Monthly Archives: June 2011

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story appeared in the May 2011 issue of Women’s Pro Rodeo News. Uncertainty crept into Tana Renick’s mind on the final day of the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo. It’s not that she didn’t believe in herself or in her partner, a 13-year-old bay mare named XV Wildchild; Teddy helped Renick win the 2010 Prairie Circuit year-end title, earning the Kingston, Okla., cowgirl a trip to the national championship in Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City, just two hours from the Renick home. tan “I still can’t believe I won it,” Renick said a week after the biggest win of her career. “I have so much faith in Teddy, but with that back-to-back format on the last day and runner her 45 minutes to an hour later, I was never sure what she would do. “She was actually faster that run than she was her semifinal run.” The DNCFR’s format featured two full go-rounds. The top eight cowgirls in the two-run average qualified for the semifinals, and all previous times were erased. The top four based on semifinal times advanced to the sudden death finals, where the cowgirl with the fastest time was crowned national champion. “I can’t believe I outran Sherry in the sudden death deal,” Renick said, referring to three-time and reigning world champion Sherry Cervi of Marana, Ariz. Renick and Teddy posted a 15.30-second run in that finale, 11-100ths of a second faster than Cervi. Renick earned $17,687, the most of the 24 barrel racers in the field. Cervi, who won the semifinal, finished with $15,973. “I’m still overwhelmed and happy,” Renick said. “It took me a few days to sleep at night.” Round by round Early on, Lisa Lockhart proved why she’s been a mainstay at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. She and Oakie With Cash won the opening go-round, posting a 15.24-second run on opening night. Louie’s time held up for the fastest of the four-day, five-performance rodeo, which is pretty phenomenal. But that’s Louie, an 8-year-old buckskin gelding by Biebers Oakie out of Lady Kaweah Cash. “Louie felt great,” said Lockhart of Oelrichs, S.D. “I think it’s a great pen to run in. It’s not too small, but it’s not too big either.” The 25th anniversary of the DNCFR has found a new home at Oklahoma City’s State Fairgrounds after 24 years in Pocatello, Idaho. The change of venue brings a championship-caliber ProRodeo event back to the longtime home of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – that event took place in Jim Norick Arena from 1965-78, then was in the Myriad Arena in downtown Oklahoma City until 1984. “I hope it works well here,” Lockhart said. “I love Pocatello, but this is such an outstanding facility that it works well to have it here.” Renick and Teddy posted a 15.26, the second-fastest run of the weekend, good enough for second place in the go-round. Their speedy time also came near the bottom of the ground on the second night of the competition. “She got to stay in the pasture at home until 1 o’clock this afternoon,” said Renick, who was competing at the DNCFR for the first time in her career. “I didn’t really have any idea what it would be like when I got here.” Hindsight tells an interesting tale. Take Nancy Hunter, who won the second go-round after knocking over a barrel in the first. Hunter and Flit N Fizz rounded the pattern in 15.31, just 1-100th of a second ahead of Cervi and Bobbie Jo Bohlman. Still, that was good enough for a $4,525 payday. But that was after dealing with the frustration of downing the second barrel for the fifth straight time. In the early-morning hours before most folks had awakened at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds, Fred Hunter had Fuzz in the practice pen. “I’m so lucky to have a husband to fix my horse,” said Nancy, a representative from of the Wilderness Circuit. “Hopefully I can stay in there in the round just to make a little money to pay for the fuel home.” Lockhart and Renick won the two-run average and led the field of eight into the semifinals. That’s where Cervi and MP Meter My Hay shined with their 15.29. Everybody in the building expected it, too. After all, Stingray had guided Cervi to paychecks in both rounds and a third-place finish in the average. Plus the two have been solid at just about every venue they’ve been to over the past few seasons, winning the Wrangler NFR average in 2009 and finishing second in 2010, when they won the world title, Cervi’s third. When Renick posted the 15.30 to win the final round, only she was surprised. Those who know the game saw talent in the cowgirl and Teddy. “There was just so much going on that it was kind of a blur,” said Renick, who tried to take care of her horse and other chores, only to be ushered off to handle post-event pomp and circumstance. “I can’t thank Lisa Lockhart enough, because I was trying to get everything taken care of and get my horse cooled down, and she came running to me to help me out. She asked what all she needed to do, then said she’d handle it and that I needed to go. That was so sweet of her to do that for me.” Where to go from here No matter where she is in the standings – ninth in the WPRA ProRodeo Standings the week after the DNCFR – Tana Renick has her priorities in order. “The biggest thing I am is a mom first,” she said, referring to Taycee, her daughter with her husband, Henry. “But I know I’m in a position that I need to go.” That’s not easy, and she knows it. She doesn’t want to leave her family behind, but she’s hoping to make it pay off with her first qualification to the Wrangler NFR. That means hitting the road. “I’ve been  Continue Reading »

I left Reno, and I didn’t have a good horse in Prescott (Ariz.), so I had three days off. I got to come home and check on my cows. I ride in Springfield tomorrow night, and we’ll be gone until September, so it’s good that I got to spend some time at home. Now it’s time to hit it hard. First has about $66,000 right now, so I’ve got a lot of ground to make up. If I want to go to the finals and win another buckle, I’m just going to have to go. It’s just part of being a cowboy. It beats getting that 9-to-5 job. This rodeo life doesn’t last forever for roughstock guys, so I’ve got to take advantage of every situation I can. The Fourth (of July) run is hard, but you can also win a lot of money. You’ve got to put your name in the hat at all the big ones and see what’s going to happen. What a lot of people don’t realize is that the whole summer is important. We’re still going to be going to one rodeo about every day. It doesn’t really slow down, so we’ll be taking our Hodge Ford vehicle as hard as we can. Of course, Hodge Ford has been awfully good to me. That’s important in rodeo.

When we arrived in Guymon, Okla., on Monday afternoon, we were greeted with open arms and open doors. Our friends, Ken and Sherry Stonecipher, have opened their doors to us for a couple of days while we take care of some personal business and while I do some work from the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. It’s great touching base with longtime friends. My wife lived in this neck of the woods for 13 years, from school to work to her years on the committee that produces the annual Pioneer Days Rodeo. Ken, who was a longtime chairman of the rodeo committee, also is a ProRodeo announcer. That means he and I plan to do a little work while I’m here as we prepare to work the upcoming Silverton (Texas) Buck Wild Days Rodeo. While here, I’m getting a fine education on the Guymon rodeo, even more information than I had in the back of my mind. Ken has several mementos from his years associated with the event as well as his time around the sport in general. And that’s been a blast for me to see. I could look at a lot of that stuff all day long. But getting to spend time with friends makes the trip even better.

