Monthly Archives: November 2011

The festivities for the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo have commenced, with the PRCA convention and other activities in Las Vegas. Tuesday night featured the annual Welcome Reception, where the contestants were given their back numbers, stock of goodies, then introduced to the throng of fans. It’s a great way to kick-start all the great things surrounding ProRodeo’s championship event. Click HERE to see some photos.  

I was proud of Amigo at Dallas. We had to run twice each night, and he gave me his all each time. We ended our season on a high note, winning the final round and finishing third in average. A slight mistake on my part cost us a lot more, tipping a barrel in Round 2. Amigo is getting some well-deserved time off. Meanwhile, Goose and I have started over. We are coming to a better understanding of each other and what is actually happening during our runs. It’s going to take several more intense sessions and much repetition, but we will have our championship form back soon. Not making the NFR this year has been a good thing. It has forced me to stop and reevaluate many things, and given me time to work on them. Thanksgiving is coming soon, and I am most thankful to Jesus for loving me enough to die so that I could have a relationship with him. I am also very thankful for my husband and son, who love me and support me, as well as the rest of my family. My prayers go out to all the families who have loved ones that have gone on to heaven. I am grateful for every day I have with those I love.

Today’s travel day, and I’m looking forward to my trip. I’ve got a lot of great things planned over the next two weeks, but I wanted to find out what you wanted? I’m not sure I can get to everything, but what would you like to read about during this year’s NFR? I will be under some limitations because of agreements I’ve reached, but I can try to follow up on things you might find interesting. Of course, the more fun the topic, the better. Give it some thought, and leave a comment here so I know what you want. And have fun. If you’re in Las Vegas over the next two weeks, look me up.

LAS VEGAS – The last time MGM Deuces Night bucked inside the Thomas & Mack Center, she guided Kelly Timberman to the 10th-round win at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “That’s a mare is just an awesome horse that’s good in the chute that gives you a chance to win every time you nod your head,” said Timberman, the 2004 world champion bareback rider from Mills, Wyo., who posted an 88.5-point ride on the Carr Pro Rodeo bucking horse to win more than $18,000 on the final night of the season. MGM Deuces Night is a 6-year-old mare that was bred to be a bucking machine. She’s doing her job. In October, the bay horse guided Chase Erickson to the bareback riding victory at the All American ProRodoe Finals with an 88; it was just another feather in an already big cap for the horse that’s owned by the Dallas-based livestock producer owned by Pete Carr. “I don’t care if the horse is dirty rank or hard to ride, I just want one to give me a chance to win first,” Timberman said. “That horse gives a guy a chance to win first every time, but you can say that about a lot of Pete’s horses.” In fact, three of the four bareback horses in the final round in Waco were Carr animals, MGM Deuces Night, River Boat Annie and Dirty Jacket. Those great animals will be part of the world-class bareback riding pen of horses at the NFR, and they’ll be joined by Big Lights, Alberta Child, Grass Dancer, Black Coffee and Real Deal. “When you get to the NFR, you want to draw one of Pete Carr’s bucking horses,” said Will Lowe, a three-time world champion bareback rider from Canyon, Texas. The top roughstock cowboys in the game select the animals that will be bucked at the NFR. There’s a reason eight of the best horses in rodeo will be in Las Vegas “The thing about Pete Carr’s rodeos is that when you go to one, you know you’re going to get a chance to win first,” said Matt Bright of Azle, Texas, who returns to Las Vegas for the second straight year. “A lot of guys don’t have that. “I really respect that guy a lot, because he used to be a bareback rider himself. I think that’s why he’s got such a good pen of bareback horses. He knows what kinds of horses guys can win on.” For instance, Caleb Bennett won the semifinal round in Waco after riding Real Deal for 86 points. It’s that kind of talent that Carr hauls across the country. . “To be successful, you’ve got to want to win,” said Justin McDaniel, the 2008 world champion bareback rider from Porum, Okla. “Pete goes all out. He tries really hard. You can go to any of Pete’s rodeos and win on any of his horses on any given day. “Real Deal was the rankest horse I’ve seen in a long time.” Carr purchased MGM Deuces Night from bareback rider Wes Stevenson, a seven-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo who purchased the horse from the great Zinser bucking string. “I knew she’d have a really good shot to come to the finals,” Stevenson said. “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.” Chris Harris saw that at one of the first big rodeos in which bucked. Harris, a six-time NFR qualifier, rode MGM Deuces Night for 88 points to win the 2010 West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Fast forward just one year when karma came into play. Harris, from Itasca, Texas, was matched with Deuces Night for the second straight year. The tandem worked just as well together, for 87 points, making another Pecos victory for Harris. This past April, Kaycee Feild and MGM Deuces Night matched moves for 90 points during the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. It earned the Elk Ridge, Utah, cowboy a share of the final-round win with four-time world champion Bobby Mote, who rode the 2010 bareback horse of the year Big Tex. “I wasn’t quite sure if it was going to be enough points to help me win that round, because it’s a younger horse,” Feild said. “Then he left there that first jump, then the second, and I knew I had a chance to show my ability to my full ability. He slipped a little, but he got right back up and started right back where he left off. “He was just outstanding.” Feild has been around the game a long time. His father, Lewis Feild, owns five world titles, two for bareback riding and three in the all-around. In addition, Kaycee Feild is on his way to his fourth straight qualification to the Wrangler NFR. “Horses like that have a bucking style … it’s not easy in any means, but if you do stub your toe, you’re going to get bucked off,” Kaycee Feild said. “But those horses are the ones where you can really show your ability to ride. They hang in the air, and they’re really electric.” Lowe knows that as well as anyone. “When you go to a Pete Carr rodeo, you know you’re going to get on something that bucks,” Lowe said. “Pete has quite a few really good horses.” Is Deuces Night one  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is a showcase of tremendous athletic talent over a rigorous 10 days of competition in the Nevada desert. It’s the playing ground for 119 elite contestants who make their living on the ProRodeo trail, the year-end event that is a true test of a champion. The Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus also is home some of the greatest animals in the sport. That’s where Carr Pro Rodeo comes into play, with 12 animal athletes that have been selected by the cowboys to be part of ProRodeo’s championship event. Pete Carr and his crew have been recognized as having many of the best bucking beasts in the sport, and they’ll be represented well in Las Vegas. “Pete Carr’s got some great rodeos, and he’s got the good horses,” said Cody Taton, the saddle bronc riding director for the PRCA and 2008 NFR average champion from Mud Butte, S.D. “That kind of combination makes quite a difference, plus Pete’s good to work with.” The Dallas-based livestock contractor will have three saddle broncs in the mix, Miss Congeniality, Empty Pockets and Coffee Bean. These are just some of the horses the world’s best bronc riders said they wanted at the NFR. “Miss Congeniality has been to the Canadian finals, too,” Taton said of the 9-year-old bay mare. “That was a pretty nice horse form Pete’s that I had. I’d been on it once before, and I won Grand Prairie, Alberta, on it. I’d love to draw that horse at all of Pete’s rodeos.” Several other cowboys would, too. “This horse had a very good year, so it’s no shock to me they selected her to the finals again. They won first and second on her in Lovington this year,” Carr said. “She might be one of the most rider-friendly horses we own in the arena, but don’t get in front of her in the back pens because she will smoke you.” Coffee Bean is a 17-year-old bay mare that is making her third trip to Sin City, but she’s a veteran in the game. Empty Pockets a 7-year-old bay gelding that has proven himself over the course of this season. “He is still a little nervous in there, but he kicks the lights out every jump,” Carr said. “He’s been cut, hauled and now headed to Vegas this year. That’s throwing one into the grease; we will see how he handles everything pretty quick.” Carr knows how to make his animals perform at their best, and that’s one of the reasons several of his great animals get the chance to perform in Las Vegas. “Any bucking horse you know you have a chance to win on is one you want to get on,” said Jesse James Kirby of Dodge City, Kan. “That’s what you have when you go to a Carr rodeo. I think Pete Carr is doing a damn good job of supplying a bunch of really good bucking horses. “Pete’s got some buckers and some young horses that he’s trying to bring up in his program. I think he’s got a well-rounded pen of horses, and everybody loves to get on them.” Whether they’re world champions or cowboys just trying to make ends meet on the rodeo trail, cowboys know there’s a benefit to riding at a Carr-produced event. “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 and top-ranked bronc rider heading into the finals. “You look forward to going to his rodeos, because he will have NFR horses in every performance.” It’s not just the bucking horses that are getting noticed by cowboys. Bull riders have seen the growth and development in the Carr bull herd, particularly in Time Out, a 4-year-old Carr purchased this year from bull rider Cooper Kanngiesser, who qualified for the NFR in 2006. “Pete needed some good bulls at the time,” said Kanngiesser, of Zenda, Kan. “In years past, I haven’t kept very many bulls past 3 (years of age), so I put a package deal together. “As far as him being selected to the NFR, I thought he deserved it. It made me feel good, because there were people who kept telling me he was just a bull, but I knew he had more to him. I had one producer who bought him twice and had me buy him back because he didn’t think that bull had anything in it. I sold him to Pete Carr, who knew what to do with him, and the bull makes the NFR in his first year. It’s bittersweet for me.” Maybe it’s the care the animals are given on the ranch near Athens, Texas, or the way Carr works them to perform at their best, but cowboys have taken notice. “Pete Carr, in general, is a great stock contractor,” said bull rider 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.” That means a lot to Carr. “I take a lot of pride in having the kind of animals the cowboys want to get on,” Carr said. “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  Continue Reading »

