Category: 5 Star Champion

Tami Semas—professional barrel racer, saddle designer, and wife and mother of two—found her niche in the horse industry in high school, and dug deep into her passion after college. The first of her family to rodeo growing up, the 41-year-old from Brock, Texas, learned by trial and error, and her persistence earned her two qualifications to the PRCA Columbia River Circuit Finals, and a place at The American’s inaugural rodeo in 2014. In 2015, she was Equi-Stat’s highest-earning rider of futurity horses, and has trained multiple futurity and derby winners. “Where a lot of people who’ve had parents in that event have the process narrowed down a little bit, I had my biggest successes from my biggest failures,” says Tami. “I’ve spent a lot of time learning from horsemen how to get a horse really broke. I understand the game of barrel racing, and to combine that with horsemanship is kind of my approach. I wanted a very smooth motion in my horses around the turn, and I have learned to get a horse to be soft. I’m a small person—I can’t hold the horse around a barrel—and I’ve learned through various horsemen how to get a horse to respond through weight, leverage, and positioning to keep them light.”
Searching for a saddle that was balanced for Tami’s smaller stature led her to becoming a saddle dealer for seven years, and ultimately, launching her very own line of Tami Semas Barrel Saddles. “A lot of saddles on the market didn’t feel like they balanced my weight great, and either pushed me forward or back. I ride everything centered, and I bought a saddle from one company that worked pretty good,” explains Tami, who at that time was Double J Saddlery’s highest-selling dealer without a store. “I learned a lot about what many riders were wanting and needing. I came up with some ideas on how I would tweak things if I would ever be able to build my own saddle from scratch.”
Tami quit her dealer job in 2014, and she approached a manufacturing company about building her own saddle that same year. “A lot of things are the same with saddle parts, but they can be put together to have a uniquely different feel,” Tami explains. Her saddle came out in the 2015, her best futurity year to date, and the Tami Semas Barrel Saddle was a success. They now sponsor several athletes, including Hallie Hanssen, a futurity horse trainer from South Dakota. After two-and-a-half years, Tami decided to go out on her own for manufacturing, and with the aid of her custom tree maker and a new manufacturer, the latest line of Tami Semas Barrel Saddles will launch this fall.
Of equal importance to a balanced saddle is the saddle pad underneath, and 5 Star Equine became one of Tami’s sponsors the year her first saddle came out. “I’m a firm believer in their product. I’d used their pads over the last 10 years, and they’ve been a sponsor over the last 3 years, and we also promote them with our saddles,” says Tami, who is also using 5 Star’s new line of leg gear. “The things I use for my barrel racing and riding I call timeless tools. I’m not someone to use the latest and greatest thing that’s come out on the market; I’m going to use the tools that have stood the test of time, and I believe 5 Star is a product that has stood the test of time. That 100 percent natural wool has always allowed my horses’ backs to breathe well, especially down in Texas. I want a pad that absorbs shock, breathes well, fits comfortably on my horse, and can withstand weather conditions, and 5 Star has been that product for us.”
Tami, who trains all of her horses, sold her futurity horses this year, thinking 2018 was her year to rodeo. But when her horse Smooth N Famous, who won nearly $200,000 during his futurity career, had an injury this year, she had to turn him out to pasture and make a new plan. That became running and seasoning a 6-year-old, Colour Me Gone, she trained and sold but bought back recently. “I’ve pretty much seasoned him at the pro rodeos, and I’ve gone to Northside, which is an open rodeo every weekend. I always like the Diamonds and Dirt Derby, and we just keep training horses this year and selling them. Next year we’re hoping to have our horse better seasoned for the rodeos,” says Tami.
Her 15-year-old daughter, Madison, traveled with her most of the summer, and enjoys riding and other sports, while Tami’s 16-year-old son, Myles, plays football. Aaron, Tami’s husband, rode bulls for 18 years and qualified for the WNFR 7 times, while he’s also one of the founders of the PBR. “He’s doing some fixer-upper homes down here and ropes, and when you have a family and kids at this age, it’s definitely a busy time. What we’re doing is just trying to train good horses, build a good saddle, and let the horses tell us where we’ll be going.”

Cole Edge of Durant, Oklahoma, is sitting second in the PRCA standings in steer wrestling, an event he originally took up in high school for the all-around points. The 33-year-old cowboy comes from a family of ropers and focused primarily on team roping and tie-down roping through high school, but he found his niche in steer wrestling. “I’m just steer wrestling now. I can rope when I retire,” he jokes. “I went down to Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant for school where Sarah Burkes was the coach. Her husband, Jake, talked me into keeping up steer wrestling and it just took off from there. I like the physicality of it, and you have your hazer, but it’s more of an individual sport—everything depends on you. I like the competition and making good runs, and when you get to the big rodeos, I like the pressure in those situations.”