PECOS, Texas – Chris Harris must like west Texas. He definitely likes Deuces Night, one of the up-and-coming great bucking horses from Carr Pro Rodeo. For the second straight year, Harris matched moves with Deuces Night to win bareback riding at the West of the Pecos Rodeo; this year he earned $3,278 for his win at the 129th edition of the World’s Oldest Rodeo with an 87-point ride on the 6-year-old mare sired by the great bucking stallion Night Jacket. Harris told Lee Scheide of the Odessa American that the young horse is showy, flashy and a good horse to get on. “You just got to do your job,” Harris said in the publication. That’s been the case for the last year concerning the bucking beast, who led world champion Kelly Timberman to the 10th-round victory at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the first of what should be many trips to ProRodeo’s grand finale for the athletic horse. This past April, she guided Kaycee Field to a 90-point, round-tying ride during the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo championship in Oklahoma City. “She has just been phenomenal all year,” said Scotty Spencer, a Carr Pro Rodeo cowboy who cares for the animal athletes. “With the 117-degree temperatures all week in here, it’s tough on everyone, including the animals. “But even with the extreme conditions, all the animals were really outstanding.” That’s saying something. Many parts of Texas have seen several weeks of triple-digit high temperatures, and that plays a role into how well any athlete performs. It might not make a difference to Charlie’s Bandito, though. In Pecos, NFR veteran Tate Stratton and the Carr Pro Rodeo bull worked together for 89 points to win the rodeo and $3,809 – it was the second time in three weeks that Charlie’s Bandito has guided cowboys to rodeo championships; he helped Jacob O’Mara to the win in Stephenville, Texas, two weeks before. “I knew he was a good bull,” said Stratton of Kellyville, Okla. “I just sat in the middle of him the whole time. He just felt so good. I was a little surprised at the score, because I didn’t have a lot of pressure on that ride. It just felt like driving a Cadillac, just really nice in the middle.” Spencer, who serves as one of the bullfighters during the rodeo, saw the action closer than almost anyone else in Pecos. “Tate’s an outstanding cowboy that made a great ride on one of our bulls that should go to the NFR this year,” Spencer said. There were plenty of big winners in Pecos, which has a grand history in the sport of rodeo. In fact, one of the greatest cowboys in the game, 14-time world champion Trevor Brazile, won the all-around title. Other winners were steer wrestler Ben Goodman, 9.8 seconds on two runs; team ropers Derrick Begay and Cesar de la Cruz, 15.3 on two runs; tie-down roper Sterling Smith, 19.8 on two; barrel racer Cassie Moseley rounded the cloverleaf pattern in 17.54 seconds for first; steer ropers Kim Ziegelgruber and Cody Scheck, 41.6 on three; and saddle bronc riders Cody Angland and Seth Schafer posted 83s on horses that have bucked at the NFR. Schafer rode veteran bronc Coffee Bean to collect his $2,782, while Angland matched moves with True Lies. “Cody rode True Lies in that last performance, and he was really good,” Spencer said. “That’s probably the best I’d seen that horse all year. “We’ve changed our feeding program at the ranch, and it’s taken quite a bit of weight off Coffee Bean. She’s probably been the best I’ve seen her since I’ve been around. She’s bucked like the NFR-caliber horse that she is, and Seth couldn’t have ridden her any better.” West of the Pecos Rodeo Pecos, Texas June 22-25 All-around cowboy: Trevor Brazile, $3,329, team roping, tie-down roping and steer roping. Bareback riding: 1. Chris Harris, 87 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dueces Night, $3,278; 2. (tie) Steven Peebles and Will Lowe, 86, $2,185 each; 4. Kaycee Feild, 85, $1,202; 5. (tie) Tilden Hooper and J.R. Vezain, 84, $656 each; 7. (tie) Jared Smith and Kelly Timberman, 83, $382 each. Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Ben Goodman, 4.6 seconds, $1,414; 2. (tie) Brad McGilchrist and Nick Guy, 4.7, $1,048 each; 4. Clayton Tuchscherer, 4.8, $683; 5. Casey Martin, 4.9, $439; 6. Jacob Talley, 5.4, $244. Second round: 1. Darrell Petrky, 4.6 seconds, $1,414; 2. Jabe Anderson III, 5.1, $1,170; 3. (tie) Ben Goodman, Kyle Calllaway and Chance Campbell, 5.2, $683 each; 6. Clayton Tuchscherer, 5.3, $244. Average: 1. Ben Goodman, 9.8 seconds on two head, $1,414; 2. Clayton Tuchscherer, 10.1, $1,170; 3. (tie) Jabe Anderson III and Darrell Petry, 11.2, $805 each; 5. Cal Urbanek, 12.1, $439; 6. Brent Lassetter, 12.2, $244. Team roping: First round: 1. Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, 7.5 seconds, $2,015 each; 2. Brock Hanson/B.J. Campbell, 8.1, $1,668; 3. Matt Sherwood/Cory Petska, 8.2, $1,320; 4. (tie) Waylon McCurley/Travis Woodard and Charly Crawford/Russell Cardoza, 8.3, $799 each; 6. (tie) Turtle Powell/Jhett Johnson, Justin Yost/Kyle Crick and Ty Blasingame/Cody Hintz, 8.8, $116 each. Second round: 1. Erich Rogers/Kory Koontz, 5.9 seconds, $2,015 each; 2. David Key/Justin Wade Davis, 7.5, $1,668; 3. (tie) Colby Lovell/Bobby Harris and David Motes/Ryon Tittel, 7.6, $1,147 each; 5. Keven Daniel/Chase Tryan, 8.2, $625; 6. (tie) Turtle Powell/Jhett Johnson and Jake Barnes/Walt Woodard, 8.3, $174 each. Average: 1. Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, 16.3 seconds on two head, $3,023 each; 2. Turtle Powell/Jhett Johnson, 17.1, $2,501; 3. Brock Hanson/B.J. Campbell, 17.2, $1,980; 4. Justin Yost/Kyle Crick, 17.3, $1,459; 5. Charly Crawford/Russell Cardoza, 18.2, $938; 6. (tie) Jeremy Mascorro/Quisto Lopez and Keven Daniel/Chase Tryan, 20.3, $261 each. Saddle bronc riding: 1. (tie) Seth Schafer, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Coffee Bean, and Cody Angland, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s True Lies, 83 points, $2,782 each; 3. Jace Garrett, 79, $1,785; 4. (tie) Sam Spreadborough and Weston Ireland, 78, $945 each; 6. (tie) Steven Dent and Jacobs Crawley, 77, $472 each;  Continue Reading »