6-year-old bay/paint mare Bareback Riding SIRE: Night Jacket DAM: Night Line 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Jason Havens scored 86 points in the fifth go-round, finishing in a tie for second place. Kelly Timberman won the 10th go-round with an 88.5. This year Kaycee Field scored 90 points to split the final-round victory at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo. Whitten Hoover posted an 83 to finish in a tie for fourth place at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. Chris Harris scored 87 points to win the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo for the second straight year. Will Lowe scored 87 points to finish second at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Lee Lantz finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with an 85 in Lovington, N.M. Chase Erickson won the All American Series Finals in Waco, Texas, with an 88. Ryan Gray held on for 77 points after nearly bucking off during the final round of the Justin Boots Championships in Omaha, Neb. 2010 D.V. Fennell scored 87 points to finish second at the Lea County Fair & Rodeo in Lovington, N.M. Bo Casper finished tied for third with an 86-point ride at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair & Rodeo. Chris Harris won the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo with an 88.  —————– Carr Pro Rodeo purchased MGM Deuces Night from bareback rider Wes Stevenson. This was her second year to go to PRCA rodeos and really showed she belonged at that level, making it to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo the first two years of her short career. “She’s a horse that’s just bucked all year,” Stevenson said. “She’s been on of the best in the business all year. 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.” “This one will be fun to watch and see how she reacts to the bright lights of Vegas,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “If she handles it well, it could be really good. This is a very special mare that bucks the right way. You can tell she loves her job. We look for big things from her in the near future.” “Dang sure one of the best horses to get on,” said Tilden Hooper, a two-time NFR qualifier from Carthage, Texas. “That horse just bucks hard right out of there the whole time. She’s just a showy little horse. That’s the kind the judges like and the kind we like.” “That Deuces Night is one outstanding bucking horse, the kind that will be the bareback horse of the finals, I think,” said D.V. Fennell of Neosho, Mo., a two-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “Chris Harris won Pecos (Texas) on that horse this year, and it’s definitely a bucker.” “That was a phenomenal horse, and she was just the best one out today,” Kelly Timberman, the 2004 world champion, said of MGM Deuces Night, which he rode to the 10th-round victory at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “The fact of the matter is she was just the best one out today and will probably be one of the best horses in the world for a long time. I was real privileged to have the horse.”

12-year-old brown gelding Bareback Riding SIRE: Rag Top DAM: Real 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Wes Stevenson scored 76 points during the third round. 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Ryan Gray was bucked off in the third go-round. Clint Cannon split the eighth-round victory with an 84.5-point ride. This year World champion Kelly Timberman posted an 83 to finish in a tie for seventh place in Pecos, Texas. NFR qualifier Matt Bright scored 87 points to finish third at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo, a Silver Tour event in Lovington, N.M. It was Bright’s first ride on the horse since he suffered a broken back on the horse in a freak incident at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Caleb Bennett posted an 86 to win the semifinal round at the All American ProRodeo Finals in Waco, Texas. 2010 Justin McDaniel scored 86 points to finish in third place at the Lea County Fair & Rodeo in Lovington, N.M. ——————— Stevenson has been on Real Deal four times in his career and has placed on the horse twice, including at the Wrangler NFR. He’s also been bucked off. “He’ll either throw you off or you’ll win on him,” Stevenson said. “He’s got moves, that’s for sure. He’s a fist fight and a good one to have. He’ll take you to the pay window.” The 2005 PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year that was also voted among the top three in 2006. Real Deal has been to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo six years in a row. “He really bucked harder this year and had some of the most spectacular buck-offs,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo.  They won a round on him at the All American Finals, he should be ready for WNFR.”