Cole finished third in the CNFR world steer wrestling standings in 2007, and the pressure at Rodeo Austin in March this year spurred him on to a first-place win. He was also invited to the Calgary Stampede for the first time this summer. Cole is traveling with Cameron Morman, Chason Floyd, and Tanner Brunner this season, and the four steer wrestlers are competing on the same three horses this season, all by Pride Farms’ stallion Lions Share of Fame. “We’re all in the top 20 right now, and I think that says a lot for those horses,” says Cole. “We ride all the same saddles and just adjust the stirrups. I’m primarily riding a horse of Sean Mulligan’s, Miss Kitty, and another mare named Holly, and our gelding Slick is our haze horse. Miss Kitty was pretty young when I qualified for The American on her in 2014, but this year and last year I’ve been riding her every day.
“The great thing about steer wrestling is that it’s kind of a big family. Everybody helps each other out,” Cole adds. “Sean Mulligan has helped me my whole career, and Jacob Burkes made sure I kept going with it. I’m pretty fortunate to be around people like that all the time.” Sean also hazes for Cole throughout the season. “You’re pretty much putting your life in your hazer’s hands. It’s a very crucial job. I started rodeoing with Sean and he’s one of the best in the business. Cameron hazes outstanding, and Chason hazed for me at the short round in Reno, and I haze for everybody else. We can’t win what we do without a good hazer.”
Another crucial component in Cole’s steer wrestling career is his tack, including the 5 Star saddle pads and cinches that he uses. He’s been using their products the last 10 years and joined the 5 Star Champion team in 2014, the first year he qualified for the WNFR. “I like things basic, and their pads are 100 percent natural. The wool absorbs the impact just as well, and I like the 100 percent wool cinches they have. They work for me, and they are a great company with great people.” Cole also appreciates the variety of sizes 5 Star pads are offered in, and has a tack room full of them to prove it. “I can have one saddle and switch it to different horses and make it fit that much better. My wife is a barrel racer, and she has a whole bunch of their pads too.”
Cole and his wife, Torrie, met at Southeastern Oklahoma State University where they were both on the rodeo team, and they were married in 2012. Torrie runs barrels on the WPRA Prairie Circuit, though she’s taking the season off since she and Cole are expecting the birth of their twins in November. The husband and wife also enjoy raising and training horses together, and taking them to barrel futurities. “If not barrels, then we try to rope on them and just turn them into good horses,” says Cole, who also likes welding.
“Winning Austin was probably my biggest highlight, and my horses are working good. I get my confidence from what I’m riding—if they keep working good, I’m pretty proud of them. My goal is pretty much to win as much as I can and save up for those babies. I want to keep placing at the rodeos and everything will take care of itself after that.”

“My drive is to prove to myself that I still rope good enough to make the NFR and compete with the best in my event,” says Timber Moore. “It is more of a job, but I think there’s probably a lot worse jobs in life than traveling around with family and friends!” Timber, 32, comes from Aubrey, Texas, and the 6-time WNFR qualifier is no stranger to the arena of the Thomas & Mack Center. He’s competed at the finals consecutively the last five years and finished tenth in the world standings last season.
Born into a rich heritage that included rodeo athletes and outdoorsmen, Timber’s parents, Gordie and Dianne Moore, roped and ran barrels, and Timber’s grandfather William Holloway was a stock contractor. Many of Timber’s family roots on his dad’s side lead back to Canada, where Gordie worked as a bush pilot and hunting guide, but rodeo was the tradition that Timber chose to continue. He grew up with a rope in hand and started out team roping, later adding tie-down in high school. He competed in both events through his college rodeo career with Tarleton State University in Weatherford, Texas, and when he turned pro in 2007, Timber decided to pool his resources and enter solely in the tie-down roping. “I love everything about it. It’s one of those sports that takes an athlete. There’s lot of hand-eye coordination, timing, and horsemanship. Without a good horse, you don’t have much of a shot of winning at all. The horse has to do so much on their own, and there’s a lot going on in making a good run.”
Timber found his horses felt their best using 5 Star Equine’s saddle pads, which he learned about four years ago from a 5 Star Equine Products representative that lived nearby. “Their pads are unbelievable. I’m pretty sure I’m riding the same pad on my horse since I started with them four years ago,” says Timber. “They’re super durable and made with the best quality of wool—they’re just outstanding.” The past few years, Timber has signed autographs at 5 Star’s booth during Cowboy Christmas and the WNFR, while his social media posts are sure to have a shout-out to his favorite saddle pad company.
