Rodeo Life

Author: Ruth Nicolaus

  • 5 Star Featured Athlete: Josie Conner

    5 Star Featured Athlete: Josie Conner

    One of the best parts of life for Josie Conner is spending time with her mom and dad, Jade and Wendi Conner.
    The eighteen-year-old cowgirl, a breakaway roper, is homeschooled so she can travel to rodeos and jackpots.
    She uses 5 Star Equine products and loves them. She loves the saddle pads, how they fit, and how the pressure is distributed evenly across her horses’ backs. When she takes them off, there are no dry spots, which tells her they fit evenly. “The hairs are never wrinkled when I take the pad off, which means the saddle hasn’t rolled; it’s stayed in one place.”

    She also uses 5 Star’s Patriot Sports support boot in part because they have the perfect amount of thickness. “They give great support while also being lightweight,” Josie said. “They are customizable to the horse’s legs, and I can get them as tight or as loose as I want. They last longer than any other boot I’ve used.”

    The third 5 Star product Josie uses is the 5 Star mohair roper cinches. “I love them because they are 100 percent mohair, soft and comfortable for the horses,” she said. “What I really like is they don’t have any leather where I would strap my tie-down strap. The girts with leather where the tie-down strap pulls on them tend to roll up and pinch the horse. These don’t pinch or irritate in any way.”
    A homeschool student, she will graduate this May. Homeschooling works well for her. “I’m really on top of my schooling. I try to get as much done as I can at home so when I’m on the road I don’t have to worry about it, and it’s done. School is my first priority.”

    Last year was one of her best years in rodeo. She won the Jr NFR, the Jr Patriot, and the World Championship Junior Rodeo in Guthrie. This year, she’s secured her spot in The American with an exemption in the sixteen-man round.
    The horses carrying her to the winner’s circle are a sorrel blaze face named Tonka, and a sorrel chestnut named Bingo. Tonka was purchased by the Conners in 2019.

    He’s very good at his job, Josie said. “He leaves the corner and reads my hand well in the breakaway. He lets me float; if I go early, I can pull without him stopping.” Tonka has good timing and a lot of try as well. “He gives me his heart every time.”

    Her backup horse is Bingo, who was purchased by the family last year. Bingo likes to run, and if it’s a slow calf may not read the calf as well. “On faster calves, I like to run Bingo,” she said. Both horses are equally talented. “When I don’t want to put the runs on Tonka, I ride Bingo.”

    This fall, Josie will attend McNeese State University, working towards a business or marketing degree. She hasn’t decided if she will rodeo collegiately yet. “There are so many options: pro rodeos, amateurs, ropings and collegiate. I’ll look at my schedule and see what fits in best.”

    Her parents travel with her, and that’s the best part of life. “We do everything together. It’s really cool.”
    The family lives near Iowa, Louisiana.

  • Back When They Bucked with CR Hall

    Back When They Bucked with CR Hall

    C.R. Hall didn’t let anything get in the way of his dream of being a rodeo cowboy.
    Including the color of his skin.
    The black bareback rider and steer wrestler was raised in New York City and never got on a horse till his high school years.

    Then, through hard work and determination, he became a rodeo contestant, competing all over the East Coast and throughout the nation.
    He was born in 1943 in Vicksburg, Miss., the fifth child of William and Penola Hall.
    But his dad died before he was born, so his mom packed up her five kids and headed to New York City, where her sister was living.
    His mom never told her kids how her first husband, William, passed. “It was a mystery,” he said. “Mother refused to tell us. When we’d ask what happened to dad, she said, ‘you don’t want to know.’”
    C.R. assumes that his mother kept their dad’s cause of death a secret from her kids so they wouldn’t form prejudices. “The way I look at it, she didn’t want (the reason for his death) to transform us, to give us a reason to fight.”
    The family lived in Spanish Harlem, on 99th Street and 2nd Avenue in New York City, with Hispanics, blacks, and a few whites. The area had plenty of gangs: the Viceroys, the Dragons, the Untouchables, the Red Wings, all territorial, and if a person traveled through a gang’s territory, they had to tell why they were there and who they were going to see.
    C.R.’s mom was tough. She worked twelve hours a day, cleaning office buildings from 6 pm to 6 am, then seeing her kids off to school.
    The kids knew, when the streetlamps came on, they needed to be in the house or the neighborhood, and if they weren’t, she’d find out. “We listened to her, because we didn’t want to witness the strap,” he said.
    She laid down the law with her kids.
    “I don’t have to worry about my family,” she would tell people. “Because if the police station ever calls me and says ‘we have your son or daughter in the precinct, I’ll say, ‘keep them. Because I don’t raise convicts or drug addicts.’ That struck fear into us,” C.R. said.
    “She beat our butts a lot, but she stuck to her rules, and her rules were strict.”
    It was a chance encounter with horses after high school graduation in 1962 that started C.R. down the rodeo path.
    He and friends went to the Bear Mountain State Park along the Hudson River, the first time C.R had been out of the city. They decided to go horseback riding, and when C.R. got on the horse, the guide asked him how long he’d been riding. When C.R. replied that it was his first time, the guide said, ‘no, you’ve been riding longer than that. You’re a natural.’ That gave C.R. confidence and piqued his interest.
    When he got back home, he found the Park Riding Academy in the Bronx, where he went to ride every Sunday for several hours. His skills improved, and after a year, the academy owner suggested that C.R. could save money by buying his own horse. So he did, and went to the academy two or three times a week to ride, “as much as I could, and I got better and better.”
    There were steers at the barn, and professional cowboys Gene Lorenzo and Jack Meli were there. C.R. would watch them steer wrestle. One day, Gene asked if he’d like to join them. C.R.’s quick answer was no.
    But Gene coaxed him onto his steer wrestling horse and told him to point the horse at the box and nod his head.
    The steer came out, Gene hazed, and C.R. froze.
    “I wasn’t getting down (onto the steer) so Gene reaches over and pulls me down,” C.R. said, Gene talked him through the technique and C.R. turfed the steer.
    After that, he started going to the Cowtown (New Jersey) Rodeo every Saturday night with them, acting as their groom, warming up and tacking up their horses, and learning a lot through observation.
    After a year of that, Gene encouraged him to get his PRCA permit and suggested, because of C.R.’s small size, that the roughstock events would be his best choice.
    He tried bull riding and saddle bronc riding, but neither seemed to fit. So he tried bareback riding, and “that felt better than the other two,” he said.
    But it still took awhile to get the hang of bareback riding.
    For the first two years at Cowtown, “I got creamed every time I got on. People would come up to the fence when I got on because I’d make spectacular falls.”
    But another cowboy admired his try and perseverance. Teddy Fina, a bareback rider, showed him techniques and gave him advice. Teddy’s own grit rubbed off on C.R. “The determination and drive that I witnessed in him spilled over to me,” he remembered.
    He went to Larry Mahan’s riding schools, which helped tremendously, and he still remembers a compliment Larry gave him. “Charlie, you got a lot of try,” he said.
    Early in his career, he went by the name “Charlie Reno.” Jesse was his first name, but he didn’t like the references to Jesse James. Charlie Reno was the nickname he got at the barn where he kept his first horse, named Reno.
    He got his PRCA permit in 1966, and earned his card a year later.
    In 1968, he competed in Ft. Worth, the Cow Palace in Sacramento, Houston, and Madison Square Garden before breaking his neck and sitting out for two years.
    He attended two steer wrestling schools instructed by Butch Myers and became good friends with the family.
    C.R. married his first wife, Barbara, a barrel racer, in 1965. They divorced, and in 1972, he married Marie.
    In 1972, he broke his wrist, and with his marriage to Marie and the start of his family, he quit rodeo competition.
    He and Marie had their first son, Alexander, in 1975, and their second son, Jeremiah (Jerry), in 1981.
    “I had a choice,” he said. “I needed a paycheck every week. I made the choice to stay home and work and take care of my family.”
    But when the Red Pony Ranch, a riding academy in Lakewood, New Jersey, hosted an American Rodeo Association (now the American Pro Rodeo Association) rodeo in 1978, C.R. was there, and he got his APRA card.
    Red Pony, five miles from his house, hosted a series of APRA rodeos, so C.R. competed there. The first year, in 1978, he was leading the bareback riding with three rodeos to go when he broke his foot. Being out for the remainder of the season dropped him to runner-up.
    So the next year, he determined to get so far ahead that, if he got hurt, nobody could catch him. He did just that, finishing the 1979 season as bareback riding titlist, all-around champ, and third in the steer wrestling.
    In 1983, he retired a second time from competition and began producing rodeos as the Hall and Sons Championship Rodeo Co. He put on PRCA, APRA, and International Pro Rodeo events in Red Pony, and throughout New York and showdeos with timed events only.
    He became vice-president of the APRA in 1981, voted in, he believes, because he was always helping others.
    He also hosted rodeo schools and taught the bareback riding, with instructors Frank Hollis for the saddle bronc riding and Bruce Semeria for the bull riding. Pete Leibold served as pickup man and flank man, among other duties.
    All the while, he was working full time at the grocery store, being promoted up to the management level.
    Prejudice because of his skin color was rare, but it did happen.
    At first, his family discouraged him from rodeo, saying there were only white cowboys. “They said, I wouldn’t get a fair shot, the same fair opportunities afforded to the white cowboys,” he said.
    “Mom was afraid for my safety. She came from the deep, deep south. She knew how people could be.”
    He did witness prejudice against him because of his skin color, but incidences were few and far between. “The people who knew me as a cowboy and a competitor, they weren’t prejudiced against me.”
    He remembers competing in Durant, Okla. when a young white teenage boy followed him around. “I was the only black guy behind the chutes,” C.R. recalls, “and this kid was walking behind me, like what’s going on with this guy? He must be putting on the bareback rigging for somebody else. He can’t be doing this for himself.” The boy’s mouth fell wide open when C.R. got on the horse and readied to ride.
    At the same rodeo, he remembers the judge telling him, ‘I don’t know why you’re riding, because you’re not going to get (any points.)’ C.R. told him, “When I ride you won’t forget how I rode.” He remembers the ride, too. “The horse bucked and I rode the hell out of him, but I didn’t win any money on him. Then again, it was people who didn’t know me.”
    C.R.’s philosophy was to do what he loved doing, no matter what anybody else thought.
    “My dream was to be what I wanted to be. You can’t let people take your dream from you. Somebody can’t tell you you can’t do something. If you love it, you’ll do it no matter what and suffer the consequences.”
    He retired from the grocery business in 2004, then started his own transport business, delivering rooftop air conditioners to building sites, traveling throughout the tri-state area.
    In 2010, he closed his transport business, due to the high cost of diesel. But he went crazy sitting at home, so he answered an ad to be a New Jersey transit bus driver, and began driving bus. He drove for ten years before retiring in 2020.
    He and Marie have four grandchildren: grandsons Gavin and JJ and granddaughters Dakota and Jenah.
    His faith is strong, like his mama’s was. He knows who is in charge: God. “Don’t let man tell you where you’re going. (God) is in charge, he’s the one who knows, from day one, he knows how you came in and how you’ll go out. He’s your Creator, he created everything in your life, so listen to Him.
    “If you have an issue, put it in God’s hands. He’s the miracle worker. If anybody can solve it, it’s him. You have to lean on His understanding and His timing, not your timing.”
    Rodeo enriched his life, with good friends and life skills.
    “I made a lot of friends. The people that were just starting out, that nobody would help, I’d help. Those guys trusted me. I was sincere, I wasn’t afraid of competition.” His friends were true friends. “Those guys were the best. We traveled together, and they had my back, they really had my back.”
    Rodeo is a difficult sport, and because he learned it and became proficient in it, it benefited him throughout the rest of his life.
    “Rodeo made me better in everything else I’ve ever done, because rodeo was the hardest thing I’d done and I accomplished it. So everything else was easy.”