11-year-old roan mare Bareback Riding SIRE: Cadillac Jack DAM: Tan Line 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Steven Dent scored 84 points in the second round to finish in fifth place. 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Royce Ford scored 84 points to finish in a tie for fourth place in the second round. Steven Peebles’ 83.5 was good enough for a third-place tie in Round 7. This year Helped Steven Peebles to a tie for second place with an 86-point ride at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Kelly Timberman scored 88 points to win the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Caine Riddle posted an 85 to finish in a tie for fifth, and Kelly Timberman had an 84 for a tie for eighth at the Lea County (N.M.) Fair and Rodeo. 2010 Caleb Bennett won the Lea County Fair & Rodeo in Lovington, N.M. with an 89, while Jerad Schlegel had an 83 on River Boat Annie to finish in a tie for fifth. Trey Bissett tied for third place at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo with an 86-point ride. Ryan Gray rode for an 86 to finish third at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Micky Downare finished in a tie for fourth place with his 84-point ride at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo.  —————– She was the runner-up Bareback Riding Horse of the Year in 2007 and has broken arena records about any place she has bucked: Guymon, Okla.; Amarillo, Texas; Montgomery, Ala.; and Jackson, Miss. Clint Cannon set the single earnings record in 2009 on her at the Heartland Series Finals, now known as the All-American Series Finals. She has bucked five times at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “She’s out of Tan Line, which I own, and is the best mare I’ve ever owned so far,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “She never had a bad day in her life and been hauled all over the United States. She has won several go-round buckles at the Wrangler NFR, and we have starting raising colts out of her.” “I’ve had her at the NFR twice,” said Justin McDaniel, the 2008 world champion. “She’s definitely changed. When she came around at first, she really blew in the air. Now that horse is strong. I’ve been on her twice now that she’s grown, and that horse is strong. That’s just a great bucking horse.” “The two colts I’ve been bucking out River Boat Annie’s mother, No. 30 Tan Line, are phenomenal,” Carr said. “Everything she has raised has turned into a great horse.”

7-year-old bay gelding Bareback Riding SIRE: Night Jacket DAM: Dirty 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Dusty LaValley scored 81 points and failed to place during the fifth round. 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo D.V. Fennell scored an 86.5 to finish in a tie for third place in the 10th round. This year Matt Bright scored 87 to win the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo, the fourth straight year a cowboy won that rodeo with an 87 on Dirty Jacket. Will Lowe finished in a tie for second place at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo with an 86. Will Lowe scored 88 points to split the victory at the Silver Tour’s Lea County Fair and Rodeo. Wes Stevenson scored 85 points to finish in a tie for fifth place at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Jason Havens marked 87 to split the final-round victory at the Justin Boots Championships in Omaha, Neb. Steven Anding had an 87 to finish second in the final round at the All American ProRodeo Finals in Waco, Texas. 2010 Will Lowe finished second at the Silverton (Texas) Buck Wild Days Rodeo with an 85. R.C. Landingham placed with an 83 at the Lea County Fair & Rodeo in Lovington, N.M. Steven Dent scored 87 to finish second The West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo, while Tom McFarland’s 83 was good enough for eighth place. Will Lowe scored 87 points to win the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo, while Joe Gunderson’s 86 on Dirty Jacket finished second. Bobby Mote won a go-round at RodeoHouston. —————— Dirty Jacket has carried winner each of the last four years at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. “They win a lot on him,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “Last year was the first year that we put some pressure on him, and he was selected to be part of the TV pen at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He is really fun to flank, and he looks really fun to ride for the first four or five jumps, he just jumps in the air. “He is really electric when he leaves the chute. He jumps up in the air and extends everything he can, kicks and just hangs there and stalls out for three or four jumps then moves on out.  He is young, but so far he has proved he can take it.” “That horse just bucks,” said D.V. Fennell of Neosho, Mo., who rode Dirty Jacket to an 86.5 in the 10th round of the 2009 NFR. “He leaps in the air and shows off. He’s not just a dead easy hopper, but he’s a mix between a hopper and a bucker. He’s the one that you want.” “That horse likes that arena a lot,” three-time world champion Will Lowe said. “He just likes to buck. He’s such a good horse. He’s in the TV pen at the NFR, so you know he’s the one guys want to get on.”

10-year-old buckskin mare Bareback Riding SIRE: Buck DAM: Coca Cola 2010 NFR Bucked off Matt Bright in Round 1 and was the high-marked bareback horse. 2009 NFR D.V. Fennell scored 82 points in the fifth go-round. This year Heath Ford scored 84 to finish third and Joe Gunderson posted an 83 to finish in a tie for fourth at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. J.R. Vezain posted an 84-point ride to finish in a tie for fifth place at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Casey Colletti and Tanner Aus both scored 86 points to finish in a tie for third place at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Caleb Bennett finished in a tie for eighth place with an 84 at the Lea County (N.M.) Fair and Rodeo. Steven Anding scored 88 points to win the Waller County (Texas) Fair and Rodeo in its inaugural year in the PRCA. 2010 Caleb Bennett scored 84 and Casey Colletti scored 83, and both cowboys placed at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair & rodeo. Tilden Hooper finished in a tie for fifth place with an 84 at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Bee Jay Scott and Cody DeMers each scored 84s on Grass Dancer to finish in a tie for fourth place at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo.  ——————– Grass Dancer shares the world record for the highest bareback score in the history of the PRCA. She’s been part of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo three times. “The combination of things really made a difference for me that day,” said Ryan Gray, who rode Grass Dancer for the world record-tying 94 points at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair & Rodeo in 2009. “The horses were feeling good, and it was cool in Eagle. Grass Dancer is a great horse, and she had a great day. The match-up was there, and everything came together.” “She was a saddle bronc horse that I moved over to bareback and has been a feature horse ever since,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “She’s probably a better outdoor horse, but the bareback riders still take her to the NFR because of all her outstanding trips during the year outdoors.” “I’ve gotten on that horse three or four times,” said Tilden Hooper, a three-time NFR qualifier from Carthage, Texas, who placed on Grass Dancer in Pecos, Texas, in 2010. “I was probably one of the first people to get on that horse. That horse really gets in the air. She has some nasty trips some times. She can jump in the air, break over and kick. I had her at Pecos, and I messed her up to be a really big score. She is always a horse that I look highly on.”

