EAGLE, Colo. – Brian Bain admits he likes to test his talents against rank bucking horses.

“I like bigger-, stronger-type horses,” said Bain, a 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bareback rider from Culver, Ore.

He got his wish with Carr Pro Rodeo’s Real Deal, and it worked just fine. The two great athletes matched moves for 88 points, helping Bain to the bareback riding title at the Eagle County Fair and Rodeo; he earned $2,964 for the feat and moved into the top 10 in the world standings.

“I’d never been on Real Deal before,” Bain said of the 12-year-old bay gelding, which was named the 2005 Bareback Horse of the Year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “That afternoon, I got a strong bucking horse in Cheyenne (Wyo.), so I got on two of those kinds of horses the same day.

“When I got to Eagle, I was a little nervous because I’d seen Real Deal and I knew all about him. It turns out that horse is just really good. I’d like to get on him every day if I could.”

He’d also like to ride in Eagle more often. An avid outdoorsman, the setting around the Eagle rodeo made the victory even better for Bain.

“That’s a good rodeo,” he said. “It’s a smaller rodeo overall, but everybody goes to it with it being so close to Cheyenne and having Pete Carr’s stock. It’s really a great rodeo and a neat place to see. I’d love to go hunting around there sometime.”

For now, though, Bain is hunting bucking horses. He’d like to continue riding good horses, something he knows is possible with Dallas-based Carr Pro Rodeo.

“Pete’s stock is great,” Bain said. “It’s some of the best in the world, and I love going to his rodeos. He has a lot of rodeos down south, and I tend to stay up north. Pete and I have talked before that I don’t go to enough of his rodeos. I wish I could; I think I just need to work on getting to more.”

It helps that Carr has some of the animals in the game. In addition to Real Deal, Carr horses have been recognized by the top cowboys in the game over the years. River Boat Annie was named the reserve world champion bareback horse in 2007 and continues to be selected to the NFR each year. In Eagle, Coloradoan Tyler Scales rode River Boat Annie for 85 points to finish in a tie for fourth place.

“Pete has a bunch of great horses,” Bain said. “I’ve been dying to get on Dirty Jacket. I’d also like to get on (MGM) Deuces Night one of these days … I’d just like to see what one of them would be like. Those are two world-class horses.

“You’d ride a bicycle a million miles to get on them.”

Eagle County Fair and Rodeo
Eagle, Colo., July 25-28
All-around cowboy: Darnell Johnson, $2,188, team roping and tie-down roping.

Bareback riding: 1. Brian Bain, 88 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Real Deal, $2,964; 2. Bill Tutor, 87 points on Carr’s Dirty Jacket, $2,272; 3. Will Lowe, 86 points on Carr’s Miss Hollywood, $1,680; 4. (tie) Tyler Scales, on Carr’s River Boat Annie, and Tom McFarland, on Carr’s MGM Deuces Night, 85, $899 each; 6. Casey Colletti, 84 points on Carr’s Step Mom, $494; 7. Caine Riddle, 83 on Carr’s Island Girl, $396; 8. (tie) Seth Hardwick, on Carr’s Black Coffee, Caleb Bennett, on Carr’s Outa Sight, and Kaycee Feild, on Carr’s Sin Wagon, 82, $99 each.

Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Payden McIntyre, 5.2 seconds, $855; 2. (tie) Theo Federer and Blair Jones, 5.6, $534 each; 4. Hadley Jackson, 5.8, $214. Second round: 1. Tom Osborne, 4.5 seconds, $855; 2. Wyatt Johnson, 4.7, $641; 3. Hadley Berger, 4.8, $428; 4. Cole McNamee, 5.0, $214. Average: 1. Payden McIntyre, 10.5 seconds on two head, $855; 2. Tom Osborne, 12.1, $641; 3. Riley Krassin, 12.7, $428; 4. Kyle Broce, 13.0, $214.

Team roping: 1. Calvin Brevik/Kory Bramwell, 4.7 seconds, $1,550 each; 2. Tyler Schnaufer/Shay Carroll, 5.1, $1,283; 3. Manny Egusquiza Jr./Brad Culpepper, 5.5, $1,015; 4. Garrett Tonozzi/Kinney Harrell, 5.6, $748; 5. Quisto Lopez/Ryon Tittel, 5.7, $481; 6. Willow Raley/Gary Rodarmel, 8.0, $267.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Bradley Harter, 85 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Lonestar, $2,713; 2. (tie) Cody Martin, on Carr’s Trail Dust, Jacobs Crawley, on Carr’s Ginger Snap, and Jake Wright, on Carr’s Colt 44, 83, $1,537 each; 5. Sterling Crawley, 81 points on Carr’s Empty Pockets, $633; 6. (tie) Cole Elshere, on Carr’s High Lonesome, Ryan Elshere, on Carr’s Cool Runnings, and Chuck Schmidt, on Carr’s True Lies, 80, $362 each.

Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Darnell Johnson, 9.4 seconds, $700; 2. Calvin Brevik, 9.6, $525; 3. (tie) Eric Martin and Cody Gerard, 10.2, $263 each. Second round: 1. Juan Flores, 11.5 seconds, $700; 2. (tie) Darnell Johnson and Joe James, 11.9, $438 each; 4. (tie) Kyle Dutton and Joe Dickens, 12.3, $88 each. Average: 1. Darnell Johnson, 21.3 seconds on two head, $1,050; 2. Cody Gerard, 23.4, $788; 3. Eric Martin, 27.3, $525; 4. Britt Bath, 29.7, $263.

Barrel racing: 1. Dianne Luark, 17.66 seconds, $1,562; 2. Jennifer Noble, 17.82, $1,339; 3. Kim Schulze, 17.87, $1,116; 4. Brittany Fellows, 17.91, $967; 5. Heather Ratteree, 17.93, $744; 6. (tie) Sarah Kieckhefer and Lexi Bath, 17.96, $521 each; 8. Hayden Segelke, 18.12, $298; 9. Myra Masters, 18.20, $223; 10. Mandi Jo Fox, 18.25, $149.

Bull riding: 1. (tie) Trey Benton III, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Black Ice, and J.W. Harris, on Carr’s Depths of Despair, 88 points, $2,820 each; 3. Scottie Knapp, 86 points on Carr’s Motown, $1,809; 4. Cody Samora, 84 points on Carr’s Comanche, $1,170; 5. Tim Bingham, 83 points  on Carr’s Time Out, $745; 6. (tie) Josh Koschel, on Carr’s Itch N Scratch, and Tony Mendes, on Carr’s The Mexican, 81, $479 each; 8. Dalton Votaw, 78 points on Carr’s Backlash, $319.