I’ve got some good horses lined up for the Fourth (of July, the series of lucrative rodeos referred to as Cowboy Christmas). I’ve got (Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s) R.D. Mercer in Springdale (Ark.), and I’ve got a good horse in Prescott (Ariz.). I’m just looking for good things. The Fourth is seven days of non-stop going. When it’s over, you’re ready for a long nap. We’ll go hard, that’s for sure. We left a car in Albuquerque (N.M.) the other day to fly to Reno. I just kept my ears open for things, and I found a guy who picked up our car in Albuquerque and drove it to Denver. We’ll start in Prescott, then we’ll drive to Phoenix and fly back to Tulsa so we can work Springdale. I’m actually flying into Bentonville (Ark.), and my buddy Eric Norris is picking me up in Bentonville. I’ll work Springdale, then I’ll hook back up with Justin McDaniel and drive back to Tulsa so we can fly do Denver to work Greeley (Colo). We’ll drive to Oakley, Utah, which is basically Salt Lake City; that next day, we’re in Cody, Wyo. The on (July) 3rd, we’ve got Red Lodge and Livingston (Mont.) on the same day. That night we have an all-nighter to make St. Paul and Molalla (Ore.) the last day. If a guy ends up getting two really good ones, he may have to charter a plane to make sure he gets to them all. Last year, I got to Oregon and I hadn’t won a lick. I was walking around with my bottom lip stick out feeling sorry for myself, and I ended up winning Molalla and St. Paul. Winning those two rodeos on the Fourth made for having a good week after all. How you make the Fourth work is you fly a lot, you drive a lot and you rub two nickels together and hope by the end of the week they turn into $100 bills.

For several years, header Turtle Powell and heeler Jhett Johnson have proven themselves as elite ropers in their respective categories. Now that they’ve joined together, they’re setting a healthy standard in team roping. This past week is as much proof as anything. Powell, a five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Stephenville, Texas, and Johnson, a four-time NFR qualifier from Casper, Wyo., won a hair more than $15,000 each in a week’s worth of roping. They won the prestigious Reno (Nev.) Rodeo for the lion’s share of their earnings, but they also finished second at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo and earned a round check in Santa Fe, N.M. That will move each cowboy easily into the top 10 in their divisions. Also it provides them with incredible momentum heading into “Cowboy Christmas,” the lucrative run of rodeos around the Fourth of July. That might be the most valuable piece they’ve got going in their fights for 2011 world championships.

Rodeo cowboys and cowgirls spend much more time on the highways than in arenas. It’s just the nature of the beast for contestants who work their tails off for just a few seconds of time in competition at a time. I’ll get a sneak peak at their life on the road when I head to the Texas Panhandle tomorrow with my wife and oldest daughter. Google maps says it’ll take more than nine hours to get to our first stop, then my wife and I will continue another two hours. From the time we leave until we unpack at our final stop of the night, I’m figuring it’ll be 15 hours. That’s nothing new to rodeo folks, who do that dang near every day. But most likely, I’ll be making several more pit stops than my buddies scurrying back to Reno, Nev., for the short go-round. Bathroom stops are a must, you know. And, I suspect, I’ll be the one requesting those breaks; it comes with age.

For much of the last three years, I’ve been a regular contributor to Women’s Pro Rodeo News, the official magazine of of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. I’m very fortunate to have met some outstanding women and tell their stories, and I plan to share some of them on TwisTED Rodeo. If you don’t subscribe to WPRN, you should consider it. You’ll be impressed by the passion involved. WOMEN’S PRO RODEO NEWS, June 2011 Most 18-year-olds have aspirations about how their lives will turn out. Athletes dream of championships and competition and beating the best in the business. Kassidy Dennison isn’t your typical 18-year-old cowgirl. Yes, she sees those stars most want to grab, and she’d love to play on the grandest stage in the sport, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. But if it’s possible, her visions are beyond gold buckles. “I’m interested in showing our young kids to have a dream and to do something big,” said Dennison, a Native American cowgirl who lives on the edge of the Navajo Nation in Tohatchi, N.M. “It’s like Derrick Begay; he gave people out here on our reservation motivation. Derrick’s really talented, and he’s the first Navajo to qualify for the NFR. “I want to give somebody a dream, then help them follow it.” She’s well on her way after winning the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo the first weekend of May, collecting $3,945 in the process. She won the first round with a 17.38-second run, six-100ths of a second faster than second-place finisher Susan Kay Smith. Dennison was even faster in her second-round run during the Friday night, May 6, performance, but the 17.27 was second best to Kim Schulze’s 17.20. “Just before Guymon, I was having a hard time,” Dennison said. “I wasn’t really placing, and my horse wasn’t really working that well, but I just kept at it. I believe God has this plan for me, so I’ll just keep working at it.” Dennison is a home-schooled high school senior, raised and educated by her parents, Karl and Debra, both of whom have been around rodeo most of their lives. Debra Dennison is half-Scottish, half-Navajo, and Karl is full-blooded Navajo. Each of their three children – Kyle, Devyn and Kassidy – share that lineage and their passion for the sport of rodeo. Kassidy Dennison is the youngest sibling, and she still competes in the New Mexico High School Rodeo Association. In fact, she had to trade places with another cowgirl in order to make her second-round run in the opening performance in Guymon; Dennison was in a high school rodeo in Gallup, N.M., starting Saturday morning. That eight-hour drive toward home – Gallup is half an hour south of Tohatchi – was important. Dennison is focused on finishing her high school rodeo career on a high note; she wants to qualify for the National High School Finals Rodeo this summer. “I rode a different horse than I rode in Guymon, and I ended up winning second in barrels,” she said. “I didn’t do so well in breakaway.” That’s not always the case. In fact, Dennison has earned five Indian National Finals Rodeo championships in her young career, the first of which was five years ago. She has earned four all-around titles and a barrel racing buckle. Which leads us to 2011. Dennison turned 18, and she became a full-fledged member of the WPRA shortly thereafter. She travels the circuit with her 22-year-old sister, Devyn, who is on her WPRA permit. “Since I’m going, my sister wants to give it a try,” Dennison said. “She’s been one of my biggest supporters. I know I wouldn’t have gone this far if it wasn’t for her.” That’s true, but as any true rodeo hand will tell you, it takes a village to raise a champion. Her parents are in that mix, and so is her older brother, Kyle. Of course, none of it would be happening without Sierra Hall of Fame, her 5-year-old gelding out of La Ganadora by PESI Stallion Dash Ta Fame. Eagle is fast, but, as one might imagine, he’s green. “When he’s on, he’s on,” Dennison said. “I got him last year in February. Dena Kirkpatrick found Eagle for me, and I was at her house all last year. I don’t even know how many months I stayed with her and worked with him. We really improved myself and him to where we are right now. “Dena got me that opportunity. He was truly a blessing. He came from out of nowhere. I feel truly blessed to have him.” Dennison realizes the talent she’s hauling, and she understands mistakes will be made. She’s figuring this will be a learning session, for her and her trusty mount. “I realized we had nothing to lose and everything to gain,” she said. “This is both of our rookie years, and it’s the first time we’re rodeoing with the best girls. I’m going to look at every rodeo like it’s just another barrel race. “I’ve really prepared myself to hit the road. I really want to succeed in this, so I’ve worked my way around and I’ve been meeting the right people to help me be successful.” Success is measured in so many ways. For Dennison, it’s about reaching out to others, motivating them to live up to their potential and chasing their dreams. “I want to make the NFR,” she said. “If I’m blessed to go that far, I plan on winning the NFR. I do want to go to college next year, and I want to get my degree in marketing. I’ll see where life takes me from there. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be involved in rodeo. I’m doing it now so that, eventually, someone other than myself will see how interesting rodeo is. Maybe that can help grow rodeo out here on our reservation.”  