  • 5 Star Featured Athlete: Stevi Hillman

    5 Star Featured Athlete: Stevi Hillman

    STEVI HILLMAN IS THE NEWEST $1 MILLION COWGIRL ON THE RODEO TRAIL.

    The 5 Star Equine team member made the million-dollar mark at the 2021 National Finals Rodeo.
    On her sixth trip to the “big show,” she won two rounds (splitting the win in round nine) and placed three more times to finish as the number six cowgirl in the world standings. She jumped from eleventh place to sixth place, earning over $100,000 at the Finals.

    The “yellow dragon” carried Stevi through all ten rounds of this year’s NFR.
    Famous Lemon Drop, “Lemon Drop,” is a five-year-old palomino who showed up on Stevi’s radar in April.
    The mare was all-business and kept her space, but the two bonded quickly, and Stevi took her on the summer rodeo run.
    She knew the horse was successful at futurities and indoor arenas, but rodeos, with outside pens and varying conditions, was a question.

    But Lemon Drop shone. “She took to it extremely well,” she said.
    The horse has her own personality, Stevi said, describing her as a toddler with lots of energy. “She’s just like a little kid that never wears down. She’s spunky and a lot to warm up. Wild is a good word to describe her.”
    Not everyone can jump on Lemon Drop to ride her. “She’s a lot of horse. She’s little but she’s strong. You have to be very dialed in and sharp with your reactions and your timing, because she is aggressive and quick and fast and really strong. She’s a very, very confident five-year-old.”
    Stevi’s team includes other horses, in addition to Lemon Drop, who have excelled for her. The team started with Truck, a horse she began riding in 2014 and who is still in the rodeo trailer this year. It also includes Martini, Sharpie, Slick, Sherlock, Millie, Shiner, and several others. Each horse has played its part; some larger roles, some cameos. But they’re all important.
    “I take pride in the fact that these horses have all been part of my story,” Stevi said. “I treat them like family, and I’ve been blessed by all of them.”

    She has been a loyal 5 Star Equine customer since a friend gave her a saddle pad in 2012. “I’m all about my horses and their backs, and how they feel and how the saddle fits. Five Star has been a great part of my program and keeping my horses’ backs feeling good. And the pads last a really long time. That’s sold me on them.”
    The 5 Star Equine team provides their Wrangler NFR qualifiers with a custom-made saddle pad, made especially for each cowgirl. Stevi’s had her birth month flower on it, a marigold, her previous NFR back numbers, and yellow and gold crocodile print, “which looked really good on Lemon Drop.”

    She is no stranger to young horses and jokes that she does well with five-year-olds. She’s taken three different horses, all at five years of age, to the NFR: Lemon Drop this year, and Sharpie and Martini in past years.
    She has a zeal for training horses. “It’s my passion. I love taking a young horse to the next level. That’s probably why I get along so well with the five-year-olds. I understand them. Not everybody can run a five-year-old. You have to keep them together without scaring them.”

    Stevi and her husband, Ty, live on their place near Weatherford, Texas. They break their own horses and now own a stud with babies on the place. This year, she has four futurity horses and will rodeo a little and futurity a little more. “We’ll go to the big rodeos, but we’ll take some time to enjoy the closer futurities and the younger horses,” she said. “I have some great customers that have big hopes for their horses, and I’m super excited about that.”

     

  • Profile: Sawyer Gilbert

    Profile: Sawyer Gilbert

    2021 Breakaway World Champ

     

    When the 2021 World Champion Breakaway Roper was crowned in Las Vegas in December, she wasn’t even old enough to buy a drink or sit at a gaming table.
    Nineteen-year-old Sawyer Gilbert sat with her “rowdy” roping friends, while they drank, buying a few rounds for them and having fun alongside them.
    But that didn’t bother the Buffalo, S.D. cowgirl a bit.
    She grew up on the Gilbert Angus Ranch in the northwest corner of the state, doing chores since she could walk. The daughter of Lloyd and Patty Gilbert, the family had chickens when she was young, so her responsibility was to feed and water them. “Chores and responsibilities with animals have always been a part of my life,” she said. Chores “make you grow up real fast.”
    She helped with ranch chores as well, on horseback from a young age.
    Sawyer competed in junior high and high school rodeo, winning the breakaway roping at the National Junior High School Finals Rodeo in 2016, and the South Dakota state title as a freshman and sophomore (2017-2018). In high school, she competed not only in the breakaway but in the goat tying, team roping, and the cutting. Breakaway was always her strength but she loves doing the other events.
    After high school graduation in 2020, she attended Weatherford (Texas) College for a year on a rodeo scholarship. But she was unsure of a major, and because the breakaway event had exploded on the scene, she decided not to return.
    “I didn’t ever really want to be a student,” she said. “That sounds bad, but I never knew what I wanted to do in school.” Because she decided to rodeo full time, she made the decision to not go back. “I knew there were lots of commitments that go with being in school: college rodeos, hours spent on homework. School will always be there, so if I decide to go back, I can, but I don’t have to get it done right now.”
    After finishing second in the goat tying for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s Southwest Region, she knew she’d qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo.
    So she turned her attention to the pro rodeo breakaway roping, and didn’t tie another goat till the CNFR.
    “I tied three practice goats before the College Finals,” she said. And while in Casper, Wyo., at the Finals, her mind was still on pro rodeo. “I had made it, and I wanted to win, but I was (in Casper) for three days and had to drive to Reno (for the pro rodeo). It was not one of my top priorities.”
    By mid-June, Sawyer had missed enough of the rodeo season to be outside the top fifteen breakaway ropers in the world. She hit every possible rodeo she could, trying to climb in.
    Then, at the Cheyenne Frontier Days, lightning struck; she won the rodeo, adding over $17,000 to her winnings and moving her into the top five in the world. After that, she never slipped out of the top five again.
    Six weeks later, Sawyer won the Pendleton Round-Up.
    She went into the National Finals Breakaway Roping Dec. 7-8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in second place in the world, behind Shelby Boisjoli. Shelby led the entire Finals, till the eighth round, when she missed her calf. Slowly, Sawyer was catching up in the rounds and when it was all done, Sawyer was the only cowgirl out of the fifteen to not miss a calf; a perfect ten head and an average win.
    The tenth round was suspenseful; Sawyer knew she had to catch. “Definitely walking into the tenth round it was a little high intensity,” she said. But Sawyer is good at refocusing the nerves for short rounds and important runs. “At the end of the day, it’s still just one run, just one calf, like any other calf I’ve roped. I just wanted to be strong at the barrier, get out of the barrier. I wasn’t trying to win the round. I had a good calf drawn, and I just knew I needed to get that calf roped.”
    Three horses took care of her during the 2021 season.
    Hollywood, Roger and Big Enough each had their role for the year.
    Hollywood, a sixteen-year-old sorrel mare, was her primary horse for much of the year. “She’s the most well-rounded horse I have,” Sawyer said. “She can do it all. At the normal rodeos over the summer, when you can see where the barrier is, she shines on those setups, because she is so fast and scores so well.” Hollywood took care of most of the NFBR rounds, but when she rared up once and got hot, Sawyer gave Roger a round.
    Roger, a paint gelding who is also sixteen, is for the short scores and slower calves. “He quarters and gets the rope broke off faster.” He does well in loud and chaotic atmospheres. “He’s a wired little animal, so he works better under pressure.”
    Big Enough is a horse borrowed from Sawyer’s younger brother, Grey, who rides him for high school rodeo in the tie-down and heeling. Big Enough has won horse of the year in South Dakota junior high rodeo; “everyone who swings a leg over him wins money on him,” she said.
    Sawyer trained Roger; Linsay Sumpter trained Hollywood.
    She doesn’t often cook when she’s on the rodeo road, but if she does, it’s with a can of her grandma’s famous canned beef, “steak in a jar,” as grandma Linda Gilbert calls it. “I could live on that stuff,” she said. “If I could have canned meat every single day of the week and prime rib on Christmas, I could live on that.” It goes along with her, in her trailer, along with baby potatoes and canned corn, and when she needs a quick meal, it all goes into one pot, to be warmed up.
    This winter, Sawyer is home in Buffalo, letting her horses rest, working out with weights and cardio, and training new horses, working on a second string. Her mother, a physician’s assistant specializing in sports training, has made workout plans for her, which include plenty of upper body weight lifting.
    Sawyer knows herself well enough to know she has a “one-track mind. I can only focus on one thing. I’m 110 percent in or absolutely not at all.”
    At the end of her pro rodeo career, she wants her name to be synonymous with breakaway roping. “When you think about breakaway roping,” she said, “you think about Sawyer.” She hopes to have a place in Texas, because of the opportunities to rope in the winter, but Buffalo will always be home.
    Sawyer loved the fourteen cowgirls she roped alongside of at the NFBR.
    “They were a great group of girls, all for each other and very supportive of each other and willing to help. That goes a long ways in helping the sport progress. Everybody wanted everybody to do well.”
    Sawyer placed in five rounds and won the average with a time of 46.3 seconds on ten head.

