Josh Murphy
ABOUT JOSH
NRHA Lifetime Earnings: $245,000+
Josh Murphy learned about horses at an early age, trail riding and team penning with his family. While he was in high school, he decided to broaden his horizons when he started breaking colts for his neighbors. Following graduation, he attended Black Hawk College in Illinois, but he continued to follow his passion for horses as he studied equestrian science.
It was at Black Hawk that Murphy got involved in reining, taking an internship with the late Steve DeFrang. Murphy knew he liked horses and wanted to do something he enjoyed for a living, so becoming a trainer seemed like a perfect fit.
What Murphy has come to enjoy the most about training reining horses is getting to show. Watching his dedication and a young horses's hard work come to fruition is one of the most satisfying parts of the job for him.
"Every horse is different, so I just try to figure out how to get the most out of each horse with their own style," Murphy said. With more than $235,000 in open money won since 2015, Murphy has many impressive runs to draw on when he reflects on his career so far. Among them are a first- and second-place finish in the 2016 NRHA Futurity Level 1 Open riding Got That Iowa Shine and CBK Hang A Wright, respectively. He was also a L4 Open Classic Finalist at the 2018 National Reining Breeders Classic in Katy, Texas.
Some of Josh's accolades include:
- 2021 NRHA Derby L3 Open Finalist
- 2020 NRHA Futurity L2 Open Finalist
- 2020 KRHA Sunflower Slide L4/L3 Open Futurity Champion
- 2020 NRHA Open Derby Finalist
- 2019 CPRHA L4 Open Futurity Champion
- 2019 Quarter Horse Congress L4 Open Futurity Finalist
- 2019 KRHA Sunflower Slide L4/L3 Open Futurity Champion
- 2018 NCRHA L4 Open Derby Champion
- 2018 NRBC L4 Open Finalist
- 2017 NRHA L4 Open Futurity Semi-Finalist
- 2017 Tulsa Reining Classic Open Derby - 4th
- 2016 NRHA L1 Open Futurity Champion
- 2016 NRHA L1 Open Futurity Reserve Champion
- 2016 Quarter Horse Congress L2 Open Futurity Champion
- 2016 Tulsa Reining Classic L4 Open Developing Futurity Co-Champion
- 2016 NRCHA Open Futurity Co-Champion
