Bareback rider Leighton Berry wears a blue shirt to honor the life of 6-year-old Hayes Hamaker and the Summit Pro Rodeo family during his rodeo-winning 91-point ride on Summit’s Game Trail last week in Gooding, Idaho.
(PHOTO BY LARA ST JACQUES)
Cowboy’s attire was just part of tribute to Summit family
SALT LAKE CITY – Bareback rider Leighton Berry reached toward a hanging rack in his rodeo rig and pulled out a shirt he doesn’t wear often.
It was blue, emblazoned with sponsors’ patches and was the perfect attire for his mid-August match-up with Summit Pro Rodeo’s Game Trail, considered by many cowboys as one of the elite bareback buckers. It was also a fitting tribute to the company and its family.
A few days before Berry’s ride, 6-year-old Hayes Hamaker was killed in a ranching accident. Hayes’ grandfather, J.D. Hamaker, co-owns Wyoming-based Summit with Daniel Beard and Byron Juma. Hayes’ daddy, Ty Hamaker, is a flankman and a major piece of the puzzle for the outfit.
If it falls under the Summit brand, they’re all family, as are most who come in contact with them. That includes organizers of Utah’s Own Rodeo during the Utah State Fair in Salt Lake City, with performances planned for 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11; Saturday, Sept. 12; and Monday, Sept. 14, in the Days of ’47 Arena.
Cowboys are an extension of that familial bond, and Berry’s dress code was inspired by that. Hayes was laid to rest Aug. 24, and a sea of blue sent him on his journey. It was the little boy’s favorite color, which prompted Berry to dress as he did. He’d ridden Game Trail three times before, with rodeo-winning rides of 87, 88 and 89 points. In southern Idaho, he and Game Trail matched for 91.
“When you’ve got a bucking horse like Game Trail of Summit Pro Rodeo, what more can you say?” said Berry, a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Weatherford, Texas. “I’ve never been 90 (on that horse). That was my goal. It was good for Hayes Hamaker just being able to accomplish that goal.”
Berry’s feet moved faster, his drive on the electric bay was more pronounced. He wanted to prove something during his winning ride to send a message to the Hamakers and the rest of the Summit crew that he and the horse were doing something special to honor a boy gone too soon.
It’s a tribute that many others hope to extend over the next few weeks and months as a family mourns. They will have plenty of opportunities, because the Summit team has a crescendo of amazing animal athletes. Evidence of that happens every year inside the Days of ’47 Arena at Utah State Fairpark during the September festivities.
It’s also shown across the country. Take this year’s Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days Rodeo. Jayco roper won the bareback riding title after a 93-point effort on CC Blue, an energetic blue roan bucker. Wyoming cowboy Brody Cress shared the saddle bronc riding crown with two others, posting a 92-point ride on Heavy Feathers.
“Those Summit horses really showed out at Cheyenne,” said Garrett Shadbolt, a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Merriman, Nebraska.
A week later, those animals were performing at a high capacity again, this time at the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo in Castle Rock, Colorado. That’s where Nick Pelke won bareback riding with a 92-point ride on Game Trail, besting a couple of 90s, including one by 2022 world champion Jess Pope, who was matched with Red Feathers.
That sorrel bronc, by the way, guided two more world titlists, Clayton Biglow (2019) and Dean Thompson (2024), to 88.5-point rides to finish in a tie for second place in Idaho behind Berry – Biglow rode Red Feathers to open the rodeo on Aug. 19, and Thompson closed out the show three nights later.
“I’ve been getting on Summit horses from the very beginning,” said Cole Reiner, a five-time NFR qualifier from Buffalo, Wyoming. “They have put together a string of horses like no one else. I would say Summit has one of the deepest, most-consistent set of horses in the PRCA.”