I love seeing a passion for rodeo develop among those who have never experienced it. Oftentimes I work with neophyte reporters who know little, if anything, about the sport. I show them the athleticism involved and liken it to sports they might understand better. I explain the lifestyle and the no-guarantees competition, and I can always tell when those reporters get it. It’s a greater joy for me to see young journalists get excited about rodeo. Such is the case with my Joshua Kinder, a friend of mine who serves as sports editor of the newspaper in Manhattan, Kan. I’d contacted Josh several months ago as I tried to work out an agreement with the Kaw Valley Rodeo, which takes place every July in Manhattan. Josh is from Dodge City, Kan., home of the largest ProRodeo in the state. He’d been around the sport some, and he’s watched bull riding on TV. Even though I won’t be working with the Manhattan rodeo this year, Josh reached out to me with a brilliant idea he had: He wants to ride a bull and write about the process of such in advance of the Kaw Valley Rodeo. Under the watchful eye of Steve Frazier, the former rodeo coach at Kansas State University who has been on the rodeo association for a number of years, Kinder has been training. What he’s learned is that it takes quite a bit to ride a bull, or in his level of development, ride a practice bucking machine. It takes even more for Josh, who, even though he’s lost nearly 100 pounds, still weighs in at more than 210 pounds – considerably heavier than most bull riders. He’s at a disadvantage, but he knows it. Still he’s excited about his continued development and the opportunity to ride a bull. More importantly, this cowboy from western Kansas wants to get even closer to the sport. He is looking into joining the Kaw Valley Rodeo Association so he can help a great community event get even better. That kind of passion is fun to see. So is Josh’s work, which you can see HERE.

While going through things in our storage area, my wife and I came across the television broadcast of the 1998 Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. It’s definitely interesting to see the telecast, hear the voices of Hadley Barrett and Curt Robinson and see a much younger set of friends. It’s also interesting to see the difference in the quality of bucking animals from just 13 years ago; over the last five or six years, each of the four performances of Pioneer Days Rodeo has been like a mini-Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. It’s also quite interesting that the “sideline” reporter is a young announcer named Justin McKee, and the lead commentator is Reed Flake; the latter is still involved in Rodeo Video, handling all the necessary duties it takes to produce the shows. It’s kind of funny to listen to his voice on the broadcast, then see the tall cowboy working the video camera I think it’s important the rodeo world looks at its history so we can see just how far its come.

BIG SPRING, Texas – Even rodeo cowboys need to celebrate. Bareback rider Wes Stevenson did that from June 16-18 when he won the title at the Big Spring Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo with an 86-point ride on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Close Call, collecting the $1,102 that came with the victory. “The crowd that was there that night seemed to be more family-oriented,” said Stevenson of Lubbock, Texas. “It made for more fun since the guys and I all had our families with us.” Stevenson and two members of his traveling posse – three-time world champion Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, and four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Tom McFarland of Sunset, Texas – finished atop the leaderboard in Big Spring. McFarland finished second with an 85 on Carr’s Back Road, while Lowe’s 83 on Carr’s Scruffy was third. Pete Carr, owner of the livestock company, has provided the great animal athletes to the Big Spring Reunion and Rodeo for several years, and Carr Pro Rodeo is developing quite a reputation as one of the best stock contractors in ProRodeo. “The only thing I knew about that horse was that it had a brand on it, No. 95, and that was about it,” Stevenson said. “Pete told me a little bit about the horse, but I didn’t know anything else.” What happened when the chute gate opened is best described as electric. “I knew that horse would be wild and close to the chutes, and that’s what I told Wes,” Carr said. “You always like it when the best guys in the world get on your horses, because they really can make it that much better.” That worked fine for Stevenson, a six-time qualifier to the NFR, the annual grand championship in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. I probably ride better if I don’t try to set a trap or try to have a game plan of what I think I want to do,” he said. “I do my best and let God take care of the best.” Stevenson is one of eight contestants crowned champions in Big Spring, including bull rider Casey Huckabee, who rode Carr’s Synergy for 86 points; saddle bronc rider Sam Spreadborough, who was 86 points on Carr’s Blue Spy; steer wrestler David Sab, 5.2 seconds; team ropers Goose and Jesse Guzman, 24.7 seconds on two runs; tie-down roper Ryan Watkins, 8.6 seconds; and barrel racer Cassie Moseley, 16.64 seconds. “The most important thing to me was that I got to get on some good bucking horses,” Stevenson said. “It is close to home, so I’m not wearing myself on the road. The $1,000 I won there is the confidence-booster I need to go out and win $10,000. I knew we had a chance to get on some of Pete’s good bucking horses, and that helps me a lot down the road.” Big Spring Cowboy Reunion & Rodeo Big Spring, Texas, June 16-18 All-around cowboy: Monty Eakin, $747, steer wrestling and tie-down roping. Bareback riding: 1. Wes Stevenson, 86 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Close Call, $1,102; 2. Tom McFarland, 85 on Carr’s Back Road, $827; 3. Will Lowe, 83 on Carr’s Scruffy, $551; 4. Matt Bright, 82 on Carr’s Power Ade, $276. Steer wrestling: 1. David Sab, 5.2 seconds, $902; 2. Monty Eakin, 5.3, $747; 3. Clayton Tuchscherer, 5.6, $591; 4. Brent Lassetter, 6.6, $436; 5. Jack Hodges, 6.7, $280; 6. Chance Campbell, 7.0, $156. Team roping: First round: 1. Goose Guzman/Jesse Guzman, 15.0 seconds, $282 each; no other qualified runs; Second round: Goose Guzman/Jesse Guzman, 9.7 seconds, $282 each; no other qualified runs; Average: Goose Guzman/Jesse Guzman, 24.7 seconds on two head, $423 each. Saddle bronc riding: 1. Sam Spreadborough, 86 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Blue Spy, $1,159; 2. Casey Sisk, 83 on Carr’s Smoke Wagon, $869; 3. (tie) Weston Ireland on Carr’s Corner Guard, Travis Edwards on Carr’s Smoke Wagon and Seth Schafer on Carr’s Paper Doll, 82, $290 each. Tie-down roping: 1. Ryan Watkins, 8.6 seconds, $1,192; 2. Cody Owens, 8.9, $986; 3. (tie) Matt Kenney and Juan Flores Jr., 10.0, $678 each; 5. (tie) Will Kiker and Garrett Hale, 10.5, $288 each. Barrel racing: 1. Cassie Moseley, 16.64 seconds, $1,021; 2. Shelley Morgan, 16.78, $876; 3. Kassidy Dennison, 16.95, $730; 4. Layna Kight, 16.99, $632; 5. Callie Chamberlain, 17.04, $486; 6. (tie) Debbie Bloxom and Morgann McDonald, 17.05, $340 each; 8. Margaret Stephenson, 17.10, $195; 9. Lisa Fernandes, 17.12, $146; 10. Jessi Eagleberger, 17.14, $97. Bull riding: 1. Casey Huckabee, 86 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Synergy, $1,140; 2. Trevor Kastner, 82 on Carr’s Copper Thief, $855; 3. Camo Mullins, 80 on Carr’s Mingus Nights, $570; 4. (tie) A.L. Ambrose on Carr’s M.J. and Dakota Rasberry on Carr’s Lights Out, 77, $143 each. Total payoff: $26,497. Stock contractor: Carr Pro Rodeo. Rodeo secretary: Delia Walls. Officials: DeWitt Forrest and Travis Howe. Timers: Denise Adams and Sandy Gwatney. Announcer: Mike Mathis. Specialty act: Keith Isley and Blake Goode. Bullfighters: Scotty Spencer and Chris Kirby. Clown/barrelman: Keith Isley. Flankman: Pete Carr. Chute bosses: Pete Carr and John Gwatney. Pickup men: Paul Peterson and Guy Allen.