Colonel, Timber’s rope horse, has been one of the top three finalists of the AQHA/PRCA Tie-Down Roping Horse of the Year the past three years. Timber bought the 13-year-old sorrel gelding in 2012, the same year Timber was recovering from knee surgery. “I’ve pretty much ridden him ever since. I don’t have any others that I would actually take and feel confident about riding. Buying horses that I can take and have a chance to win money on is the best way for me to do it.”
Colonel travels in the bumper-pull trailer Timber tows behind his bus, which makes it easy for his wife, Valerie, and their 6-year-old daughter, Vaughn, to join him on the road. Tie-down roper Tyler Milligan is also traveling with Timber this season. “We’ve been to Disneyland and Disney World, and we stop and do some things to break it up so we’re not always driving. Vaughn is more into soccer and gymnastics and things like that.” Timber and Valerie met through their siblings, who went to high school together, and they were married in 2007. When they’re home in Aubrey, the husband and wife often work with Valerie’s parents, who run several businesses, including baling hay and selling flatbed and horse trailers.
Timber and his family and friends have also put on the Gordie Moore Bubblegum Roping the past ten years to honor his dad, who passed away when Timber was 19. In the past, it’s taken place in early May, but since the location it’s normally held at is closing down, Timber hopes to hold the memorial roping this fall instead. Gordie was one of Timber’s greatest supporters in his rodeo career, and he also looks up to Raymond Hollabaugh, a 7-time WNFR qualifier and a Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee. “I stayed with him a lot when I was in high school, and he taught me a lot about roping and rodeo,” says Timber. “We stay in touch and talk all the time.”
While Timber has competed extensively in Canada in the past, he rodeos primarily in the U.S. now, though the Calgary Stampede is a much-anticipated rodeo in the Moore household. “The Fourth of July is over and you’ve been driving a couple weeks on end, but in Calgary you get to sit still and be there for a week. It’s super neat to go up there and see all your friends,” explains Timber, whose main goal is a seventh qualification to the WNFR this December. “I like the summer in general because you get to rope and run a calf just about every day. You can get on a roll and have some good timing, and have things start going your way.”

With warmer weather comes barrel racer Stevi Hillman’s favorite time of year. Outdoor rodeos are her and her horses’ forte, and while the two-time WNFR qualifier from Weatherford, Texas, pulled a check in Houston, she won the first two outdoor rodeos of the year at Los Fresnos and Goliad, Texas. “The horses are really ready to be outside,” says Stevi. “I like Cheyenne, it’s a big outdoor rodeo, but I just like the summer run. We get to go from one outdoor rodeo to the next. Some people don’t like it because the weather can change from one run to the next, but I like the challenge, and the travel is fun.”
Stevi took her horses Truck and Layla with her for the California run in April, and she’ll load up Sharpie, the newest addition to her barn, for the summer run. Whether at work or at play, Stevi always saddles up with a 5 Star Equine pad, which she started using even before her rodeo career took off in 2016. “I’m a firm believer in the pads—they last a long time. I really like the quality of the pads. There are some other good pads out there, but with hundredths of seconds’ difference between you and your competitors, going from a good pad to a great pad makes all the difference. I like to represent companies that stand for a good cause and are good people.” Since using the pads, Stevi also noticed her horses needed fewer chiropractic adjustments. “I feel like the pressure of a saddle and the pressure of a pad over time is a huge impact on the horse’s body condition.”
Her latest venture, which Stevi embarked on with her husband, Ty, is raising their own colts and training them. She’s been training horses since childhood, learning from her step-dad, Dave Salzbrenner. They got an embryo out of Martini, the mare that helped Stevi get to her first WNFR in 2016, and bred to Dash Ta Fame, which gave them Pendleton, now a yearling stud prospect. “We flushed our Dash Ta Fame mare this last year to Slick By Design, which gave us our baby this year. We’re not really wanting to get into the breeding business, but our goal is to have a great mare to sell embryos from. I went from training full time with 17 head of horses around here, including our own, to having our own colts, and I have one of the Dunn’s 3-year-olds here in training.”
Horse training led Stevi to the rodeo world when she trained an off-track quarter horse Im A Royal Design “Hammer” and ran him her rookie year in the PRCA, winning Reserve Barrel Racing Rookie of the Year in 2012. He went on to the WNFR with Carlee Pierce and Jana Bean, while Stevi’s mare she trained, Perfectos Dually “J-Lo” took her to Houston, and later, J-Lo ran with Christina Richman at the 2012 WNFR. “A huge part of my rodeo career was getting into Houston for the first time, and I’m very thankful to be able to train such an amazing animal to do so well,” says Stevi.