9-year-old bay gelding Bareback Riding 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Steven Dent won the third round with an 85. 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Jason Havens split the third go-round victory with an 85. Heath Ford scored 76 in the eighth round. This year Bobby Mote won the semifinal round at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo with an 85. Caine Riddle scored 85 at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo to finish in a tie for fifth place. Ryan Gray rode him for 86 points for fourth place and J.R. Vezaine scored 85 for a tie for fifth place at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo, a Silver Tour rodeo in Lovington, N.M. 2010 Craig Wisehart placed fourth with a 77 at the Silverton (Texas) Buck Wild Days Rodeo. Cody DeMers scored 82 at the Lea County Fair & Rodeo in Lovington, N.M., good enough for eighth place. Wes Stevenson placed at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo with an 81. —————– Big Lights has been selected to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo three times. “He always bucks hard with a lot of direction change,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “He never has the same pattern.”

7-year-old bay mare Bareback Riding SIRE: Spotty Crop DAM: My Maria This year Jared Smith was 83 points, good enough for a tie for seventh place at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. J.R. Vezain scored 85 points on her to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Seven-time NFR qualifier Wes Stevenson was bucked off the big mare at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo, a Silver Tour event in Lovington, N.M. She bucked off another cowboy and was unridden several times in 2011.  —————- This is the horse’s first trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “I bought her as a 2-year-old futurity colt winner at a sale in North Dakota,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “She came from David McDonald of Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada. We let her grow up at the ranch, and then started easing her around last year to get her ready for this year.” “Tilden Hooper was 92 points on her at a rodeo in Allen, Texas, and she’s been marked over 22 points 10 times this year. She’s pretty phenomenal. She is young, but if she keeps bucking like she has I look for her to come back to Vegas a few more times before she is done.”

11-year-old black mare Bareback Riding SIRE: Wild Discovery DAM: Tribal Trail This year Brian Bain split the victory at the Lovington, N.M., Silver Tour rodeo with an 88-point ride on her.  —————- “I bought her as a 3-year-old futurity colt at a sale in North Dakota they same time I bought Riverboat Annie,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. The horse came from David McDonald of Lac La Biche, Alberta. Black Coffee has been selected for the WNFR three times “She’s been to the NFR three times, and she has won serveal Wrangler Horse of the Night awards,” Carr said. “A few years ago in Eagle (Colo.), Will Lowe was 92 points on her.”

17-year-old bay mare Saddle Bronc Riding This year Seth Schafer scored 83 points to share the title at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Jacobs Crawley posted an 83 to finish in a tie for fifth place at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. J.J. Elshere was 82 in Lovington, N.M., to finish third at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo, a Silver Tour event.  —————– “She’s been to the finals two times before,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “This year, she threw off Bradley Harter at the rodeo in Omaha (Neb.). She got Cody DeMoss pretty good at the NFR in 2006, throwing him off; he hurt his back pretty good and didn’t get to compete anymore.” “They do pretty well on that horse. She has a big jump out of there, then she just bucks. I bought her from another stock contractor in 2005 and she has been one of our most consistent horses we have hauled.”

7-year-old bay gelding Saddle Bronc Riding SIRE: IV Empty Saddles DAM: High Plains This year Luke Butterfield scored 82 points to finish in a tie for fifth place at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. Samuel Kelts had an 83 to finish in a tie for fifth place at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Louie Brunson posted a 77 to finish in a tie for eighth place in Lovington, N.M. —————– “He was bought as a stud from Brian and Dennis Gifford of Rozet, Wyo., at a bucking horse sale in Cody, Wyo.,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “His half-sister is Wasp of Stace Smith’s, which has been to the finals six or seven times. “He is still a little nervous in there, but he kicks the lights out every jump, He’s been cut, hauled and now headed to Vegas this year. That’s throwing one into the grease; we will see how he handles everything pretty quick.”

This isn’t the Powder River Rodeo mare, but the Carr Pro Rodeo mare by the same name: 9-year-old bay mare Saddle Bronc Riding SIRE: Bandito DAM: One Eyed Sally 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo J.J. Elshere scored 85.5 points in the second round to finish in a tie for second place. This year Kobyn Williams posted a 76 to place in a tie for eight place at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo. Taos Muncy was 84 points to finish in a tie for second, and Jesse Wright was 82 to finish in a tie for seventh at the Eagle County (Colo.) Fair and Rodeo. Cody Angland had an 85 for first, and Alex Wright was 84 for second at the Lea County (N.M.) Fair and Rodeo. 2010 Cody Taton won the Silverton (Texas) Buck Wild Days rodeo 87 points Alex Wright scored 85 to finish third at the West of the Pecos Rodeo in Texas, while Bradley Harter’s 83 on Miss Congeniality finished in a tie for fourth Cort Scheer scored 85 points to finish in a tie for second place at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. She was the bucking horse of the Canadian Finals Rodeo and they won three out of four rounds that she was there. —————– “The bronc riders really like her,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “They say she is a better indoor horse. Most of our rodeos are outdoors, and she has been really good. I’m anxious to see her go in the Thomas & Mack. “This horse had a very good year, so it’s no shock to me they selected her to the finals again. They won first and second on her in Lovington this year. She might be one of the most rider-friendly horses we own in the arena, but don’t get in front of her in the back pens because she will smoke you.”

Over the next few days, I will be posting information about some of the greatest bucking livestock in ProRodeo, all part of Dallas-based Carr Pro Rodeo. These are great athletes, and they’re a major part of the equation when it comes to the three roughstock events, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding. The first is a young bull, Time Out: 4 years old Bull Riding SIRE: 461 Mexican Standoff DAM: Kaangiesser cow 904 This year Jacob O’Mara rode Time Out for 87 points to win the quarterfinal round at the All American ProRodeo Finals. Chandler Bownds scored 87 points to win the Lea County Fair and Rodeo, a Silver Tour event in Lovington, N.M. The victory is just on reason why the young bull rider has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the first time in his career. “I bought that bull this year from bull rider Cooper Kanngiesser, and he’s been really good,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “The bull riders seem to like him a lot.” “Pete needed some good bulls at the time,” said Kanngiesser, a 2006 qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “In years past, I haven’t kept very many bulls past 3 (years of age), so I put a package deal together. “As far as him being selected to the NFR, I thought he deserved it. It made me feel good, because there were people who kept telling me he was just a bull, but I knew he had more to him. I had one producer who bought him twice and had me buy him back because he didn’t think that bull had anything in it. I sold him to Pete Carr, who knew what to do with him, and the bull makes the NFR in his first year. It’s bittersweet for me.”