I’m blessed. That’s the reality. Not many people get to do what they love, and I lived that life for a long time. But that’s not the case now. I’m chasing my gold buckle dreams, just like the contestants about whom I write. A few days ago I got to visit with a couple of good friends, D.V. Fennell and Justin McDaniel, two of the best bareback riders going down the road these days. I’m blessed to have worked with them closely over the past couple of years, and I’m more blessed to have seen their tremendous athletic feats in action. Better yet, I’m blessed to call them friends, and I hope we’re all in Vegas celebrating more great things when the 2010 ProRodeo season concludes. They deserve it.

I believe firmly in the impact of strong media relations; I’d better, huh. But in an effort to promote rodeo as well as I can, I want to entice great coverage. I hope the pieces that are in this PDF file did just that in Big Spring, Texas, last weekend. BigSpringHerald

I just finished the first night in Carthage, Mo., and I think the rodeo went quite well. The crowd was the best and most responsive I’ve had in awhile. The people came out to get away from their day-to-day and just enjoy themselves. I’m pretty sure the old cliché works very well: A good time was had by all.

PECOS, Texas – If a bucking horse can announce its presence with authority, Deuces Night did it last June at the West of the Pecos Rodeo. The 6-year-old bay/paint mare out of Night Line by Night Jacket bucked snappily across the Buck Jackson Arena dirt, guiding Texan Chris Harris to an 88-point, rodeo-winning ride. That’s when the Carr Pro Rodeo bucking beast became the talk among cowboys who ride bareback horses for a living. “When you get on a good horse and make a good ride, it dang sure feels good,” said Harris, a six-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Itasca, Texas. “She’s just a good horse, and I was glad to win that rodeo. I had not won it before. I’d placed there a couple times, but it was a good victory. It’s the oldest rodeo in the United States of America, so it’s quite an honor.” Harris will be looking to defend its title during the four performances of the 129th edition of the West o the Pecos Rodeo, set for 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 22-Saturday, June 25. He knows the opportunities will be there again this year, thanks in large part to the great animal athletes that come from Carr Pro Rodeo, the livestock firm that produces the annual rodeo. “It takes somebody who knows the game and understands it, and that’s what you’ve got in Pete Carr,” Harris said of the company’s owner. “It takes passion to put that back into the animals, to take care of them, to feed them the right grain, the right nutrients. “That guy got his hands on Riverboat Annie, and that horse, to me, is still one of the greatest horses to get on. That takes heart, passion and try.” Riverboat Annie has been one of the top horses in bareback riding for several years, and in 2007 was crowned the reserve world champion bareback horse. She followed in the footsteps of another Carr horse, Real Deal, the 2005 Bareback Riding Horse of the Year. Deuces Night is well on the way to receiving a similar honor. She bucked at the NFR for the first time last December and carried Kelly Timberman to the 10th-round victory with an 88.5-point ride. This past April, she and Kaycee Feild posted a round-tying 90-point score in the final go-round at the Dodge National Circuit Finals. “This is a very special mare that bucks the right way,” Carr said. “You can tell she loves her job. We look for big things from her in the near future.” The horse was raised by bareback rider Wes Stevenson, who took advantage of the animal’s great pedigree – her sire, Night Jacket, is one of the most celebrated stallions in the bucking horse business today and was purchased two seasons ago for $200,000. Stevenson sold Deuces Night to Carr last year. “She’s been on of the best in the business all year,” said Stevenson, a six-time NFR qualifier. “I knew she’d have a really good shot to come to the finals. I knew she was that good, so part of the reason I sold her to Pete is that I knew she’d have a good shot to go to the finals. I bought her from Jim Zinser as a brood mare, but she bucked so good, I didn’t want to waste her sitting at my house. I wanted her to have a chance. “She has a lot of heart. I was the first one to get on her with a rigging, and from the first time we ever bucked her, I knew that little filly has a lot of heart. She’s a very electric horse. She’s going to start doing some stuff right out of the box.” She’s done pretty well, and the cowboys love the opportunity to ride her. “Wes is a guru when it comes to genetics,” Harris said. “My hat’s off to Wes. He picked the right stock contractor to sell that horse to, one that’s going to do the right things with her and take care of her. “I raise bucking horses, too, and the reality is, it doesn’t matter who raises them. It’s about who’s hauling them, who’s feeding them, who’s caring for them, and in this case, it’s the Carr family. Those guys take care of their horses, and they take care of them the right way.”