She grew up with a strong work ethic that included animals’ needs coming first, but Stevi says setting aside time to take care of herself is also important. “It’s (rodeo) a 24/7 job. I talked to someone recently about being out at 11 at night flexing my horse or giving a massage. It really comes down to your passion. At times, you get mentally or physically tired from going 24/7. It’s all about the horses all the time, which is important, but so is taking time for yourself to refresh.” Hot yoga is her favorite way to shift her focus for a few minutes, along with jogging with her husband. “My motivation lately has been that I’m truly blessed to be doing what I love, and how many people get to be in that position? I not only get to do what I love, but I help other people do what they love, and that’s the dream life in my opinion.”
Stevi’s husband feels similarly. Ty, formerly a professional roper, started his business Prepare To Win in 2016. A success coach, he helps clients reach their peak performance in life and in the arena, and his work allows him to travel all year with Stevi. “We listen to all kinds of motivational books, and that definitely sparks conversation around that, and it helps me,” says Stevi. “We’re both very competitive. He’s been my motivation through my competitive years, and my step-dad is a huge inspiration to me and put that fire in me at a young age. Being able to watch people like Lisa Lockhart and Sherry Cervi growing up and being able to talk to them whenever I want has helped, and Jana Bean has been a great help to me.
“My future goals are always to become better, physically and mentally. Competition wise, I always want to win. I know that’s always in God’s timing in what you win and where you’ll go, and I hope for more doors to open this year for me to help more people.”

“I’ve always wanted to rope since I could walk and be around horses, and it’s what I’ve always done,” says Caleb Smidt. “I watched the NFR on TV and it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.” The four-time WNFR qualifier and 2015 World Champion Tie-Down Roper is the first of his family to travel the professional rodeo trail. But the horse training and roping he learned growing up, particularly from his dad, Randy Smidt, gave him the foundation of skills that took him from Bellville, Texas, to the arena floor of the Thomas and Mack Center.
Caleb, the All-Around and Tie-Down Roping Rookie of the Year in 2013, competed at the WNFR for the third consecutive year in December and won $60,000. Although the 2017 season didn’t have gold buckle returns, he finished fifth in the world standings and split first place in Round 8 with his high school friend Cory Solomon. “I had a really good year all last year leading up to the finals, and then got to the finals and just didn’t do very good,” he says. “It’s been really wet here all winter, so hopefully it dries up and we can be roping and practicing and back into the swing of things. Justin Maass has a covered arena and I’ll go over there. He tunes me up and keeps me in line and always has good advice for me. We rodeoed together in 2013 and he’s been my coach through the whole thing.”
Caleb credits riding good horses just as much with his success as his motivation. “A good horse is a big part of my success, and being able to have my family up here with me rodeoing and joining in. I don’t like the driving part, but when you have a good horse and family with you, it’s a lot easier. It’s been successful for me the last four or five years.” He continues to ride Pockets, the horse that carried him to the WNFR and the world title in 2015. The pair won $130,000 last year, and Caleb also rode Walter Johnson’s horse Iron. The latest member of his equine team is Bart Hutton’s horse El Gato, who carried Caleb through his winning run at the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi, in February. “He’s a smaller horse, and he’s got a lot of try and a big heart. He gives it everything every time you ride him, and he can run and handle big cattle. He’s still a touch green at the bigger and louder rodeos, but he’s getting better,” says Caleb, who set the horse on his biggest stage yet at The American in February.
Between every one of Caleb’s horses and his saddle is a 5 Star Equine pad, which he started using in 2015 and rode at the WNFR. He officially joined the 5 Star team in 2016 when time and hard use proved that the pads should be a staple in his tack room. “I like them. They last a really long time and seem to fit my horses good, so I’ve ridden them ever since 2015,” says Caleb. Along with spreading the word about their products through his social media, he also signs autographs at the WNFR. They’re also put to use for everyday jobs like working cattle and riding colts, which Caleb enjoys doing when he’s home. He also enjoys team roping, which he’s done professionally in the past. Caleb tried his hand at steer wrestling, but that set him back almost a year in 2014 when he broke his leg, so tie-down roping remains his primary focus.