Over the last few days, I’ve published 10 stories about the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. That is just the tip of the iceberg on what I’m going to post on TwisTED Rodeo. On this Thanksgiving, I’m quite thankful for so many brilliant opportunities. I’m blessed with tremendous friends, a loving family who supports me and the chance to live my dreams. I’m thankful for you, the ones who read this website; I hope you keep coming back and find it a wonderful place to get your rodeo news. Of course, none of this is possible without my faith in Jesus Christ. In a week, I’ll be elbow deep in the NFR and all the things that go with it. I’m looking forward to it. Until then, I’ll cherish the moments I have with my wife and girls, thankful for them and all they bring to my life. Happy Thanksgiving to you, and thanks for stopping by.

LAS VEGAS – When Seth Glause first rolled into this southern Nevada city for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, he was a wide-eyed, 20-year-old kid who wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Already he was one of the best bull riders in the business. That was 2008, and Glause was coming off a great sophomore season at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, where he was the Central Rocky Mountain Region’s all-around champion and a bull riding qualifier to the College National Finals Rodeo. The lights of Las Vegas were especially bright, but Glause was where he needed to be: ProRodeo’s championship event. He returns this year for the third time in his young career, ready to tame the wildest bucking beasts in the business with the skills God gave him and the fortitude to battle through whatever obstacles come his way. Oh, and still he’s only 23. “It’s been my goal to qualify for the NFR since I was a kid,” said Glause, of Rock Springs, Wyo. “For it to happen three times is pretty special to me.” That’s a brief description of the magnitude of the NFR, which takes just the top 15 contestants on the money list in each event at the conclusion of the regular season and provides them with the biggest purse they’ll experience all year, $6 million paid out over 10 days. Glause will test his mettle against 14 other elite bull riders in a rugged challenge against the most celebrated, athletic bulls in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. His goal, though, is to collect as much of that multi-million prize pool as possible, and he’ll have plenty of opportunities. Go-round winners will earn a check for $17,885 each of the 10 nights, and the contestant with the best cumulative time or score at the conclusion of the marathon event will ad an additional $45,865 for being crowned the average winner. It’s exciting and mind-boggling all at the same time. “The first grand entry into that building is the most memorable experience out there,” Glause said. “I just can’t wait to get out there, do my job and hopefully walk away with quite a bit of money.” Glause earned the right to compete in ProRodeo’s grand championship by finishing the regular season eighth in the world standings with $75,473. He won three big rodeos – in Lawton, Okla.; Guymon, Okla.; and Colorado Springs, Colo. – to earn some significant paychecks, but he punched his ticket to the NFR by placing high at several other events. The $5,650 he won in Lawton was great, but so was the $1,665 from Lovington, N.M., that same week. “I had a good start to the season,” he said. “I won some at Denver, Fort Worth (Texas) and San Antone. It seemed like it quieted off there about the Fourth of July, but then it went all right from there.” It’s a mind-mannered approach to a rock star lifestyle – when you tie your hand to a 1,800-pound bull for a living, you are living on the edge. Of course, it helps when you’re pretty good at it, and Glause is. “He’s just a heck of a hand,” said Craig Latham, rodeo coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, where Glause attended one year on a rodeo scholarship. “I’ve known him since he was growing up. After he was done at Central Wyoming, I wanted him to come down and finish his four-year degree and rodeo with us. “He rides broncs as good or better than he rides bulls. He team ropes, too. I like those cowboys who can work both ends of the arena, and Seth was one of those for us for sure.” Bronc riding comes quite naturally to Glause, whose father, Tom, was a saddle bronc rider who serves as a municipal court judge in Rock Springs and is the coordinator for the PRCA’s Mountain States Circuit. “I got on my first steer when I was 4 or 5, but I had some help,” said Seth Glause, who credits his relationship with Wyoming Tourism, Excel Drilling and B Tuff jeans for helping him handle the business side of rodeo. “Dad held on to me, and another guy held on to the steer’s tail. I got bucked off. “But I was good from there.” A rodeo career was born, but those who know the Glause family knew it was bound to happen. “I used to travel with Tom,” said Latham, a nine-time NFR qualifier in saddle bronc riding. “I rodeoed with J.D. Hamaker and Tom when I was on my permit. Those guys took pretty good care of me.” That led to Latham’s recruitment of the younger Glause, who had already competed at the NFR by the time he arrived in Goodwell, Okla. “Seth is a great kid and a great athlete,” Latham said. “I’d say his strengths are, bottom line, try … there’s no quit in him, and there’s just try every time he gets the chance.” That’s a key ingredient in the development of a champion. Glause is in the mix to chase the 2011 bull riding gold buckle, but he’s got a long ways to go – he trails world standings leader Shane Proctor by $96,285. It’s not the first time Glause has faced an incredible challenge. “I’ve heard that stuff growing up about being too tall to ride bulls,” said Glause, listed at 6-foot, 170 pounds, about five inches taller than the average bull rider. “I think it goes back to one of my strengths, that all those people who called me too tall were just motivating me to prove them wrong.” And now he hopes to proof all those doubters wrong during his 10 nights of competition in the City of Lights. “It’s what you work toward all year long,” he said. “You want to make the finals, trying to win a world title. It’s just great that it’s right there in front of you.”