PECOS, Texas – When it comes to rodeo, folks in Far West Texas know their stuff. A good portion of residents have done it in some regard, whether in the arenas across the landscape or across the dusty pastures of the Rolling Plains. They’ve definitely been around it, and they’re the biggest supporters of the sport that features great cowboys and cowgirls and the outstanding animal athletes. “We have a lot of old rodeo fans that don’t cut me a bit of slack,” said Joe Keese, president of the committee that organizes the annual West of the Pecos Rodeo, set for 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 22-Saturday, June 25, at Buck Jackson Arena. “Two years ago, after the 2009 rodeo, I had a lot of people tell me that it was one of the best rodeos they’d ever watched, start to finish. Last year, I had even more people tell me that. “That’s a true testament to the great livestock Pete Carr brings to our rodeo every year and the kind of production Carr Pro Rodeo puts on. Last year, I had two people, two legitimate critics, who told me they didn’t think we could top the year before, but we did.” That’s saying something about Pecos, home of the World’s First Rodeo, which will celebrate its 129th year this June. “We’re tickled to have rodeos that have that much history in the sport,” said Carr, the owner of the Dallas-based livestock firm. The West of the Pecos Rodeo is still making history, whether it’s having Boyd Polhamus – the voice of ProRodeo – announcing the action or the best soundman in the business, Benje Bendele, adding a delicate touch to the proceedings or having the event produced by the staff of Carr Pro Rodeo, one of the fastest-growing stock contractors in the game. “One of the things Pete has helped us with tremendously is because he’s got such a good livestock lineup, he’s got the quality of animals that brings the top cowboys,” Keese said. “The good news for the fans that follow the sport of rodeo is that no matter what night they come to our rodeo, they’ll get to see their favorite guys go.” Keese isn’t just hearing good things from fans; many of the biggest names in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association are talking about why they want to be in Pecos, too. “When I’m on the road, I know I’m going to Pete Carr’s rodeos,” said Chris Harris, a six-time bareback riding qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo from Itasca, Texas. “It’s easy to ride good when you’re on something that bucks. When you enter a Pete Carr rodeo, you’re going to get on something that bucks, and you’re going to have a shot at winning every time.” The Pecos rodeo provides many outstanding features, from a large arena that will test the greatest timed-event cowboys in the game to a 12 foot-by-17 foot video board to help fans enjoy the experience on site. Tim Lepard with Wild Thang Productions will be the barrelman/funnyman and provide fantastic acts, like having capuchin monkeys riding border collies that round up sheep. “For the cowboys, we have a really long timed-event box and a 20-plus-foot score line,” Keese said. “When you have a huge arena and a long box like that, as I’ve been told by many guys, you’ve got to know what you’re doing. If you’re not well-mounted and not good at what you do, you’re not going to win in Pecos. “We’re going to have great timed-event cattle, too. Pete spends the money to bring in a good string of steers and a good string of calves.” As the rodeo evolves, the organizers realize it must reach into its past – that’s just one of the benefits of having the oldest rodeo in the United States. “An awful lot of the cowboys filled their permits in Pecos,” Keese said, referring to the development stage of ProRodeo whereby permit-holders must earn a minimum amount of money through competition to be eligible to become members of the PRCA. “A lot come back here every year because they came with their granddad, then their dad, and they want to keep that going. “With this arena and our set up, it’s a test of the cowboy’s skills, and it’s tradition. People want that Pecos buckle.”

JMac (2008 world champion bareback rider Justin McDaniel) and I missed out flight to Sisters (Ore.) and had to turn out the best horses in the bunch, the ones that could’ve won it for us. We went up to Tulsa the night before, and we were staying right there by the airport. We woke up and were waiting on the shuttle, and the shuttle driver was late. Then when we get to the ticket counter, we stood in line for 20 minutes. Then the security level was red that day, so I just get in line and wait. By the time I get through, I run through to my gate, and they said the pilot had shut the doors and wasn’t letting anyone on. My bags went to Houston before they got them back to me. So we went to the track with our sponsor, Jack Hodge from James Hodge Ford. We were down there standing on pit road (at Tulsa Raceway Park). It was pretty cool, ol’ JMac sporting his State Farm hat for my buddy, Eric Norris, who’s been helping me out for a couple years now. We hung out at Weatherford (Texas) with a bunch of old college buddies of mine, then at Bradley Harter’s. We’re headin’ to the rodeo in Big Spring (Texas) to get on some of Pete Carr’s buckin’ horses, then tonight we’ve got an 18-hour jaunt to Bellevue, Iowa. We’re just livin’ a dream.

ATLANTIC, Iowa – Whether he was racing around the world as a reality TV star or chasing elusive world championships, Cord McCoy has always reached out to others. Things won’t be any different when he returns to southwest Iowa for the second annual Cord McCoy PBR Challenge, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 24, at the Cass County Fairgrounds. In fact, the Professional Bull Riders athlete will take time away from his preparation in order to show his appear at the Atlantic Relay for Life, set for 6-10:30 p.m. that evening at the Atlantic High School Track. “I just want to be there to show my support for all those people who are raising money for the American Cancer Society,” said McCoy, who starred two seasons on the CBS-TV reality series “The Amazing Race” with his brother, Jet. “Relay for Life is an awesome event, and it helps in the fight against cancer.” This isn’t the first time McCoy has been involved in raising money for such a worthy cause. In fact, he’s had a giving nature almost all of his life. “Last year during my bull riding in Ada (Okla.), we had the Pink Tie Affair, and with that we raised money for the Relay for Life there,” McCoy said. “When you realize you’re fighting cancer, you know that it’s going to take a lot. We know it’s going to take a lot of people to beat the race against cancer.” McCoy has a number of ties to southwest Iowa. His father, Denny, was raised around Villisca, and last November, he married the former Sara Best of Brayton. It’s quite easy for the McCoys to find their way back to this area from their home near Tupelo, Okla. “This is an awesome place to be, and I’ve got a lot of family around here,” said McCoy, one of the fan favorites in the PBR. “We’re busy traveling and all the other things that go into what I do for a living, but I always like coming back here. “This is a lot like home to me, and it feels like home to me.” With that, he wants to continue giving to a worthwhile cause, and helping the fight against such a deadly disease through the American Cancer Society is as worthwhile as they come. “I’ve been blessed to make a living doing something I really love, whether it’s on the ranch in little ol’ Tupelo, Oklahoma, or riding bulls all over the world,” McCoy said. “I want to try to figure out a way to where people coming to the bull riding will have the opportunity to donate to Relay for Life. “It’s a big enough deal to me that I want it to be a big deal to the bull riding fans, too.”