“I love hunting,” Caleb adds. “My father-in-law has a few places to hunt, so I do a lot of deer hunting and hunting wild pigs.” Hunting will take a back seat by March and April when the PRCA Texas Circuit rodeos pick up, followed by the summer run. “Dodge City is one of my favorites and I always seem to do good there. Coming out of the head box at Salinas is always pretty exciting, and Deadwood, South Dakota, is another good one. My family has been with me (rodeoing) every year since I got married,” Caleb says of his wife, Brenna, and their son, Cru. “Now that we have a 2-year-old kid, we might start seeing more stuff on the road and doing more things. He likes horses a little bit, but he likes tractors more than anything, and big machinery.
“Since I make a living doing this, I want to make the finals and try to win another gold buckle,” Caleb finishes. “I’ve always kind of had the mindset that it’s what I do for a living, so I have to make a living at it. It’s what I do to support my family, and always my main goal is to be successful and rodeo.”

Olin Hannum wasted very little time beginning his rodeo career. He was just three when he started chasing calves astride his dad’s pony, then roped and steer wrestled his way through high school rodeo. The 40-year-old, originally from Ogden, Utah, won his first state titles in 1995 in tie-down roping and steer wrestling, followed by a stint of college football on University of North Carolina’s team. His rodeo roots ever tugging, he joined the PRCA in 2003 and qualified for his first WNFR in 2011. “Rodeo has been a part of my family for as long as I can remember,” says Olin, whose dad, Jack Hannum, was a 5-time WNFR qualifier, and mom, Lynn Hannum, worked the WNFR twice as a timer. Olin returned to the floor of the Thomas & Mack Center in December of 2017 in the steer wrestling and finished 9th in the world standings. “I felt like I should have done better — I had high expectations — but I’ve been around long enough to know that you can sit and dwell on it, or you can go and fix some of the things you made mistakes on.” He finished the season with $145,630 and invitations to The American and the Calgary Stampede. “I’m really excited to make it back to those rodeos. They do a good job of putting you up, and I’ve done good at Houston, so I’m really excited about getting back there.”

Also on the radar is the 3rd Annual Olin Hannum Open Jackpot, taking place in Tremonton, Utah, on May 5. Olin says he was talked into hosting the first jackpot by a good friend, and the event took hold and now counts as a Junior NFR qualifier. 5 Star Equine sponsored the jackpot last year, and Olin joined their team of riders that fall. “I ride Burns Saddlery’s saddles, and they sell a lot of 5 Star pads, so we got a relationship going,” says Olin, who’s used their pads a number of years. “When they sponsored my jackpot, they gave a couple of their pads away. It was something good for these younger guys to realize that having a good pad and a good saddle will help your horse’s longevity, and that some of these investments will pay dividends in the long run. I like the fact that I don’t have to use multiple pads, and they fit your horse after a couple of rides.”
His horses, Turtle and Maverick, are his main mounts again this year, while Olin recently started jumping practice steers again since he’s on the mend from a shoulder injury sustained during the WNFR. “The hardest part about where I live is finding a place to practice indoors and having availability,” Olin explains. He and his wife, Natalie, moved to Malad, Idaho, several years ago, looking for a rural community to raise their children, Cheznie (5), Kennedy (3), and Jackson (1). “My wife is a second-grade teacher, so she stays home most of the time, but my daughters traveled with me a lot last year and we had a lot of fun. I have a little pony for them, and they kind of take over on my horses.”
Olin also operates a custom cabinet business, Arrowhead Cabinets, which he originally started in Ogden before moving his shop to Malad. “I mostly do kitchen cabinets, but we’ve done some furniture, so it’s a little bit of everything. I used to hunt and fish, but with the cabinet shop and rodeoing, I don’t do it as much as I used to. My wife and kids and I love to go camping, especially in the summer.”
Rodeoing on the Wilderness Circuit keeps Olin closer to home, while he’s qualified for the RNCFR three times and finished third in the average at the Wilderness Circuit Finals last year. “There are so many good rodeos on this circuit, and I enter a few in the calf roping, but I’m a long way from calling myself a calf roper,” Olin says with a laugh. His younger brother, Jake Hannum, is the tie-down roper of the family, qualifying for the WNFR in 2007. “I think passion is one of the biggest things (that motivates). It’s something you love to do, and you get up and do it every day. I think the people that really love it have a hard time knowing when the end is, and I think I’ll be one of those guys down the road who might slow down, but I still see myself going down the road and circuit rodeoing.
“I try to take things one day at a time. All of us have the big goals in mind as far as making the National Final Rodeo and doing well there, but I just want to be prepared and ready to go to these winter rodeos. I want to bulldog to the very best of my ability, and if I can do a better job at that, the winning will take care of itself.”