LAS VEGAS – There are just some people who have rodeo in their blood as if it belonged with platelets and plasma. That’s Jacob O’Mara, a professional bull rider preparing to compete on the biggest stage of his young life when the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo kicks off its 10 championship nights at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. On the line is a $6 million purse; more importantly, the world championships are within the grasp of the 119 cowboys and cowgirls who qualified to compete in ProRodeo’s year-end finale. That’s attractive to everyone, especially for O’Mara, one of the hottest bull riders doing down the rodeo trail today. “You’ve got to be born into it,” said O’Mara, 20, of Prairieville, La. “My dad rode bulls and my mom ran barrels. She actually won the state championship in pole bending when she was in high school.” Now Reggie and Denise O’Mara’s baby boy is in a whale of a battle for the most coveted prize in rodeo, the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle that is awarded to the world champion. “I feel blessed to just be fulfilling my dreams and goals from what I set when I was a kid,” Jacob O’Mara said. “They helped me a lot, just the hard work that me and my brother put in doing the basic stuff every day. They were behind me throughout my high school career. “I think I’m representing my family well.” The bright lights of Las Vegas is where every cowboy and cowgirl dreams of being, because that’s where big money is won and where world champions are crowned. Like high school football players who dream of playing in the NFL, only the greatest in the world play on the biggest stages. That’s where the Louisiana cowboy is already in his career. “Going to the finals at this point in my career is just something I expect out of myself,” he said. “Growing up, doing this at a young age, being as successful as I was at a young age, I just expected it. I’m not trying to sound arrogant, but I just feel like I should be there. “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to win the rookie title and make it to the finals in the same year when I was 18. Last year, I got knocked out at Cheyenne (Wyo.) and went home. I ended up second in the rookie standings and missed the finals. But that lit a fire under me to do even better this year.” Mission accomplished. O’Mara finished the regular season with $94,879 and will begin opening night of the 2011 NFR No. 4 in the world standings – in rodeo, money won not only pays bills, but it also stands as championship points; the contestant in each event with the most money won at the end of the NFR will be the world champion. “I’ve had a lot of help this year with the little things from Tony Lama and Cinch being sponsors and hooking up with the MGM Grand when I’m in Vegas,” O’Mara said. “It helps me a lot to have that that kind of support.” Of course, he’s had plenty of backing most of his life, from his parents to his older brother, Casey, a professional rodeo announcer who used to ride bulls. Not only that, O’Mara’s traveling partners are elite bull riders in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association: Aaron Pass, D.J. Domangue and Bryan Richardson – Domangue and Richardson have been to the NFR three times each. “My brother kind of got things rolling for us, because my dad didn’t want him to ride bulls, but my brother talked him into it when he was 13,” O’Mara said. “I was just little then, so they started me riding sheep. I didn’t want to do that, because I wanted to get on calves. That opened the door for me. “Everybody in my family rodeoed. My brother, from the time I could walk, he started bucking me on his back. We had a trampoline in our yard, and we’d spend ours out there in the back on a (bull riding) barrel and on the trampoline. We were doing everything we could to make ourselves better at it.” It’s worked so far. The ultimate goal is the world championship, but O’Mara is realistic enough he’s in an uphill battle. Even with his tremendous year, he trails world standings leader Shane Proctor by $76,879. O’Mara’s a lot closer to No. 3 bull rider Wesley Silcox and No. 2 J.W. Harris, but those two cowboys account for the last four gold buckles – Silcox won the title in 2007, and Harris is the three-time reigning world champion. “Some people think it’s just a phase, like you go through when you’re a kid,” O’Mara said. “I think 90 percent of the people that start out riding bulls end up falling in love with it. “The only thing I’ve ever known was being cowboy. That’s pretty much what I wanted to do from the start.”

LAS VEGAS – To say Ty Atchison is a quick study might just be an understatement. A lifelong cowboy who began riding horses as a toddler on his family’s southeastern Missouri place, Atchison grew up roping and wrestling steers. In fact, he didn’t mount a saddle bronc until just before his senior year in high school. Nonetheless, he’s taking those bronc riding skills to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s year-end championship that is home to the elite contestants in the game. “This is probably one of the greatest experiences of my life,” said Atchison, 26, of Jackson, Mo.“I’ve dreamed of going to the NFR … not always in bronc riding, but I’ve dreamed about it. It’s kind of surreal. I’ve seen these guys for years, and I’ve immortalized these bronc riders. “It really means a lot to rodeo with guys like that and know you can beat them.” That’s something Atchison did a lot in 2011. He had just four rodeo victories, but he finished better than most of the other bronc riders at a lot of events. He finished the season 12th in the world standings and gets to play on the grandest stage in the sport, which takes place Dec. 1-10 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus. “The big part for me was staying mentally tough,”Atchison said. “There were some rough spots this year. I had saddle trouble. I went to Canada for the first time, and I’m out of my element in Canada. “But I went back to my basics; you’ve just got to take it one horse at a time.” It’ll take that approach when he gets to Las Vegas, where the top 15 contestants in each event qualify for the NFR. The best bronc riders will be tested over 10 rugged days in the Nevada desert, where they’ll try their skills against the best horses in the business. The payoff is the incentive – go-round winners earn a $17,885 each night, and the average title is given to the cowboy who scores the best on 10 rides, worth an additional $45,865. “I’m still 11 spots from where I want to be,”Atchison said, referring, of course, to finishing atop the standings and leaving Las Vegas with the coveted Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. “I’ve got some work to do. “You’d think I’d be nervous, but when it really comes down to it, it’s just a great opportunity. It’s our job to capitalize on opportunities. I’m going out there and getting on 10 of the best horses in the world.” He’s got his work cut out for him. Not only are the bucking horses the best, they’re also the rankest, and the field is a who’s who of bronc riding. “You’re up against the top 15 at every rodeo you go to, so you just have to go out and take advantage of your opportunities,”Atchison said. “It’s a cliché, but success happens when opportunity meets preparation. That’s the finals. I think a guy can make himself nervous if he over-thinks it. Just do your job. Have fun while you do it, but do your job. “I’m pretty fortunate to have Red Brand with me on the rodeo trail; they’re a great sponsor who takes really good care of me throughout the year. They know I’m going to do my job as well as I can.” When cowboys sleep, they dream of gold buckles. They know the path to the biggest prize in the sport involves hard work and talent; also it means taking advantage of whatever breaks come your way. “I have a lot of goals and a lot of different aspects, so I don’t think you can sum up what I want in one goal,” he said. “Who doesn’t want to win a gold buckle? But there are so many things out there. Life is short. If I can help myself and help other people while I do it, that’s what we’re here for.” Atchison is naturally taken to rodeo, an extension of his love for horses. He grew up a timed-event cowboy, the son of Clint, a sale barn official who competed in rodeo as a team roper, and Debbie, whose family homesteaded and ran a cattle operation for decades. The family still has Diamond A Auction, which also is a partner in Atchison’s rodeo career. “I shoe horses and day work for everybody,” he said, noting that he lives and works near Weatherford, Okla.“I’ve worked for several rodeo companies, picking up. When I get done riding broncs, I’d like to pick up.” Pickup men are the quiet heroes in rodeo production, handling many behind-the-scenes duties while helping keep every performance clicking along in a timely fashion. It takes quite a hand to do it well, but Atchison is pretty good at about anything he does. At the University of Tennessee-Martin, where he attended on a rodeo scholarship, Atchison qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in steer wrestling (once), team roping (twice) and bronc riding (three times). He finished second in the bronc riding in 2006. “They told me when I was young that if you ever find something you would do for free, you’ll never work a day in your life,” he said. “That’s why I rodeo.”