PECOS, Texas – The West of the Pecos Rodeo wasn’t the first event saddle bronc rider Jace Garrett has won in his three-year ProRodeo career. It wasn’t even his first victory of the 2010 season; the Alliance, Neb., cowboy had a couple of key victories under his belt before he arrived in west Texas last June, but his win in Pecos might’ve been one of the most important rides of the season for Garrett, who finished 20th in the world standings. “It was a real confidence-booster for sure,” said Garrett, who won the National High School Finals Rodeo championship in 2005. “Pecos has been a pretty good rodeo, and I’d done well there before, but last year was definitely a confidence-booster for me and the way my season went. “It was the first PRCA buckle I’ve won, so that was pretty cool.” Garrett rode the Carr Pro Rodeo bronc True Lies for 88 points to win the 2010 title, and he will try to defend his title during one of the four performances of this year’s rodeo, set for 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 22-Saturday, June 25. “That’s a sweet horse,” Garrett said of True Lies, which was selected by the top bronc riders to buck at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “He’s a little bay horse that just bucks. He’s really nice and fun, real electric feeling. Everybody that gets on him loves him.” That’s saying something for the 9-year-old gelding, which was purchased 17 months ago by Pete Carr, the owner of the Dallas-based livestock firm. Now that True Lies is getting settled in at the Carr’s ranch in Athens, Texas, everyone in rodeo is expecting something special out of that horse and the many other great broncs wearing the Rafter C brand. “I bought that horse last January, and I’ve been pretty impressed with what I’ve seen,” Carr said. So have the contestants who travel the country testing their skills against the greatest horses in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. There are many reasons they flock to rodeos where Carr Pro Rodeo animals are bucking. “I’ll take any of them, I promise,” said Cort Scheer, the sixth-ranked bronc rider this season who just completed his first venture to the NFR in Las Vegas. “If you draw any of them horses, you’ve got a chance to win. Look at the pedigree behind them, the money that’s won on all of them. “Typically you go to places, and there will one or two horses you can win on, but that’s not the case at any of Pete Carr’s rodeos. It comes down to who makes the best spur ride is going to win. That’s what you want every time.” The bronc riders are expecting great things, but that’s what they’ve come to expect for the Texas-based livestock provider. “You can go down the list of any horse Pete has, and you’re going to look at the kinds of horses you want to get on every time,” said Taos Muncy, the 2007 world champion who is fifth in the world standings this season. “You look forward to going to his rodeos, because he will have NFR horses in every performance.” That thought process seems to be a developing theme among the greatest cowboys in the game. “I really like going to Pete’s rodeos,” Garrett said. “I usually get on something good, which is what you want at every rodeo you go to.”

ProRodeo Live’s Steve Kenyon is also a ProRodeo announcer, and he works several events each year in that capacity. One we’ll be working together is the Crystal Springs Ranch Rodeo in Clear Lake, S.D., an event I’ve been going to for much of my bullfighting career. He called Wednesday morning to do an interview, so I found a comfortable place to lounge and view the scenery at a friend’s house. My friend, as you can tell, has some young children, so this toddler’s chair worked great. I was just the right height to watch the kids playing in the front yard. And the best part is I got to do all that while helping promote the sport I love. I’ve been blessed to have a great career as a bullfighter, and I’ve met countless friends over all those years. I got to tell Steve all about it, too.

PECOS, Texas – Bryan Richardson is quite proud to be a Texan. Dallas born and raised, his grin displays the type of statehood pride that could compare to the Lone Star flag. To Richardson, a bull rider who has qualified three times to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, being a cowboy in Texas is just a way of life, and winning in Texas is almost as important as winning that coveted world championship. “Of all the buckles I’ve won in my career, the buckle I got for winning Pecos last year is the one I wear,” said Richardson, who rode the Carr Pro Rodeo bull Sippin Jack for 89 points to win the 2010 West of the Pecos Rodeo. “It actually meant a lot for me to win that rodeo. That’s the oldest rodeo in the world, and it’s a prestigious rodeo, just for the Texas Circuit alone. “I’ve been going to that rodeo since my rookie season (in 2000), but I’d never done any good. It didn’t matter to me, because I came back every year. It was nice to finally get to win that rodeo.” The 129th edition of the West of the Pecos Rodeo will have four performances set for 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 22-Saturday, June 25. Not only will it feature most of the top bull riders in rodeo, it will also feature outstanding bulls from Dallas-based Carr Pro Rodeo. “I take a lot of pride in having the kind of animals the cowboys want to get on,” said Pete Carr, owner of the livestock firm that produces the annual Pecos rodeo. “The fans come to see a good rodeo, and I think having good animals to get on gives us a better opportunity to draw the best cowboys in the world when they have a choice on which rodeos to enter. Together that makes it a great experience for the paying customers. “We will keep striving to improve our herds every year because we want to attract the best cowboys to come to these rodeos.” The contestants see that, too. “Pete Carr cares about our opinion,” Richardson said. “He wants to keep us happy, and he knows how to do it. A lot of contractors won’t try. They just want a bunch of working bulls that can go out there and buck a bunch of times a year. “Pete understands that nowadays, the bull business is what it is. You can get a really good bull for not a lot of money, and then you’re going to get the good cowboys to come to your rodeo and compete on those bulls.” The key ingredient in making a living in bull riding is consistency. The cowboys who have the highest riding percentage tend to have the lion’s share of the money. But contestants know there are plenty of tests out there in the world of rodeo. Since half the equation in bull riding comes from the animal, cowboys realize getting on top quality livestock is crucial. “Pete Carr, in general, is a great stock contractor,” said D.J. Domangue, a three-time NFR qualifier from Wharton, Texas. “He spends a lot of money and tries real hard to try to improve his stock. He’s already got great horses, and he is trying to put together a good pen of bulls. “Plus he’s a great guy, and that’s hard to come by when you’re talking about stock contractors in rodeo. He listens to the cowboys. He wants to know what we think, and he wants our opinions. He wants to get the top guys.”