  • Featured Athlete: Terry And Julia Moore

    Featured Athlete: Terry And Julia Moore

    Terry and Julia Moore, and their daughter Rachel Lowrey, are bringing the best products possible to horsemen and women.
    Through their company, 5 Star Equine Products & Supplies, Inc., they provide high quality saddle pads, cinches, and equestrian sport and bell boots.
    It all started in 2012, when they purchased the business from Mike and Laurel Easton.
    Laurel and her first husband, Vernon Wells, had moved from Canada to Texas then later to Mena, Arkansas, to open their business in the States in 1998.
    But before they could get started, Vernon suffered a heart attack and passed away.
    Laurel, a master sewer who had been sewing since she was a child, vowed to carry on the business. When she met and married Mike, the two continued with the 5 Star Equine Products Company.
    But in 2012, they were ready to sell.
    Terry, a third generation logger living in Dierks, Arkansas, had owned a small wood shaving business, buying material from saw mills, bagging it, and selling it.
    Mike and Laurel were in the process of selling 5 Star Equine Products to a different person, but when the bank work didn’t go through, Terry was interested.
    Terry’s daughter, Amanda, was an accountant and tax lawyer, and she and her dad visited the business, looking it over. He was impressed with the product and how Laurel and Mike had run the company, and he thought it would be a great place for him to work alongside his daughters, so he bought it.
    5 Star Equine manufactures saddle pads and cinches and sells equestrian boots. The saddle pads and cinches are manufactured on site, with the best possible materials used for them. They use 100% wool, the same product Vernon and Laura used when they started the business years ago.
    The saddle pads are very durable. Terry sometimes gets pictures from customers of their saddle pads, more than 20 years old and still in use.
    The cinches are made of 100% mohair; the only item they sell that isn’t made in-house are the equestrian boots, which 5 Star Equine puts their brand on.
    “We have not changed what Vernon, Laurel and Mike started,” Terry said.
    What has changed with 5 Star Equine over the years are the possible customizations. “We added styles and colors, different looks of leather, but the basic pad is still the basic. It’s what we build everything around,” he said.
    Customers are able to customize their saddle pads and purchase online. “We built our online stores so people can go there,” Terry said. “We have so many options in styles, thicknesses, sizes and colors. We have about 50 wear leathers they can decorate with, hand tooled, with corner plates and embroidery.” When customers have chosen their options online, they can see the saddle pad built on the screen, with their customizations.
    They’ve grown the business, selling close to five times more saddle pads than in 2012. Business is booming, Terry said. Last year, sales were up 35%; this year, to date, they’re up 20% over last year.
    5 Star Equine has dealers across the world, from Germany to Switzerland and even Australia. When he advertises, he doesn’t like to preach at people to buy 5 Star products, but educates them “on what this pad will do for them, helping them help their horse feel better and perform better. We’re all about their horses, helping these performance horses perform better for their owners.”
    The Moores married in 1979 and later made the decision to have a family hobby they and their children could enjoy. Both had ridden horses in their youth, so they chose horses.
    “We got into the horse deal in 1980, and we’ve never been without horses since,” he said.
    His daughters, Amanda, who passed away in 2014 in a motorcycle accident, and Rachel, competed in Arkansas youth horse shows and American Quarter Horse shows. Both girls were state barrel racing champions, and Rachel won The All American Congress twice in youth barrels. His wife, Julia, is a retired elementary school teacher.
    Terry has grown the business from three employees to 23 and has nearly tripled factory space. He’s proud that he can offer good jobs in Mena, Arkansas. “I like that we’re able to provide jobs for families, and they’re dependable and steady jobs.” He’s grateful for his workers. “We have a core of employees that are good. We’ve built good relationships with them. We’ve been tremendously blessed.”
    But it all goes back to the superior products his people create.
    “When we put it on paper, it will do exactly what we say it will do. It performs in the field. That’s the main reason it’s grown. Our customers are our best marketing agent. That’s how it’s grown.”

  • Art of Rodeo with Sharon Widmer

    Art of Rodeo with Sharon Widmer

    The memories of people’s favorite horses live on through Sharon Widmer’s work.

    The Deep River, Iowa cowgirl makes horsehair pottery from the manes and tails people send her of their beloved horses who have passed.

    In her studio at her and husband Neil’s house outside Deep River, she uses the Navajo technique of putting horsehair on pottery the instant it comes out of the kiln. It sears into the pottery, leaving a smoky pattern, carbon trailings and a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of artwork commemorating the animal.

    Sharon herself is a horse lover.

    Growing up in east central Iowa, she rode horses but didn’t attend her first rodeo till she was in her twenties. She saw the horses, and was in awe. “Those horses were so broke and fit and beautiful and athletic,” she remembered. “It was what I wanted to do.”

    So she bought an 18-year-old horse that showed her the ropes of barrel racing. Sharon knew how to ride, but the horse helped her. “He let me know what it felt like to ride a horse that knew what he was doing.”

    She competed at regional rodeos, with the horse carrying her to some placings. Sharon was delighted. “I am all in. I love this,” she said, of the experience.

    She bought a few horses, trained some, and continued to run barrels in the regional associations and in pro rodeos as a WPRA member, qualifying for the Great Lakes Circuit Finals several times.

    An artist by trade, she graduated from college with an art degree and had a pottery studio at her house, making functional pottery for purchase.

    In 1987, after a divorce, she sold her equipment, quit throwing pottery, and never looked back. “I walked away,” she said. “It felt like it was time for another season in my life.”

    She had made pottery that was still in use in her kitchen, and four years ago, her kids asked when they were going to get a piece of Mom’s pottery.

    So she borrowed the use of a friend’s studio and threw some pots.

    The light switch was flipped. “It had been 30 years since I’d touched clay, and I didn’t miss it, long for it, and didn’t really have any intention of getting back into it. But the first time I put my hands on the clay, my thoughts were, oh, my goodness, I forgot how much I love this,” she said.

    A friend asked if she knew how to do horsehair pottery.

    Sharon didn’t know, but after searching online and watching videos, she taught herself.

    When the pottery comes out of the fire, which is over 1,000 degrees, horsehair is laid onto it and it burns in, disintegrating and leaving a pattern and a carbon trail. Feathers can also be used.
    The process must be done quickly, before the pottery cools off and the hair won’t burn.

    Sharon estimates there’s about a five minute window to place the horsehair or feathers. She has an assistant who helps with the process.
    She might put on a strand at a time, or she might put a handful on. “It’s very organic.”

    In addition to commemorating an animal with hair, she sculpts pots with a variety of figures: horse’s heads, dogs, barrel racers or ropers’ figures. She’s put horse’s names on pots and uses other keepsakes to personalize a piece.

    When her dad, an avid fisherman, passed away, she used a reel on the lid of the pot, and sculpted a walleye into its side with her dad’s lure in its mouth.

    She uses horsehair as braids or a tassel on pieces, too. “I keep working on it till I sense it’s done. It can be a long process or a quick process.

    “No two pieces are ever alike. Not only are they hand-thrown, which makes them unique, but the hair and the whole process is unique.” Most of the pieces she makes are custom, but she also has pottery for sale that isn’t custom-designed.

    They are works of art, she said. “Each one is intended specifically for someone and something.

    “People cry all the time when they see their horsehair pieces. People fall in love with their animals, and this is a way to remember them.”

    Throughout her working life, she has been involved in various aspects of rodeo and other business ventures.

    She worked for Steve Gander and the World’s Toughest Rodeo securing sponsorships, from 1990 to 1998. She worked for the WPRA in marketing and sponsorships, producing the WPRA World Finals in 2007-2008. She sold advertising for the RFD television show Women’s Pro Rodeo Today, for a while. She produced the Iowa River Catfish and Cowboy Show for the Iowa County (Iowa) Fair Board, and worked with Tommy Joe Lucia on sponsorships for some of his events. She and her husband, Neil, a team roper, produced family rodeos at their place for eight years, along with lessons and clinics in goat tying, pole bending, barrels and breakaway.

    For a while, she owned a candy store, making the “world’s best mints” and selling them across the country.

    She brought Louisiana to the Midwest, producing a Cajun and Zydeco Festival, complete with crawfish, boudin, accordion and fiddle, to Amana, Iowa; Lincoln, Neb.; Dayton Ohio, and Sault Sainte Marie, Wisconsin.

    “I like putting things together,” she said. “I like creating the company and getting it rolling.”

    Nine years ago, Sharon had a horse accident that changed her attitude about life.

    She was training a skittish barrel horse. She was on the ground, and got trapped between him, a gate and a fence. He got scared and wanted through the gate, which, Sharon believes, he got a stirrup caught on, which pulled it shut tighter the more he struggled. “It was the gate, him and me, and the space got smaller,” she said. “I was crushed.” She suffered compound fracturing, degloving of her left arm, a torn ACL and punctured lung, and broken vertebrae. She didn’t ride for nine months. It was hard getting on a horse again, but she did, and continues to barrel race today.

    “I was tickled to be riding again,” she said. She had a different perspective on life. “Whatever I wanted to get done, I figured I’d better get on it.”

    Her pottery includes more than horses. She’s done pieces with dog hair and cows (someone once sent a switch from a 4-H heifer), and sculptures with wild turkeys and bears on them. She works in her husband’s shop. “It’s a messy process,” she said. “There’s clay on the walls and the floor, and when you glaze, there’s glaze all over.” Burning the horsehair and feathers smells terrible and causes smoke, so in the summer, she opens the overhead door to let the smoke and odor out.

    Creating things and being an artist is her love.

    “Horses are a gift from God, and (her artistry) is a gift from God, too.

    “It’s my season to be an artist and I’m so thankful to have found this particular media that speaks to me. To me, it’s very spiritual, to have someone’s horsehair, and create something for that person. It helps them to feel like they have that animal.”

    Sharon’s work can be found online on her website at: SharonWidmerClayArtist.com

    She and Neil have five children: Kelly Hall, Luke Winegarden, Tyler Winegarden, Anne Audo, and Camarie Widmer. They have four grandchildren.

  • NFR’s New Manager Is Ready To Go

    NFR’s New Manager Is Ready To Go

    Allen Rheinheimer’s first job at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was raking around the barrels after the event ended.

    Now he’s running the show.