LAS VEGAS– Casey Colletti thought his victory at the Cheyenne(Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo in July was the best thing that’s ever happened in his career. That fantastic feat is about to be trumped. Colletti, a bareback rider from Pueblo, Colo., is just 25 years old, but next week he’ll play on the biggest stage in his chosen sport, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He qualified for the sport’s grand championship by finishing the regular season 10th in the world standings – only the top 15 contestants in each event get the invitation to play for the biggest pay of the season in Las Vegas. “It’s like the biggest dream come true,” said Colletti, who just completed his fifth season in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. “I watched the NFR on TV since I was a little kid and dreamed about being there.” Even with his itinerary scheduled and his reservations made, it’s likely the reality and magnitude of the NFR won’t hit Colletti until next week when he arrives in the City of Lights. But that’s OK. “I don’t know what to expect, but I’m going to try to do the best I can and let everything else fall where it’s going to go,” he said. “I’m going to take it all in. I’ve been waiting for two months to go to it since the season ended, and I’m excited. It just can’t get here fast enough, but I bet it’s over just like that.” The NFR is the biggest test of any cowboy’s season. Contestants compete all year long in order to qualify, and oftentimes they spend as much as they make in order to earn the points needed – in rodeo, dollars not only pays bills but also serves as the championship points; the contestant with the most money won in each event at the end of the NFR is crowned world champion. How much is available in the Nevada desert? Go-round winners will earn $17,885 each of the 10 nights. To compare that to most rodeos, Colletti’s win in Cheyenne paid him $18,738 after he finished in a tie for third in the opening round, won the second and short-go rounds and won the average with the best cumulative score on three rides. He easily could surpass his Wyoming earnings in just two nights. But this is where the elite want to compete. They test their mettle at rodeos all across this land throughout the year, but there’s nothing like getting on the best bucking horses against the top cowboys in the world for 10 December nights in Las Vegas. “The cool thing is that you filled your dream at least one time,” said Colletti, who said he’s thankful for his partnership with Wrangler, Justin Boots and C&S Farm and Cattle, the latter being his family’s operation just east of Pueblo. “I made the NFR, and I won Cheyenne and I won Prescott (Ariz.). Who wins Cheyenne and Prescott in the same year? Those are two of the most prestigious events in rodeo, the World’s Oldest Rodeo in Prescott and the Daddy of ’Em All in Cheyenne. “They can’t take any of that away from me.” There are a lot of things you won’t take away from Colletti, who got his start in the world of rodeo as a youngster. His father rode bareback horses for more than 20 years, but that’s likely not the path Chuck Colletti had hoped for his young son. “I rode sheep when I was real little, then I rode calves during the summer once a week when I got a little bit older,” Casey Colletti said. “That was what my rodeo career growing up, then riding junior bulls, then bulls. I was 16 years old when I got on my first bareback horse in La Junta (Colo.). I entered the bareback riding because somebody told me there were no bareback riders. I’ve always wanted to win at everything, so I thought that if I was the only bareback rider, I could win a buckle.” Instead, the young bronc rider was bucked off, but his hand was hung in the rigging, and the horse carried him around the arena for what seemed like forever. That would’ve been the end of his bareback riding career, but there was something else involved. “The only reason I ride bareback horses to this day is that in Colorado, we had to prepay to go for the season, so when I got to La Junta, I’d already prepaid my fee,” he said. “When you’re 16 years old, $50 was a lot of money, so I was going to get my money’s worth out of that one.” The next rodeo was in La Veta,Colo., and Colletti won bareback riding. “I quit riding bulls altogether,” he said. His skills on bucking horses earned him a rodeo scholarship to Garden City (Kan.) Community College, where he won the Central Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, then finished fifth at the College National Finals Rodeo. “When Casey won the region his sophomore year, I knew he was going to do something,” said Jim Boy Hash, Garden City’s rodeo coach. “I knew he had the talent.” Colletti got his 2011 season rolling over the run known as Cowboy Christmas, which features several lucrative rodeos around the Fourth of July. The young bronc buster rode the great J.K. Rodeo horse Brother to win in Prescott. In addition, he had victories in Casper, Wyo.; Rock Springs, Wyo.; Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Jerome, Idaho; Burlington, Colo.; Douglas,Wyo.; El Paso, Texas; Phillipsburg, Kan.; San Juan Capistrano, Calif.; and Fort Madison, Iowa. Of course, the biggest win was in Cheyenne. “I was on my way home from taking my sons to a junior rodeo, and they were both asleep when he called me and told me he’d won Cheyenne,” Hash said. “I was screaming so loud I woke the boys up. I started crying.” Colletti has a lot to be proud of when he replays  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS– It’s been six years since Jhett Johnson first qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Many things have changed since then, but Johnson remains one of the greatest heelers in the game of team roping. That’s why he returns to the City of Lights for the fifth time in his career. The NFR is where world champions will be crowned, but just as importantly, it’s where the biggest prize pool is available to the best the sport has to offer. Johnson, 40, of Casper,Wyo., is the father of three who rodeos for a living. That means a lot of time on the road and away from his wife of 15 years, Jenny, and their sons, Kellan, Carson and Kress. Making the NFR is a way to make up for lost time, and the $17,885 available to go-round winners each of the 10 nights of the championship is a big reason why. Roping with Turtle Powell, a six-time NFR qualifying header from Stephenville, Texas, Johnson has had a solid 2011, finishing the regular season 12th in the world standings with $71,487. The team roping tandem had their biggest win at the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo, but they also added key victories in Walla Walla,Wash., and Garden City, Kan. But that’s the tip of the iceberg for the team – one heeler can’t earn that much money at just a handful of rodeos, no matter their payouts. The reality is that Powell and Johnson were consistent most of the season. Even though they didn’t have many victories, they were in the money more times than not; that’s a good way to make a hard living. You see, rodeo is much different than most professional sports. Not only do cowboys cover their own expenses – instead of flying first class and staying in five-star digs paid for by their employers, they drive hundreds of thousands of miles a year and live in the same trailer that hauled their horses – but they must pay an entry fee in order to compete. Johnson may have made a significant living, but his expenses and his earnings were almost equal. Johnson, who attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University and graduated from Oklahoma Panhandle State University, needs a solid 10 days in Las Vegas to consider his season a profit. Not only that, but championship points are based on money. The top contestant in each event with the most money won at the conclusion of the NFR will be crowned world champion, earning the most coveted prize in the sport, a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. That’s a prize that has eluded Johnson and Powell, so they’d like to see that streak end this season. Johnson trails heeling standings leader Cesar de la Cruz by $47,267, but that deficit can be surpassed in just three go-rounds inLas Vegas. Besides, Johnson has overcome much more in his lifetime. Fifteen years ago, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent surgeries to rid his body of the disease. Since then, he has fathered three children; doctors declared him cancer-free five years ago. “It was a huge shock,” Johnson told The Oklahoman in March while preparing to compete at the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo. “At that time in my life, I was consumed by rodeo. In the blink of an eye, it made me realize there is more to life than rodeo. It made me realize how quickly you could lose everything.” Johnson, who is proud of being a native Wyoming cowboy who promotes Wyoming Tourism through his sponsorship with the state, has competed on ProRodeo’s grandest stage four times prior to 2011, and each time he ropes in Las Vegas, it’s with a different header. That’s the name of the game in team roping; partners are swapped often in order to find that perfect match. The Johnson-Powell team seems to be doing quite well. “Turtle and I have roped off and on throughout my pro career,” Johnson said in May. “We get along really well, and we both have really good horses. That’s what you need at this level. There’s not one guy out there that can out-rope everybody, so you have to have that advantage somehow. I think our horses give us that advantage. The better the horse is, the better you are.” In addition to his partnership with Wyoming, Johnson is sponsored by Heelomatic, Tony Lama and Classic, which helps him take care of business on the rodeo trail. That business involves working well with Powell for 10 straight nights in Las Vegas in an arena roughly the size of a basketball court. That size of pen offers many challenges, even for the best in the game. But challenges are nothing new to a man who beat cancer. “I survived it, and my life is exactly going the direction I want it,” Johnson said in Oklahoma City this past spring. “I know it doesn’t work out that way for everybody, but just because you are diagnosed doesn’t mean you’re dead. “It changed me. It made me realize life can end and does end, and I appreciate it every day.”

