pro Riders Hall of Fame.
“It’s something that I wanted to do, so it makes me
feel like I’ve got something accomplished,” Costa said
of the honor. “Every time I make the finals I’m pretty
happy about that. I haven’t got a chance to win any of
the big shows yet, but I’m pretty happy about making
the finals.”
Winning, however, has been within reach. In 2008,
Costa finished third in the NCHA Futurity Amateur
and was seventh in the Futurity Non-Pro on Sly Tabasco
(That Sly Cat x Freckles N Tabasco, by Freckles Playboy)
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2013 NCHA FUTURITY
to win combined earnings of $65,903. In 2012, he had
another seventh-place finish in the Futurity Non-Pro
on My Pink Pony (Peptoboonsmal x Rio Gato, by High
Brow Cat) and moved all the way up to fourth in 2011 on
Look The Look (High Brow Cat x Dual Lookin Pep, by
Dual Pep). In fact, he has made the Futurity finals every
year to bank a combined $194,609. His favorite horse is
his 2009 finalist Arosesuchaclatter (Smooth As A Cat x
Mates Irish Rose, by Smart Mate) on whom he finished
20th.
“She’s a special little horse with how smart she was
and how gritty she was. She had a lot of heart. She always
tried real hard for me or whoever
rode her.”
Another mare that’s special
to Costa is Look The Look.
“She’s real gritty and has a
good heart. She’s got a pretty
cool personality, too.”
Though he says he hasn’t won
in Will Rogers, he has. In 2011
he took out the NCHA Non-Pro
Gelding class at the Super Stakes
on Smooth Dox (Smooth As A
Cat x Playdox Honey, by Playdox).
Armando’s American move
was supported by his parents
and after enjoying early show
success the Costa family bought
the old Rock Creek Ranch near
Weatherford, Texas, at the end of
2010. It is now the Texas base for
Fazenda Barrinha.
A normal day at home for
Costa comprises of working
horses, caring for cows and managing the ranch.
“It’s a lot of fun and a little bit of a challenge. We
try to do good at the shows and they’re a lot of fun.
There are good people in the industry and a lot of
friends. It’s different than Brazil, but mostly it’s a lot
of fun,” said Costa who has begun working most of
his horses himself but is yet to train a horse the whole
way through.
“I’m just now starting to do my own thing. Usually
we buy them as a 3-year-old and I just keep them going.
Cutting is the most complete event involving a horse,”
he said of why he is hooked on the sport.
“I think it’s as hard as you want it to be. It motivates
me to try to get better at showing and riding horses.” #