    The Zionsville, Indiana, man was hired earlier this year as general manager of the Wrangler NFR. The president and owner of Showtime Jump Company, LLC, he has served in the capacities of production and management of many equestrian events, including as technical coordinator for the FEI World Cup Jumping Finals two years (2000, 2003), for the FEI World Cup Jumping and Dressage Finals four years (2005, ’07, ’09, ’15)  and as show manager for the 2020 FEI World Cup Finals.

    Allen grew up in Indiana on a farm that produced top show horses and beef cattle, with a father who was a horse trainer and blacksmith. As a kid, his family traveled with their dad to horse shows.

    It was at a World Cup Finals in Las Vegas where he got introduced to Shawn Davis, former manager of the Wrangler NFR. They were using bulls in the opening, and Allen volunteered to help Shawn, who was production manager for the event.

    Shawn told Allen, “if you can do that, you can get a job at the National Finals.”

    So Allen took him up on it.

    It was 2000, and that year, Allen’s job was to rake around the barrels after the barrel racing finished.

    “My job was 15 seconds a day,” he said. “I got to know everybody there well because I had a lot of time on my hands.”

    Since 2000, he’s done a little bit of everything at the National Finals: from construction maintenance manager to opening director and more, “basically about everything except judge, announce, and be chute boss,” he said. “So there’s not much that I haven’t touched in that rodeo and been a part of, over the 21 years that I’ve been there.”

    Allen notes there’s plenty of crossover between the equestrian events he’s worked and the National Finals.

    Both types of events have “contestants at a high level and spectators at a very educated level,” he said.

    But there are obvious differences. One is the variety of livestock needed for the rodeo. “One big difference in managing the rodeo versus managing horse shows is dealing with the livestock. We have 310 bulls and bucking horses, 120 steers and 70 calves. Caring for all of that is a big difference.”

    The ground conditions are another difference between horse shows and the Wrangler NFR.

    “On the equestrian side of it, it’s more of a synthetic sand surface or sometimes grass. And the rodeo is a sand/clay based arena, so it’s a big difference, in how you maintain those surfaces.”

    Communication is key to the role he plays, he believes. With over 250 contract employees hired by the Wrangler NFR, he’s emailing and talking, a lot.

    “I had to get an extra battery for my phone, because my phone didn’t stop ringing.”

    Meetings are part of the communication, too. He holds two weekly meetings and a monthly meeting with the PRCA. Zoom meetings help, though. “Zoom has made our lives so much easier this year, not having to travel,” Allen said. “We get a lot more done, and a lot more done ahead of time.”

    This year’s National Finals will have bigger openings and more entertainment. The stage used for the openings will be larger, and Congressional Medal of Honor winners have been invited to the rodeo and will be honored throughout the rodeo’s 10-day span.

    It is a privilege for him to be part of pro rodeo’s largest event.

    “It’s an honor to be in the position that I’m in and having the confidence of the people who work here, that I’ve worked with, side by side. It’s an honor to have the respect of those people.”

    And he says Las Vegas is ready for its rodeo fans to return.

    “Vegas is rolling out the red carpet for us, to make us feel comfortable, to welcome us back.

    “There’s no town in the world that can host this rodeo like Vegas can. It becomes a cowboy town, no doubt, when the Wrangler NFR is in town. I’m excited to be back, I’m excited for the fans to be back. We’re just happy we’re able to do it.”

     

     

     

     

  • Featured Athlete: Jimmie Smith

    Jimmie Smith breakaway roping. – Sam-Sin Photography

    Jimmie Smith is just glad to be alive, literally.
    In late June of this year, she was in a bad vehicle accident on Interstate 80 in Wyoming.
    Her trailer, loaded with horses, was hit by a semi-truck and trailer, which nearly pushed it through the back of the truck. One of her horses died, with the others being injured.
    But the Elgin, Texas cowgirl determined to not dwell on it, and even with having to connect with new horses, she finished in the top 20 in the WPRA world standings.
    A member of the 5 Star Equine team, Jimmie exclusively uses 5 Star saddle pads. As a barrel racer and a breakaway roper, the pads are on both her rope and barrel horses.
    “I really like them because they keep my horses sound and happy and they never have sore backs,” she said. “I can also customize them, exactly how I want them to match each horse.” She uses a 7/8 inch barrel pad and a 1 inch pad for her breakaway horses.
    She confesses that she doesn’t clean the pads often, but even then, they are easy to maintain and stay “super, super nice.”
    Jimmie also uses the breast collars and loves the variety 5 Star Equine offers. At the 2020 Wrangler NFR, she used several that she was able to match with her outfits and saddle pads. “I really like the bright colors,” she said, “the pink, turquoise, and purple.”
    A graduate of Texas A&M University, she competed at the College National Finals Rodeo three years in the breakaway, goat tying and barrel racing.
    She was aboard her horse Lena, and after college graduation in 2018, got her card and rodeoed on the palomino. Lena carried Jimmie to the Rookie of the Year title that year, and two years later, to the Wrangler NFR.

    Jimmie Smith barrel racing. -Thomas Duncan

    She ran Lena and her other barrel horse, Minnie, and breakaway roped, too.
    But the accident changed that.
    “It was not good,” she said. “It was very stressful.” Not only did a horse pass away and the others were injured, but she had to find a new truck and trailer and all the things that go in it.
    “It was a lot of regrouping,” she said. But she was determined to go on. “It was difficult, but I did not ever go home. I didn’t think going home to sit on it and think about it and dwell on it was the best choice, so I stayed” on the road.
    To replace her horses, she borrowed some mounts while her mom took horses home to recuperate.
    One of the barrel horses she borrowed is Manny Dot Com, “Viper,” owned by Lance Robinson and Keith Nellesen. Viper has done well, substituting for Lena, and winning second at Colorado Springs, third at Nampa, Idaho, and her set in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
    She is also on A Valiant Nicky, a horse owned by Kyle and Deda Potter, and one she rode last winter.
    Having to borrow horses was difficult, but a blessing, she said. “It’s opened a lot of amazing doors, and I’ve met some incredible people. The horses I have out here are absolutely phenomenal.”
    This year, Tess Wyley has traveled with her, and the two enjoy coffee and any kind of music, to get through the long miles of travel. Jimmie likes her coffee sweet and her music loud.
    She also enjoys sushi and trying out new sushi restaurants. Austin, Texas, near her hometown, has several good places, but she’s found excellent sushi in Seattle and at Dave’s Sushi in Bozeman, Montana. She’ll eat raw fish but not cooked fish. “It’s weird, but I don’t really like cooked fish.”
    She has also worked as a stunt double in the AMC TV series “The Sun”. Filmed in central Texas and the Boerne/San Antonio area, she was on horseback for some of the scenes. Jimmie was asked to double for the part of a 12-year-old, because of her youthful looks.
    She may not have made the 2021 National Finals, but she’s content with how well she did this year, having a major accident and changing horses in mid-stream.
    A friend reminded her she was fortunate to be alive. “It’s a blessing that I’ve done as well as I have,” she said.
    Jimmie’s mother is Dawn Smith; Dawn’s fiancé is Jonathan Hochman.

  • GETTING THE GOLD

    GETTING THE GOLD

    Minot’s Badlands Circuit Finals crowns champs, designates titlists for the National Circuit Finals Rodeo

    MINOT, N.D. (October 10, 2021) – The curtain dropped on the 2021 Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo in Minot, N.D., with gold buckles awarded to cowboys and cowgirls, and berths secured to the National Circuit Finals Rodeo next year.

    Two sisters came into the finals sitting first and second in the breakaway roping, but when it was over, only one was still at the top.

    Rickie  and Taylor Engesser, Spearfish, S.D., came into Sunday’s round in first and second place, respectively, but things didn’t go smoothly for either cowgirl in the round.

    Rickie, the younger of the two, broke the barrier, adding a ten second penalty to her time. “I didn’t do my job,” she said. “I got antsy in the box, and I broke the barrier.” And Taylor didn’t fare well, either, drawing a tough calf to rope and recording a no-time.

    Even with Rickie’s ten-second penalty on Sunday, she won enough through the regular season to finish as year-end champion.

    The sisters traveled together all summer and enjoyed competing at the same rodeos.

    “It’s a pretty big blessing to make it (to circuit finals) for both of us,” Rickie said. “We’re competing against each other, but we’re each other’s biggest supporters.

    “I wanted her to win (the year-end title) just as bad as she wanted me to win it,” Rickie said. “Ideally, it would have been really cool if we had tied. She’s my biggest fan and my biggest blessing.”

    The average title, the fastest combined times through the 3 rounds, went to Sawyer Gilbert, Buffalo, S.D.

    Gilbert, who is nineteen years old, roped three calves in a combined time of 8.7 seconds to win the average championship.

    She had a business plan for this year, her second qualification to the Badlands Circuit Finals. “I was riding my good paint horse, and wanted to take care of business. I knew if I got them roped in all three rounds, they’d probably pay me for it. That was my game plan.”

    Gilbert is also ranked second in the world standings and on her way to a qualification for the National Finals Breakaway Roping, the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association world event in December. But it hasn’t gone to her head. “You attack it one day at a time. It’s a run at a time. At the end of the day, it all comes down to one calf.”

    She’s won more than $50,000 in the world standings this year, which has swayed her to quit college and rodeo full time. “I didn’t go back (to college) this year because I wanted to be a breakaway roper,” she laughed, and she probably won’t return. “I know my mom wants me to, but she’s having a hard time arguing about it now.”

    A perennial bareback riding powerhouse won both the year-end and average title at the weekend’s Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo.

    Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., rode three horses for a combined total of 250 points to sweep the average, and finish the season with more than $21,000 in earnings.

    He had the year-end title sewn up before circuit finals even began, but the win is still special. “It always feels good to get a win here,” he said.

    The field of bareback riders at this year’s rodeo was cut from nine to three, due to injuries or surgeries for the other competitors, and Breuer missed having more contestants.. “It’s too bad the other bareback riders got hurt this year, that’s for darn sure,” he said. “It’s always more fun when your buddies are here and you get to ride against them.”

    Breuer has won either the year-end or average title a total of seven times, from 2014-2018. He hasn’t missed qualifying for a circuit finals since 2009, except for last year, due to a bicep injury.

    The 31-year-old has also competed at the National Finals Rodeo, pro rodeo’s world championship, five times and finished as high as thirteenth in the world standings in 2017.

    In the bull riding, Chance Schott repeated as the year-end titlist for the circuit.