PECOS, Texas – One of the greatest all-around hands in ProRodeo has never won the gold buckle worn by world champions. That’s OK for Paul Peterson, a member of the Carr Pro Rodeo team and pickup man who will be on hand inside Buck Jackson Arena during all four performances of the West of the Pecos Rodeo, set for 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 22-Saturday, June 25. “Paul might be the greatest all-around cowboy in the PRCA when you look at the whole package from inside the arena and out,” said Pete Carr, owner of the Dallas-based livestock firm that is producing the West of the Pecos Rodeo. “I think he actually competed in five or six events in college. He’s definitely the best I’ve had the pleasure of working with. “He’s just been very successful and consistent at every level of rodeo throughout his career.  Whether he was competing, flanking, working cattle, filling in as part-time veterinarian or picking up some of the biggest rodeos in the PRCA, including working the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo three times. Between Paul and Guy Allen, they are much more than pickup men when it comes to putting on our rodeos. They are an integral part of our team; they know what it takes and when things need to happen to get the job done.” Yes, that Guy Allen, owner of 18 steer roping world championships and one of the handiest men with a rope in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “The great thing about Guy is that he pays a lot of attention to what’s gong on, and he really wants to do a good job all of the time,” Peterson said. Peterson and Allen work together several times a year, and in Pecos, they’ll be joined by veteran pickup man Shandon Stalls. It’s a way for some of the most talented men in the sport to make the rodeo click; more importantly, it serves a valuable purpose in corralling the animals in such a large arena. “In that ‘pasture’ there, you can’t be late,” Peterson said, noting the tremendous size of Buck Jackson Arena. “You’ve got to anticipate where the animals are going. It helps that I know most of Pete’s horses, so I know the patterns most of them will have when they buck.” The work the Carr crew has done in the arena has been noticed by those close to the rodeo. “I was a brand new president, and he Pete asked me about the one thing we needed to do to make our rodeo better,” said Joe Keese, president of the volunteer committee that produces the 129th annual rodeo. “We have an arena that is bigger than most states, and our rodeo was running three hours or longer because we spend so much time trying to get the animals out of the arena after they buck. “Now we don’t play chase nearly as much as we did in the past. With Pete’s staff and the professional way they produce our rodeo, we can do an entire rodeo in an hour and a half to two hours. That’s the value of the pickup men in an arena our size.” It’s an attribute of being good cowboys, where hard work is mandatory and understanding livestock is a necessity. “We’ve tried it with four pickup men there, and that’s too many,” Peterson said. “We use usually just three, and the guys we always have there are guys you don’t have to worry about. “You want to get the best guys you can get in there, because one little screw up, and you’re busy chasing horses all over that pasture. It doesn’t take very many trips to the back end of that son of a buck before you’re out of a horse.” Peterson’s professionalism is easily recognized, and the contestants have seen his expertise on a regular basis. Peterson takes great pride in being selected as an NFR pickup man, a post voted on by the top bareback and bronc riders who play the game. “Paul is one of the greatest cowboys in rodeo, bar none,” said bareback rider D.V. Fennell, a two-time NFR qualifier from Porum, Okla. “That dude’s a hand, and you feel a lot more comfortable crawling over that bucking chute knowing he’s in the arena to take care of you.” Raised in northeastern Oklahoma, cowboy has been in Peterson’s blood all his life. It’s what he used to excel through the competitive ranks of rodeo, which carried him to a scholarship at Panhandle State University. He finished as high as 16th in the world standings in saddle bronc riding, but only the top 15 qualify for ProRodeo’s championship. Still, he’s used every lesson to his advantage, whether working on his place in the Texas Panhandle or being in position to help corral a feisty bull or bronc inside Buck Jackson Arena. “You have to know how to read livestock, and you have to have good horses,” Peterson said. “Even for people that have that, unless they have somebody with them that is willing to work like a team, it’s not going to work very well. It is about teamwork in the arena.” Success and failure in the world of rodeo is measured in seconds, and Peterson knows he needs to take advantage of every opportunity to make everything successful “We’ve got a great crew working these rodeos, and that is one reason everything works so well,” he said. “The great thing about the Carr crew is that we work well together. Everybody’s got their job, and they know what they’re doing.”

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Jacob O’Mara knows what it takes to compete at the elite level in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. The bull rider from Prairieville, La., burst onto the national scene last year, when he finished runner-up in the race for the Resistol Bull Riding Rookie of the Year. This year, he’s taken it up a notch more, sitting in the top 10 in the world standings. His win during the Cowboy Capital of the World Rodeo in Stephenville this past weekend was just another notch in his belt of accomplishments. “Winning that rodeo helped me out a bit,” said O’Mara, who collected his third victory this season and has earned more than $36,000 in 2011. O’Mara scored 83 points by matching moves with the bull Charlie’s Bandito from Carr Pro Rodeo, the Dallas-based livestock firm that produced the Stephenville rodeo. Owner Pete Carr said the bull has been one of the most consistent in his herd. “Charlie’s Bandito is one of those rider-friendly bulls that turns back in the gate and gives a guy a good chance to be some points,” Carr said. “We had near capacity crowds Friday and Saturday, and they got to see a really good rodeo.” O’Mara was just one of several top contestants to earn Cowboy Capital of the World titles in 2011, joining all around winner Monty Eakin; bareback rider Bill Tutor, who rodeo Carr’s Patron for 77 points; team ropers Luke Brown and Martin Lucero, who stopped the clock in 3.7 seconds; tie-down roper Houston Hutto, who had a 7.7-second run; barrel racer Cassie Moseley, who posted a 14.59-second sprint; and saddle bronc rider Sam Spreadborough, who had an 83-point ride on Carr’s Deuces Wild. “I like that horse,” Spreadborough said. “That’s the second time I got on him. I placed in a round on him in Houston. Everything just went right for me.” That’s the way it needs to happen to win in rodeo. It’s important to have good animals on which to compete, but there must be a marriage, of sorts, for it all to work out. “I didn’t know anything about that bull,” O’Mara said. “He was just a good bull. He turned back to the left (just out of the gate) and took another jump, then went back to the right. He felt great.” The feeling roughstock cowboys get while attempting to ride bucking animals is important, but making the right moves is the most important part. Of course, the best set up is to have a great animal underneath them, which is why Carr Pro Rodeo events are a big hit among contestants. “I like Pete’s events,” said Spreadborough, an Australian now living in Snyder, Texas. “His horses are always good, and his pens are pretty even. You’ve got a chance to place on anything you can get on when you go to his rodeos.”

Most of the time, being on the road means I’m away from my family. That’s not the case right now. In fact, I’ve had a good time with my wife and children the last couple of days. We spent the day at Adventureland in Des Moines (Iowa) and had the time of our lives. I’m going to take the kids with me to the next one, and we’ll be home before I know it. I’m going to enjoy taking the kids with me for a bit, and we’re gong to enjoy our times together.