LAS VEGAS – Matt Sherwood is one of the most consistent headers in the history of team roping at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. You see, in two trips to Las Vegas for ProRodeo’s grand finale, Sherwood, of Pima, Ariz., has left the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus with the world champion’s hardware, a gold buckle. That was in 2006 and 2008. Sherwood returns to the scene of his greatest accomplishment as one of the top 15 cowboys in the field when the 2011 NFR commences Dec. 1-10 inLas Vegas. “Making the NFR means a lot, financially and morally,” said Sherwood, who, with his wife, Kim, has seven children they raise on their eastern Arizona spread. “I haven’t made the finals the last couple of years, so it means a lot to me.” He won his first Montana Silversmiths gold buckle five seasons ago while roping with two-time world champion Walt Woodard. Two years later, he repeated while competing with Nevadan Randon Adams. This year he’s hooked up with veteran heeler Cory Petska, a nine-time NFR qualifier fromMarana,Ariz. “The first place we started wasReno, and I was so far behind,” Sherwood said of the late-June rodeo in westernNevada. “To come back from that far behind and be sitting in fourth place heading into the finals really gives us a boost of confidence.” The tandem will need all the confidence it can get over the course of the rugged 10 days of ProRodeo’s championship event. The NFR features the biggest prize pool in the sport, $6 million; go-round winners will earn a check worth $17,885 each night, so this is a great opportunity for contestants to make a substantial living in just two weeks. Not only that, but dollars are points, and the cowboys with the most money won at the conclusion of the 2011 season will be crowned world champions. “In so many ways, nothing is different than the first time I made it to the finals,” Sherwood said. “This will be the first time to the finals where I’m not in the lead in the standings. It will be a different situation as far as strategy. I’m $30,000 behind the leaders, so I’ve got some ground to make up.” He’s willing to make that bet inLas Vegas, where he’s had plenty of success before. “What I’ve done in the past is just go make the best run you can make on each steer,” he said. “If you start trying to do too much, sometimes you can get in a jam. You’ve got to be pretty aggressive. It’s still a 10-head rodeo, so the big thing is to catch as many as you can.” That approach led to great things over the course of the 2011 season. Sherwood and Petska had a big-time run over Cowboy Christmas, the series of lucrative rodeos around the Fourth of July, earning $15,768 each over that stretch. That success over a few days virtually doubled Sherwood’s annual earnings to that point. Since then, he’s added $53,000. “Without the Fourth of July like that, I don’t know if we make it to the finals,” said Sherwood, who credits his partnership with MAXX Sunglasses, Cinch and Cactus for helping him compete at a high level. “Financially it was huge. I made as much money over that weekend that I had heading up to that point. It took me from 32nd to fifth or sixth in the standings. All of the sudden, all you have to do is maintain that position instead of having to chase all year to get into that position. “In both ways, it was a huge shot in the arm.” A good finale would be even better medicine. “We work all year, rodeo all year, to get to this point,” he said. “I’ve won 87,000 bucks, and I spent $50,000-$60,000 to get here. If a guy goes in there and wins $100,000, it turns your world around. If you don’t do well, then you’ve got to scrape everything you can to make it through the winter. “Nowhere do we go where we have a chance to win that kind of money. It’s in the back of your mind that you need to do well financially.” How do the elite contestants who earn the right to play on that stage handle the pressure of the NFR? Experience helps, of course, but so does the approach taken by Sherwood and Petska. “Nerves can make you perform 15 percent better or 15 percent worse,” Sherwood said. “Don’t change what you’ve been doing. For me, if you what you’ve been doing all day long, it’ll be a smooth deal. If you try to change anything, then it throws a spin in the works. “That’s not the place to change how you rope.”