    Even though the McLaughlin, S.D. man only made two out of three qualified rides, he won enough money to earn year-end accolades.

    “I had a couple of good Sutton (Rodeo Co.) bulls, and I wasn’t able to capitalize on them” in rounds one and two, he said. “But I was able to clear my mind and pull it all together today.”

    Schott, who finished the year in the top twenty-five in the world standings, was the 2020 year-end and average titlist.

    “This (buckle) is pretty special,” he said. “The first one holds a special place in my heart, but I still really like this one, just as much.”

    Out of the field of twelve bull riders, only three were able to made qualified rides on two bulls; no one covered all three bulls.

    Riggin Shippy, Colome, S.D., finished as the bull riding average champion (165 points on two head.)

    Other champions include Cameron Morman, Glen Ullin, N.D. (steer wrestling year-end) and Riley Reiss, Manning, N.D. (steer wrestling average); Braden Pirrung, Hartford, S.D. and Coley Nichols, Kinnear, Wyo. (team roping, year-end) and Cameron Irwin, Buffalo, Wyo. and Cash Hetzel, Lemmon, S.D. (team roping, average); Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D. (saddle bronc riding, year-end) and Ty Manke, Rapid City, S.D. (saddle bronc riding, average); Trey Young, Dupree, S.D. (tie-down roping, both titles); and Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D. (barrel racing, year-end) and Amanda Welsh, Gillette, Wyo. (barrel racing, average);

    The Badlands Rookie of the Year award went to Riley Curuchet, Kaycee, Wyo.; the Badlands All-Around was won by Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb.

    Deadwood, S.D.’s Days of ’76 rodeo won the title of Badlands Circuit Rodeo Committee of the Year.

    The year-end champion is the cowboy/cowgirl who won the most money throughout the regular season in the Badlands Circuit. The average champion is the cowboy/cowgirl who won the most money at the rodeo taking place this weekend, Oct. 8-10, in Minot.

    Both year-end and average champions will represent the Badlands Circuit at the National Circuit Finals Rodeo, to be held in 2022. In the event that the same person has won both titles, the second person in the year-end race qualifies for the National Circuit Finals Rodeo.

     

    – ### –

     

    Cutlines:

    Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D., wins the Badlands saddle bronc year-end title. This is his first year-end win; he won the average title in 2018. Photo by Alaina Stangle Photography.

     

     

    Chance Schott, McLaughlin, S.D., is the 2021 Badlands year-end bull riding champion. He, along with the other champions, will represent the Badlands Circuit at the National Circuit Finals Rodeo in 2022. Photo by Alaina Stangle Photography.

     

    Year end and average winners for the Badlands Circuit

    3rd performance results from Oct. 10, 2021

     

    All-around Champion: Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb.

    All-around champion for the Finals: Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb.

     

    Bareback riding

    Bareback Riding Year End Champion: Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D.

    Bareback Riding Average Champion: Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D. 84 points on Bailey Pro Rodeo’s Easy Money; 2. Andy Gingerich, Aberdeen, S.D. 78; 3. Nate McFadden, Elsmere, Neb. 77.

     

    Average results:

    1. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D. 250 points on 3 head; 2. Nate McFadden, Elsmere, Neb. 225; 3. Andy Gingerich, Aberdeen, S.D. 224.

     

    Steer Wrestling

    Steer Wrestling Year End Champion:  Cameron Morman, Glen Ullin, N.D.

    Steer Wrestling Average Champion: Riley Reiss, Manning, N.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb. 3.5 seconds; 2. (tie) Joe Wilson, Martin, S.D. and Riley Reiss, Manning, N.D. 3.8 each; 4. Cameron Morman, Glen Ullin, N.D. 4.2.

     

    Average results:

    1. Riley Reiss, Manning, N.D. 12.2 seconds on 3 head; 2. Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb. 12.3; 3. Cameron Morman, Glen Ullin, N.D. 12.5; 4. Billy Boldon, Oglala, S.D. 13.4.

     

    Team Roping

    Team Roping Year End Champion Header: Braden Pirrung, Hartford, S.D.

    Heeler: Coley Nicholls, Kinnear, Wyo.

    Team Roping Average Champion Header: Cameron Irwin, Buffalo, Wyo.

    Heeler: Cash Hetzel, Lemmon, S.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. (tie) Guy Howell, Belle Fourche, S.D./Levi O’Keefe, Belle Fourche, S.D. and Bodie Mattson, Sturgis, S.D./Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb. 4.5 seconds each; 3. Cameron Irwin, Buffalo, Wyo./Cash Hetzel, Lemmon, S.D. 5.1; 4. Jade Schmidt, Box Elder, S.D./Jade Nelson, Midland, S.D. 6.1

     

     

     

    Average results:

    1. Cameron Irwin, Bufaflo, Wyo./Cash Hetzel, Lemmon, S.D. 15.2 seconds on 3 head; 2. Jade Schmidt, Box Elder, S.D./Jade Nelson, Midland, S.D. 17.4; 3. Braden Pirrung, Hartford, S.D./Coley Nicholls, Kinnear, Wyo. 19.6; 4. Layne Carson, Grassy Butte, N.D./Elliott Gourneau, Kennebec, S.D. 24.6.

     

    Saddle Bronc Riding

    Saddle Bronc Year End Champion: Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D.

    Saddle Bronc Average Champion: Ty Manke, Rapid City, S.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    Ty Manke, Rapid City, S.D. 81 points on Muddy Creek Rodeo’s Jack Rabbit; 2. (tie) Lane Schuelke, Newell, S.D., Dylan Schofield, Philip, S.D. and Taygen Schuelke, Newell, S.D. 78 points each.

     

    Average results:

    1. Ty Manke, Rapid City, S.D. 242 points on 3 head; 2. Taygen Schuelke, Newell, S.D. 237; 3. (tie) Dylan Schofield, Philip, S.D. and Cash Wilson, Wall, S.D. 236 points each.

     

    Breakaway Roping

    Year End Champion: Rickie Engesser, Spearfish, S.D.

    Average Champion: Sawyer Gilbert, Buffalo, S.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. Sarah Morrisey, Ellensburg, Wash. 2.5 seconds; 2. Katie Mundorf, Mullen, Neb. 2.7; 3. Sawyer Gilbert, Buffalo, S.D. 2.8; 4. Lynn Smith, Elfrida, Ariz. 3.5.

     

    Average results:

    1. Sawyer Gilbert, Buffalo, S.D. 8.7 seconds on 3 head; 2. Rickie Engesser, Spearfish, S.D. 19.3 on 3 head; 3. Sarah Morrisey, Ellensburg, Wash. 5.0 seconds on 2 head; 4. Taylor Engesser, Spearfish, S.D. 6.3 on 2 head.

     

    Tie-down Roping

    Tie Down Roping Year End Champion: Trey Young, Dupree, S.D.

    Tie Down Roping Average Champion: Trey Young, Dupree, S.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. Trey Young, Dupree, S.D. 8.8 seconds; 2. Chase Lako, Arthur, N.D. 9.5; 3. Ranch Johnson, Philip, S.D. 10.0; 4. Jason Vohs, Dickinson, N.D. 10.2.

     

    Average results:

    1. Trey Young, Dupree, S.D. 27.4 seconds on 3 head; 2. Ranch Johnson, Philip, S.D. 30.4; 3. Tanner Stec, Bassett, Neb. 33.7; 4. Clint Kindred, Oral, S.D. 40.8.

     

    Barrel Racing

    Barrel Racing Year End Champion: Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D.

    Barrel Racing Average Champion:  Amanda Welsh, Gillette, Wyo.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. Amanda Welsh, Gillette, Wyo. 13.32 seconds; Allison Pauley, Honey Creek, Iowa 13.36; 3. Ellie Bard, Sheridan, Wyo. 13.39; 4. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D. 13.65.

     

    Average results:

    1. Amanda Welsh, Gillette, Wyo. 40.21 on 3 runs; 2. Ellie Bard, Sheridan, Wyo. 40.85; 3. Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D. 41.34; 4. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D. 41.42.

     

    Bull Riding

    Bull Riding Year End Champion: Chance Schott, McLaughlin, S.D.

    Bull Riding Average Champion: Riggin Shippy, Colome, S.D.

     

    3rd round results:

    1. Chance Schott, McLaughlin, S.D. 86 points on Mosbrucker Rodeo’s Head Games; 2. Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D. 79; 3. Coleman Entze, Golden Valley, N.D. 78; no other qualified rides.

     

    Average results:

    1. Riggin Shippy, Colome, S.D. 165 points on 2 head; 2. Coleman Entze, Golden Valley, N.D. 163; 3. Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D. 160; 4. (tie) Chance Schott, McLaughlin, S.D. and TJ Schmidt, Belle Fourche, S.D. 86 points on one head each.

     

    ** All results are unofficial.  For more information, visit www.ProRodeo.com.

  • Champs in St Paul

    Champs in St Paul

    Detached tendon doesn’t stop California cowboy from steer wrestling title; sellout crowds fill stands for 85th anniversary

    St. Paul, Ore. (July 4, 2021) – Luke Branquinho may have detached his hamstring tendon from the bone, but that didn’t stop him from winning the 2021 St. Paul Rodeo.

    The Los Alamos, Calif. cowboy, a five-time world champion, made two solid steer wrestling runs, 4.2 seconds in each of two rounds, to win the average in St. Paul with a time of 8.4 seconds on two head.

    He had suffered the hamstring tendon injury at a rodeo in Weatherford, Texas in June and took off about three weeks to rehab it. But there’s no time for surgery, with Branquinho ranked in the top twenty in PRCA world standings, so he’s rehabbing and stretching it, hoping to put off surgery until after the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December, in hopes of competing at the pinnacle of the pro rodeo world for the fifteenth time in his career.

    “As of right now, we’ll keep rolling and see how things go,” he said. It isn’t causing any pain, and he wraps it tight before competing.

    For Branquinho, in part because of the hamstring tendon detachment, he’s rodeoed less this Cowboy Christmas than any of the last 21 years of his career.

    “This is probably the least number of rodeos I’ve gone to” over the lucrative Cowboy Christmas, the days preceding and following Independence Day, he said. He and his traveling partners competed at Livingston, Mont. on July 1, in Cody, Wyo. and Red Lodge, Mont. on July 2, in St. Paul on July 3, then in Eugene, Ore. on July 4.

    He was aboard one of the best steer wrestling horses in pro rodeo.

    Baby, an American Quarter Horse whose registered name is Babysgonecountry, is owned by Sam Dixon of Lockesburg, Arkansas. Four cowboys are riding the mount this year: Branquino, Jacob Talley, Justin Shaffer and Tucker Allen, all four traveling partners. In part because of the horse’s exceptional ability, Talley finished as reserve champion in St. Paul and is ranked first in the PRCA world standings.

    This is the third St. Paul Rodeo buckle for Branquinho; he also won the rodeo in 2006 and 2015. He also won second place at the Livingston, Mont. rodeo on July 4.

    In the saddle bronc riding, another world champion took home the gold from St. Paul.

    Zeke Thurston, the two-time PRCA world champion saddle bronc rider, won St. Paul  with 88 points on the Flying Five Rodeo Co. horse Broken Camp.

    He knew the horse would be a challenge but he was ready for it. “That horse really bucks,” he said. “She’s bucked some guys off, but they won lots on her. I was just lucky to draw her, and lucky to make a good ride on her.”

    The Big Valley, Alberta cowboy has only won money once at St. Paul, “so to win it would be amazing.

    “This is an iconic, prestigious rodeo. It has some of the best horses and some of the best cowboys at it. It’s very unique, with trees in the arena. The crowd is amazing. I’m tickled to death to win it.”

    The rodeo saw four sell-out performances and record crowds. Its opening day, June 30, coincided with the first day that Governor Kate Brown lifted all Covid restrictions in the state.

    Other 2021 St. Paul Rodeo champions include bareback rider Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore. (87.5 points); 2019 world champion tie-down roper Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. (15.9 seconds on two head); bull rider JC Mortensen, Paulden, Ariz. (87 points); team ropers Kaleb Driggers, Stephenville, Texas and Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prude, Brazil (10.4); and barrel racer Stephanie Fryar, Waco, Texas (17.37).

    The 86th St. Paul Rodeo will take place June 30-July 4, 2022. For more information, visit www.StPaulRodeo.com.

    ### –

    Results from the 85th St. Paul Rodeo, June 30-July 4, 2021.

    All-around champion: Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah

    Bareback riding champion: Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Oregon

    1. Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore. 87.5 points on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Cougar Country; 2. Jess Pope, Waverly, Kan. 86; 3. (tie) Jacob Lees, Caldwell, Idaho and Lane McGehee, Victoria, Texas 84 each; 5. Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev. 83; 6. (tie) RC Landingham, Hat Creek, Calif. and Cooper Cooke, Victor, Idaho 82.5 each; 8. (tie) Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif. and Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn. 82 each.

    Steer wrestling champion: Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, California

    1st round

    1. Jesse Brown, Baker City, Ore. 3.8 seconds; 2. (tie) Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., Tucker Allen, Oak View, Calif., and JD Struxness, Alva, Okla. 4.2; 5. Dakota Eldridge, Reedley, Calif. 4.3; 6. (tie) Justin Shaffer, Hallville, Texas, Will Lummus, Byahlia, Miss., Mike McGinn, Haines, Ore. and Jacob Talley, Keatchie, La. 4.4 each.

    2nd round

    1. Dalton Massey, Hermiston, Ore. 3.8 seconds; 2. Dirk Tavenner, Rigby, Idaho 3.9; 3. (tie) Winsten McGraw, Gill, Colo., Joe Nelson, Watford City, N.D. and Cody Cabral, Hilo, Hawaii., 4.0 each; 6. (tie) Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif. and Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La. 4.2 each; 8. (tie) Scott Guenthner, Provost, Alb. and Jacob Talley, Keatchie, La. 4.4.

    Average on two head

    1. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif. 8.4 seconds on two head; 2. Jacob Talley, Keatchie, La. 8.8; 3. Jesse Brown, Baker City, Ore. 8.9; 4. Payden McIntyre, Douglas, Wyo. 9.0; 5. (tie) Mike McGinn, Haines, Ore. and Will Lummus, Byhalia, Miss. 9.1 each; 7. Justin Shaffer, Hallsville, Texas 9.2; 8. Dirk Tavenner, Rigby, Idaho 9.3.

    Bull riding champion: JC Mortensen

    1. JC Mortensen, Paulden, Ariz. 87 points on Corey and Lange Rodeo’s Highway to Hell; 2. Jordan Spears, Redding, Calif. 86.5; 3. Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah 86; 4. (tie) Tristen Hutchings, Inkom, Idaho and Jeff Askey, Athens, Texas 84 each; 6. (tie) Sage Kimzey, Salado, Texas and JB Mauney, Stephenville, Texas 83.5 each; 8. Laramie Mosley, Palestine, Texas 82.5.

    Tie-down roping champion: Haven Meged, Miles City, Montana

    1st round

    1. Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas 7.8 seconds; 2. (tie) John Douch, Huntsville, Texas, Shad Mayfield, Clovis, N.M. and Michael Otero, Weatherford, Texas 8.1 each; 5. Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. 8.3; 6. (tie) Zack Jongbloed, Iowa, La., Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La. and Ty Harris, San Angelo, Texas 8.7 each.

    2nd round

    1. Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas 7.5; 2. Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. 7.6; 3. Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho 7.8; 4. (tie) Colton Farquer, Oakdale, Calif. and Quade Hiatt, Canyon, Texas 8.2 each; 6. (tie) Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Idaho, Brushton Minton, Witter Springs, Calif. and Reid Zapalac, Smithville, Texas 8.5 each.

    Average on two head

    1. Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. 15.9 seconds on two head; 2. Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas 16.5; 3. John Douch, Huntsville, Texas 16.9; 4. Quade Hiatt, Canyon, Texas 17.7; 5. Michael Otero, Weatherford, Texas 17.8; 6. (tie) Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Texas and Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas 17.9 each; 8. (tie) Reid Zapalac, Smithville, Texas and Cody Huber, Albia, Iowa 18.2 each.

    Saddle bronc riding champion: Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta

    1. Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alb. 88 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Broken Camp; 2. (tie)

    Ben Andersen, Rocky Mountain, Alb.; Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah and Jack Bentz, Crane, Ore. 86.5 each; 5. Ryder Wright, Beaver, Utah 85.5; 6. Kade Bruno, Challis, Idaho 84.5; 7. Dawson Hay, Wildwood, Alb. 84; 8. Sam Harper, Paradise Valley, Nev. 83.5.

    Team roping Champions: Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Georgia and Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prude, Brazil

    1st round

    1. Tyler Wade, Terrell, Texas/Trey Yates, Pueblo, Colo. 4.6 seconds; 2. Steven Duby, Hereford, Ore./Andy Carlson, Hermiston, Ore. 4.8; 3. Derrick Begay, Winslow, Ariz./Cory Petska, Marana, Ariz. 4.9; 4. (tie) Brenten Hall, Stephenville, Texas/Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont. and Clint Summers, Lake City, Fla./Ross Ashford, Lott, Texas 5.0 each; 6. (tie) Kaleb Driggers, Stephenville, Texas/Junior Nogueira, Lipan, Texas and Clay Smith, Bowie, Texas/Jade Corkill, Stephenville, Texas 5.4 each; 8. Rhen Richard, Roosevelt, Utah/Jeremy Buhler, Arrowwood, Alb. 5.5.

    2nd round

    1. Cory Kidd V, Statesville, N.C./Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas 4.2 seconds; 2. Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas/Paul Eaves, Millsap, Texas 4.3; 3. Chad Masters, Cedar Hill, Tenn./Joseph Harrison, Marietta, Okla. 4.4; 4. Luke Brown, Morgan Mill, Texas/Hunter Koch, Vernon, Texas 4.9; 5. Kaleb Driggers, Stephenville, Texas/Junior Nogueira, Lipan, Texas 5.0; 6. Jared Parke, Gooding, Idaho/Jaylen Eldridge, Nampa, Idaho 5.2; 7. (tie) Jake Graham, Lakeview, Ore./Calgary Smith, Adams, Ore.; Tate Kirchenschlager, Yuma, Colo./Cole Davison, Stephenville, Texas; Rhen Richard, Roosevelt, Utah/Jeremy Buhler, Arrowwood, Alb.; Andrew Ward, Edmond, Okla./Buddy Hawkins II, Columbus, Kan.; Tyler Waters, Stephenville, Texas/Richard Durham, Henrietta, Texas 5.5 each.

    Average on two head

    1. Kaleb Driggers, Stephenville, Texas/Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prude, Brazil 10.4 seconds on two head; 2. Clint Summers, Lake City, Fla./Ross Ashford, Lott, Texas 10.6; 3. (tie) Brenten Hall, Stephenville, Texas/Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont; Rhen Richard, Roosevelt, Utah/Jeremy Buhler, Arrowwood, Alb. and Tyler Wade, Terrell, Texas/Trey Yates, Pueblo, Colo. 11.0 each; 6. Tyler Waters, Stephenville, Texas/Richard Durham, Henrietta, Texas 11.1; 7. Britt Smith, Broken Bow, Okla./Jake Smith, Broken Bow, Okla. 11.2; 8. Tate Kirchenschlager, Yuma, Colo./Cole Davison, Roosevelt, Utah 11.4.

    Barrel racing champion: Stephanie Fryar, Waco, Texas

    1. Stephanie Fryar, Waco, Texas 17.37 seconds; 2. Hailey Kinsel, Cotulla, Texas, 17.51; 3. Shelley Holman, Brentwood, Calif. 17.57; 4. (tie) Emily Miller-Beisel, Weatherford, Okla. and Jennifer Barrett, Buhl, Idaho 17.62 each; 6. Jessi Fish, Washington, Texas 17.70; 7. Sue Smith, Blackfoot, Idaho 17.76; 8. Tanya Jones, Arlington, Ariz. 17.78; 9. (tie) Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz. and Sidney Forrest, Lipan, Texas 17.82 each; 11. Katie Pascoe, Morro Bay, Calif. 17.84; 12. Mary Shae Thomas, Hermiston, Ore. 17.85; 13. Paige Jones, Wayne, Okla. 17.89; 14. Bailey Cline, Roseburg, Ore. 17.91; 15. (tie) Katie Davis, Adrian, Ore. and Danyelle Williams, Vale, Ore. 17.94. each.

     

     

    ** All results are unofficial.  For more information, visit www.StPaulRodeo.com.

  • NEBRASKA YOUTH QUALIFY FOR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL RODEO COMPETITION

    NEBRASKA YOUTH QUALIFY FOR NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL RODEO COMPETITION

    Champions crowned in each event

    HASTINGS, NEB. (June 20, 2021) – The Nebraska High School Rodeo season wrapped up last weekend with the high school finals in Hastings at the Adams County Fairgrounds. Rodeo athletes from across the Cornhusker State competed in two go-rounds on June 17-18 and the short go-round on June 19. The top four contestants in each of fifteen events were determined, and they will go on to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the Lancaster Events Center July 18-24.

    The 2020-2021 champions are Spencer Denaeyer, Seneca, bareback riding; Elle Ravenscroft, Nenzel, barrel racing; Cooper Bass, Brewster, boys cutting; Jaya Nelson, Bassett, breakaway roping; Hunter Boydston, Grover, Colo., bull riding; Mekenna Fisher, Hershey, girls cutting; Wacey Day, Fleming, Colo., goat tying; Madison Mills, Eddyville, pole bending; Brody McAbee, Ansley, saddle bronc riding; Dane Pokorny, Stapleton, steer wrestling; Hayes Wetzel, Palmer, team roping header; Ryan Shepherd, North Platte, team roping heeler; Tate Talkington, Scottsbluff, tie-down roping; Tatum Olson, Bloomfield, reined cow horse; Jate Saults, Big Springs, light rifle shooting, and Tanner Ellis, Minden, trap shooting.

    Boys rookie of the year is Hayden Stump, Elsmere, and the girls rookie of the year is Clancy Jo Brown, North Platte. Cooper Bass is the year-end boys all-around champion; Wacey Day is the year-end girls all-around champion. Girls state finals all-around winner was Madison Mills, Eddyville, and the boys state finals all-around winner went to Tate Talkington, Scottsbluff.

    The 2021-2022 Miss Nebraska High School Rodeo queen is Ashton Werth, Hyannis.

    The following are synopses of some of the champions.

     Barrel racing champion – Elle Ravenscroft, Nenzel

    Nenzel’s Elle Ravenscroft won the barrel racing title for the 2020-2021 Neb. High School Rodeo Association. A graduate of Cody-Kilgore High School, she will play basketball at Chadron College this fall. Photo by Steph Miller.

    Elle Ravenscroft led the pack all year long, with her competitors in the rearview mirror.

    The Nenzel cowgirl led the barrel racing rankings the entire year, and even with a bobble at state finals, finished as the 2021 state barrel racing champion.

    Going into state, she was twenty points ahead of the number two cowgirl, Taci Flinn. In the first round, she finished fifth; in the second round, she tipped a barrel to add a five second penalty to her time and take her out of the placings.

    In the short round, she finished second behind Flinn. “She was on my back the whole finals,” Ravenscroft said. “Being chased is not a great feeling. I had great competition and that was a little intimidating at times.”

    She didn’t realize she had won the state title till the announcer mentioned it. “I was holding my breath,” she said.

    She’s excited to compete at the NHSFR in Lincoln, because of its proximity. “It’s hometown. I think there will be pressure to represent your state well. I’m really excited about it.”

    The 2021 Cody-Kilgore High School graduate won’t compete in collegiate rodeo; she will play basketball at Chadron (Neb.) State College, where she’ll pursue a degree in physical education and health.

    She was recruited by both the basketball and rodeo coaches, but chose basketball. “That was honestly, a big decision. I decided we’re going to try basketball. I can always rodeo in the summer. I wanted the opportunity to play basketball because rodeo’s always going to be there.”

    She is the daughter of Eric and Shannon Ravenscroft.

    Bareback riding champion – Spencer Denaeyer, Seneca

     

    Spencer Denaeyer was the only bareback rider to make three qualified rides at state, to win the state title.

    Entering state finals, he was three and a half points behind Tanner Drueke.

    “I just went in super motivated, knowing I had my work cut out,” he said. “I had people to chase, and I think that honestly improved my performance more than anything.”

    This is his second qualification for the NHSFR; his first one was as a freshman, which didn’t go as well as he would have liked. That provides incentive for this year. “I think it’s time to take advantage of the fact that it’s in Lincoln. It’s time to give it everything I’ve got and compete with all the year-end champs. It’ll be tough. It’ll be time to put the pedal to the floor.”

    Denaeyer will be a senior at Mullen High School this fall; he participates in football, wrestling, and track and was on the honor roll for two quarters this year.

    He is the son of Martin and Bree Denaeyer.

     Goat tying champion – Wacey Day, Fleming, Colo.

    The closest race in all of the events came down to the goat tying, with eighteen-year-old cowgirl Wacey Day winning the title by one point over the number two cowgirl, Jessica Stevens.

    It was a roller coaster year, with ups and downs all season, but at state, Wacey dominated, winning both the first and second round and the short round as well. “I didn’t have a choice but to do that if I wanted to win it,” she said.

    She also finished second in the breakaway roping and will compete at Nationals in that as well. This will be her fourth trip to Nationals.

    The salutatorian of the of Lone Star High School Class of 2021, she will attend Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colo. this fall and get her prerequisites done before transferring to another school to work towards a certification in radiology. She will rodeo collegiately, in the goat tying, breakaway roping, barrel racing, and team roping.

    The daughter of Shane and Heather Day, Wacey is also the year-end all-around winner.

    Pole bending champion – Madison Mills, Eddyville

    Madison Mills’ 2021 pole bending title was the third state championship the Eddyville cowgirl has won.

    She led the state the entire year, and felt a little pressure from freshman Clancy Jo Brown, but after four years of high school state qualifications and two years of junior high, she’s taught herself how to handle the pressure.

    “I’ve learned how to deal with it and calm my nerves,” she said. “I tell myself, ‘it’s nothing new, I’ve been doing it for six years (through high school and junior high rodeo), we practice all week long,’ so I trust my horse and my own riding ability and that’s how I calm myself down.”

    The Sumner-Eddyville-Miller High School graduate will attend Mid-Plains Community College in McCook this fall to study criminal justice. She has decided to forego college rodeo, at least for her freshman year, to be able to concentrate on her studies. “Rodeo will take up a lot of time and practice and I’d rather focus on school,” she said.

    She also finished in third place in the barrels and will be at Nationals in that event as well.

    She is the daughter of Matt and Melissa McTygue.

    Light rifle champion – Jate Saults, Big Springs

    Jate Saults is the light rifle champion for the Nebraska State High School Rodeo Association.  

    State competition was held in an indoor shooting range, which was beneficial, he said, with no bad weather to affect the competitors.

    He shot a personal best, with a final score of 298 out of 320. “That was a really good day for me.”

    This will be Saults’ third trip to Nationals in the shooting; he will also compete in the team roping at the NHSFR, having won second with header Brent Charlton.

    He’s ready to be in Lincoln for Nationals. “I’m looking forward to representing Nebraska. I think a lot of kids will really like how big our city is and how much there is to do. When you’re in Rock Springs (Wyoming, where former NHSFR events have been held), it’s out in the middle of nowhere.”

    For complete results, visit http://www.hsrodeo-nebraska.com/results. For more information on the state finals and the NHSFR, www.hsrodeo-nebraska.com, www.NHSFRLincoln.org, and www.nhsra.com.

    ###

    Nebraska High School Qualifiers for the 2021 National High School Finals Rodeo in Lincoln, Neb. July 18-24.

    Bareback riding:

    Champion: Spencer Denaeyer, Seneca

    1. Tanner Drueke, Sutherland
    2. Cole Kerner, Sutherland
    3. Tate Miller, Springview

     

    Barrel racing

    Champion: Elle Ravenscroft, Nenzel

    1. Taci Flinn, Arcadia
    2. Madison Mills, Eddyville
    3. Jenae Whitaker, Chambers

    Alternate -Clancy Jo Brown, North Platte

     

    Boys cutting:

    Champion: Cooper Bass, Brewster

    1. Hayden Jennings, Seneca
    2. Cody Miller, Broken Bow
    3. Bo Bushhousen, St. Libory

    Alternate – Tatum Olson, Bloomfield

     

    Breakaway roping

    Champion: Jaya Nelson, Bassett

    1. Wacey Day, Fleming, Colo.
    2. Jace Hurlburt, Arcadia
    3. Tehya From, Crookston

    Alternate – Emma Ohm, Hyannis

     

    Bull riding:

    Champion:. Hunter Boydston, Grover, Colo.

    1. Cole Kerner, Sutherland
    2. Tanner Drueke, Sutherland
    3. Dalton Garey, Broken Bow

    Alternate – Drew Farrell, Merriman

     

    Girls cutting:

    Champion: Mekenna Fisher, Hershey

    1. Peyton Fisher, Hershey
    2. Faith Storer, Arthur
    3. Whitney Jennings, Seneca

    Alternate -Emma Pearson, Broken Bow

     

    Goat tying:

    Champion:. Wacey Day, Fleming, Colo.

    1. Jessica Stevens, Creighton
    2. Emma Ohm, Hyannis
    3. Kaci Wickersham, Verdigre

    Alternate – Kinley Greenough, Kearney

     

    Pole bending

    Champion: Madison Mills, Eddyville

    1. Clancy Jo Brown, North Platte
    2. Abigail Lawton, Overton
    3. Jenae Whitaker, Chambers

    Alternate – Lauren Lehl, Alliance

     

    Saddle bronc riding

    Champion: Brody McAbee, Ansley

    1. Leif Meidell, Harrison
    2. Monty Bailey, Lakeside
    3. Dean Schroder, Taylor

    Alternate – Augustus Painter, Ainsworth

     

    Steer wrestling

    Champion: Dane Pokorny, Stapleton

    1. Coy Johnston, Stapleton
    2. Rhett Witt, Valentine
    3. Rex Day, Bartlett

    Alternate – Gage Davis, Cody

    Team roping

    Champions: Hayse Wetzel, Palmer and Ryan Shepherd, North Platte.

    1. Brent Charlton, North Platte and Jate Saults, Big Springs
    2. Cooper Bass, Brewster and Zack Bradley, Brewster
    3. Jace Hurlburt, Arcadia and Tate Talkington, Scottsbluff

    Alternate – Jasper Neal, Amherst, Sage Dieter, Alma

     

    Tie-down roping

    Champion: Tate Talkington, Scottsbluff

    1. Layne Wallinger, Stuart
    2. Trace Travnicek, Minatare
    3. Matthew Miller, Callaway

    Alternate – Rhett Witt, Valentine

     

    Reined cow horse

    Champion: Tatum Olson, Bloomfield

    1. Tate Talkington, Scottsbluff

    3 (tie) Charlie Bortner, McCook, and Tucker Gillespie, McCook

    Alternate – Hope Brosius, Enders

    Light rifle shooting

    Champion: Jate Saults, Big Springs

    1. Cooper Phillips, Burwell
    2. Kalyn Nielsen, Verdigre
    3. Hope Brosius, Enders

    Alternate – Justin Wenzel, Arthur

    Trap shooting

    Champion: Tanner Ellis, Minden

    1. Ashton Higgins, Neligh
    2. Justin Wenzel, Arthur
    3. Ty Growcock, Barlett

    Alternate – Shealynn Rasmussen, Burwell

     

    Cutlines:

    Spencer Denaeyer, Seneca, is the 2020-2021 Nebraska High School bareback riding champion. He will be a senior at Mullen High School this fall. Photo by Steph Miller.

    Nenzel’s Elle Ravenscroft won the barrel racing title for the 2020-2021 Neb. High School Rodeo Association. A graduate of Cody-Kilgore High School, she will play basketball at Chadron College this fall. Photo by Steph Miller.

    Cooper Bass wins the boys cutting for the 2020-2021 Neb. High School Rodeo Association. He is a resident of Brewster. Photo by Steph Miller.

    Ansley’s Brody McAbee is the saddle bronc riding champion for the 2020-2021 Neb. High School Rodeo Association. Photo by Steph Miller.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Back When They Bucked with Sherry Price Johnson

    Back When They Bucked with Sherry Price Johnson

    As a young girl, Sherry Price Combs Johnson spent her days on horseback, riding bareback, playing “cowboys and Indians” or “bad guys,” with her bb gun on her family’s ranch near Addington, Oklahoma.
    Little did she know the hours spent on horseback would spill over into thousands of hours in her adult life, on horses in rodeo arenas around the nation.
    The second and last daughter of John Henry and Lena Price, she was born four years after her sister, Florence Price Youree, in 1938.
    The girls were their dad’s right hand men, helping him around the ranch. “It was expected,” Sherry remembers, of helping her dad. He also demanded that his girls do the job right. “He expected us to do it correctly, and if he ever told you something once, you were to remember it.” When they cut cattle out of the herd, he wouldn’t always tell his girls what he was cutting out, “because the first one that was cut out, you were supposed to know by then what was supposed to be cut,” Sherry remembered.
    By the time she was fourteen, she was rodeoing in the American Junior Rodeo Association, traveling with Florence and her husband Dale. The girls rode the same horse, with Dale changing saddles for them. Sherry would ask to be up last; Florence would run, Dale would switch out saddles, and Sherry would compete.
    In the AJRA, Sherry won five barrel racing championships and two all-arounds, competing not only in the barrels but in the pole bending and flag race.
    In high school rodeo in 1955, she won enough points for Oklahoma that they won the national title that year. Sherry won the barrels, the breakaway roping and placed second in the poles to win the all-around on a mare named Pokey.

    She remembers that her grandfather, an old-time rancher, did not approve of mares being used on the ranch. “In his day,” she said, “they sold the mares and kept the geldings for ranch horses.” But she fell in love with a pretty little flax maned mare, and told her daddy she wanted that colt. He told her to ask “Big Tree,” her grandfather’s nickname. “I was scared to death,” to ask, she said. But he agreed. “I was the first one allowed a mare on the place. It was such a big deal for me to get her.” Her mare’s name was Pokey, and that horse carried Sherry to her junior and high school rodeo wins, and her daughter Becky later on.
    Her dad might have been the prince in Sherry’s life, but her mom was the queen. In addition to her sister, her mom also hauled her to rodeos across the country, doing all the driving before Sherry was 16. “My mother hauled me all over the world. Daddy saw that the car and trailer were ready, and mother took me.”
    Her mother was made of steel, but a sweetheart. “Mother was the sweetest person in the world,” Sherry said. “She never raised her voice. She could sit down and talk to you, and it was worse than a spanking. You were sorry if you had messed up.” Lena raised her daughters to be ladies. “She told me, you can do or be anything you want to be, but you will be a lady, doing it. How many times have I thought of that memory?” Sherry reminisced.
    After high school graduation in 1956, she headed to Oklahoma State. She competed in one college rodeo, piling into a car with a bunch of other girls and two horses. They headed to Austin, Texas, where she placed in the barrels.
    It wasn’t convenient for her to keep a horse in Stillwater, so she didn’t. “I was in a sorority and I was busy being a girl,” she said.
    After one year of college, she met the 1955 world champion steer wrestler Benny Combs and married him in 1957. He was rodeoing and she had a condition for their marriage: that she would rodeo with him. At the time, women didn’t travel with their husbands. He concurred, and they traveled together, making Checotah, Oklahoma their home base.
    It was while married to Benny that Sherry rode a PRCA Hall of Fame horse and one that carried her to a world title.
    Benny and Willard Combs, his brother, bought a horse from the same fellow who had sold the famed steer wrestling mount Baby Doll to the brothers. They bought Star Plaudit, “Red,” for $400, training him in the steer wrestling. When Red was done with his dogging practice, Sherry would work him. He just didn’t train well, she said. “His feet were in the wrong place and he was just clumsy as all get out.”
    Sherry had no other mount, so she planned on riding him in Denver. It was the wildest run of her life, she said. The barrels always followed the steer wrestling, so when the steer wrestling was over, they changed saddles and Sherry got on him. “Red came flying out of that alley, and I knew what run was, right then,” she said. “I just picked him up on the right, he saw that barrel, and turned.”
    Red won Denver for Bob Maynard, who also rode him in Ft. Worth, as did other bulldoggers. When Bob paid his mount money to Benny, Sherry remembers that he pulled out a $1000 bill, which seemed like all the money in the world. Red was a good financial investment for Benny and Sherry. “With me running barrels, Benny bulldogging, and the mount money, we had a three-way shot (at earning), which was good.”
    It wasn’t long and Benny and Sherry bought Willard’s half of Red and owned him outright.
    Oftentimes the bulldoggers would gather at the arena fence during the barrel racing, to see what their bulldogging horse was doing, “if I was messing him up,” she said. “And I took care of him. It was my pleasure.” Red preferred women over men, especially Sherry. Benny couldn’t catch him; he’d always ask her to do it. And Sherry recalls a time at Ft. Worth when she asked sister Florence to feed him. Florence stepped in the stall, left the stall door open, put the hay down and Red “politely booted her out of the stall. He didn’t kick her or it would have hurt. He just booted her out. My space,” he was telling her.
    Red, inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2017, holds a record that probably won’t ever be duplicated. In 1962, he won two world titles (and helped with a third) for his riders: Sherry as world champion barrel racer, and family friend Tom Nesmith as world champion steer wrestler and all-around champ.
    Sherry, the 1962 world champion, had twelve qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, the most of any cowgirl till Charmayne James came along. She has the distinction of qualifying for the WPRA’s barrel racing world championships in six of the seven cities in which it has been held. Her first qualification was in 1959, at Clayton, New Mexico. She also qualified when it was held in Scottsdale (1960), Santa Maria, Calif. (1961), Ft. Worth (1962-66), and when it was included with the PRCA’s world championship in Oklahoma City (’67-68, 70); and in Las Vegas, her last year to compete (1991). The only location she didn’t compete at was in Arlington, Texas last year. She didn’t compete every year she qualified; sometimes the added money was too low to justify traveling so far.
    And barrel racing wasn’t her only rodeo activity. She was part of the group of women with the Girls Rodeo Association (forerunner to the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association) that re-wrote part of the rulebook and asked for ten percent of purse money. At the time, in the early 1960s, committees did not provide equal purse money in the barrel racing. Ten percent “was not equal money but it was a start,” she said.

    She and Benny had a daughter, Becky, in 1958. About ten years later, she and Becky moved back to Addington. A house next door to John Henry and Lena was for rent, and Sherry began working for her dad. She would drop Becky off at school, and go to work, with Lena picking up Becky after school and helping with homework.
    It was while in Addington that Sherry connected with her high school sweetheart, Sid Johnson. Sid had lent her $10 to become a GRA member at a rodeo years before, and the two had gone to prom together in high school. After talking on the phone and seeing each other long distance, one day Sid was in Addington. The couple had obtained a marriage license and had planned on marrying, just hadn’t chosen a date. One day Sherry said, “let’s get married. My hair looks good,” she laughed. He replied, “Ok, that’s fine with me.” Sherry called Florence, asking her and Dale to stand up for them. Florence replied, “I’m cooking fish,” to which Sherry said, “cook faster.” The preacher agreed to marry them, if they would help him set up chairs for the next day’s speaker.
    “It wasn’t romantic, and I don’t think anybody took pictures, but my hair looked good,” she laughed.
    They were married in 1980, until Sid’s death in 2007. “It was the best 28 years of my life. We never argued.”
    They lived near Snyder, Texas, until Sid was diagnosed with cancer. He was always looking out for his bride; he insisted they move back to Addington after his diagnosis, so she would be near her sister after his passing. She refused to take him from his home, saying it was her home, too. He told her, “I’ll be packed and gone so you can decide if you’re going to follow me or not.”
    Now she and Florence live three miles apart as the crow flies, and talk several times a day. Daughter Becky Bradley lives with Sherry and together they manage the ranch. Sherry doesn’t ride anymore; her back won’t allow it. But she still loves her horses.
    Sherry was the 1961 WPRA all-around champ, competing in the barrels on Red, and doing the flag race, breakaway and cutting. In 1997, she was the WPRA’s Coca-Cola Woman of the Year. In 2005, she was inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy and Western Heritage Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Five years later, she was inducted into the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo Hall of Fame, and in 2015, she was the RAM Prairie Circuit Living Legend winner. The next year, she and Red were inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. She helped design a Sherry Combs saddle, as well, benefitting from its sales.
    “She could outride me,” Florence said. “She was a natural on a horse, and that’s what my daddy and husband thought. She was a hand.”
    She is grateful for the good horses that have been in her life. “I have been blessed with so many good horses, and I thank God for that,” she said. “I tried to take care of them like He would want me to.”
    She loved working with horses; it was her life. “Riding and training was never a job for me. It was something I liked to do. I just plain loved to ride, all my life. Riding was my passion, and when you can make a living at what you love, you’re blessed.”