Monthly Archives: October 2011

Steffes caps off 2011 campaign with win in Pendleton By Ted Harbin Dash Ta Vanilla is just 6 years old, but the palomino mare has proven to be quite special. In fact, Nilla’s main passenger, 24-year-old Nikki Steffes, already has adjusted her career plans in order to take advantage of the gifted young racehorse. After graduating from the University of Wyoming, Steffes was accepted into dental school at the University of Nebraska. But that palomino speedster was having a whale of a training season, so Steffes deferred her entry to the College of Dentistry in Lincoln, Neb. How long that deferment will last is still up in the air. “At this point, I’m still not really sure,” said Steffes, a two-time all-around champion at the College National Finals Rodeo. “As much as she’s proven herself this year, I just want to see where this leads. She’s an outstanding horse. A horse like this may never come around again. I know dental school can wait, but I may never get this kind of opportunity again.” A great 2011 campaign got better at the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up, when the Vale, S.D., cowgirl won the first round (28.55 seconds), the short round (28.47 seconds) and the two-run average (57.02 seconds). Most importantly, she won $11,421 and rapidly climbed the world standings ladder. “It’s so fun,” Steffes said. “This is my first time ever to Pendleton. I’m just so glad I went. It’s just a very unique setup, very challenging. You get to run across the grass and turn on the dirt. It’s the biggest pattern in the country.” She and Nilla handled it quite well. Their aggregate time was three-tenths of a second faster than runner-up Jane Melby of Backus, Minn. “I grew up on a ranch in western South Dakota, and I’ve ridden out in the pasture and up and down hills,” Steffes said. “I just put great importance on having my horses in great shape. I wasn’t concerned about running that far. I wanted to run as fast as I could in a straight line, then make good turns. My horse has the ability to do that, so I had a lot of faith in it.” The horse is owned by Alan Woodbury of Dickinson, N.D., who manufactures feed for performance horses. Woodbury has placed his faith into Steffes’ hands in working Nilla the right way. “We all knew that horse had something special, and Nikki is something special,” Woodbury said. “They’re going to go on and make a great team. She’s not going to try to run the horses’ legs off this year. Instead, she’s going to do the best for the horses.” That seems to be working. The tandem won the American Quarter Horse Association show in Denver, then won the opening round at the rodeo in Odessa, Texas, to open the ProRodeo season – in fact, that was the first rodeo in which Nilla competed. From there, Steffes and Nilla tackled a field of more than 500 great horses during a 4D barrel race in Stephenville, Texas. “The lights were coming on, and we knew there was something pretty special,” Woodbury said. “We knew we were in the purple. Things happened so fast, and you still have a young horse that’s not solid and needs seasoning.” Woodbury and Steffes have seen some great things in this year of “seasoning” for Nilla, out of SX Frenchmans Vanilla by Dash Ta Fame. “Now they’re really maturing and focusing,” Woodbury said. “Nikki’s done an outstanding job. I am really proud of her and the horse. They’ve rode together, and she’s getting that sense of fitting like a glove. She’s going to be awfully tough, as they showed in Pendleton.” The big money in Pendleton moved Steffes’ 2011 earnings to more than $48,000 and secures her qualification into some of the large indoor winter rodeos early next season. This is just her second season of having a WPRA card, but the road to ProRodeo was paved through years of excellence – from the National Little Britches Rodeo Association to high school rodeos to five years as a standout at Wyoming. Each June for five years, Steffes qualified for the collegiate championship, winning the all-around and barrel racing titles in the Central Rocky Mountain Region for five straight years. The two all-around titles came in 2007-09, the years in which she qualified for the finals in goat tying, too. Those all-around championships remain her greatest accomplishments, but she’s hoping to build on that. “Winning Pendleton is a great accomplishment, too,” she said. “To win on this horse, to know I was riding her when she went to her first rodeo. To have her come this far in her first year is just outstanding, I think. I feel pretty blessed to have been part of it.” With dental school on hold, now’s the time to strike the hot match, and that comes in the form of a 6-year-old palomino mare. “The win really does a lot for my confidence to know I have a horse to run with the toughest horses in the country and beat them,” Steffes said. “These are girls that I’ve been watching, and to know that I have a horse to compete with them is really exciting.”

I’d done it before, albeit in a different venue while working a different sport in a different decade. Announcing, I thought, was supposed to come fairly easily to me. Announcing a rodeo was supposed to be right up my alley; I’m a rodeo storyteller, for heaven’s sake. So when I was asked to announce a ranch rodeo that took place over the weekend, I was excited. I was definitely out of my comfort zone. This is much different than those nights putting my voice over the PA during college basketball games: “Personal foul on Eric Montgomery, his second; third team foul for Pratt.” I’ve paid particular attention to the best announcers in ProRodeo, from Clem McSpadden to Hadley Barrett to Randy Corley to Bob Tallman and Boyd Polhamus. They have distinct deliveries, and they’re outstanding storytellers. I thought that after all this time osmosis might have worked on me. It didn’t. I was a fish out of water; well, maybe more of a pond catfish in the Gulf of Mexico. But I had a blast Saturday night announcing the ranch rodeo at the Dakota Bronc Sisk Memorial Arena, a few miles south of Maryville, Mo. I got to see some terrific cowboys and some outstanding ranch horses. I got to tell a few stories; the better news is I’ll continue to tell stories from that night. Thanks, Tim Schafer, for giving me that opportunity.

In one of the pieces I did for the Omaha World-Herald while covering the River City Rodeo, I wrote: “Gold buckles may be won in Las Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo, but they are forged in Omaha.” (You can read the column by clicking HERE.) I’m watching the GAC coverage of the Justin Boots Championships during the River City Rodeo at CenturyLink Center. I’m actually getting to watch most of the final round for the first time; quite simply, I was just too busy on that Saturday night two weeks ago to even watch what happened. That’s just part of trying to get all the tidbits for the stories I was producing that weekend. The action was outstanding, but the stories are about the people; I needed to visit with each of those winners so we could help tell those stories. That’s why I enjoy watching the broadcast of the rodeo. You see, I talked to Blake Knowles about his 4.3-second, event-winning run, but I didn’t get to see it tonight. The same thing can be said about team ropers Cesar de la Cruz and Derrick Begay and their 4.4-second run, tie-down roper Tuff Cooper’s 7.4-second run, barrel racer Sue Smith’s 13.94, saddle bronc rider Wade Sundell’s 88 and bull rider’s Jacob O’Mara’s 87. Yes, that means I watched bareback riding, the great rides that Jason Havens (on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dirty Jacket) and Steven Dent (on Lancaster & Pickett’s Top Flight) used for 87s to split the round – Dent won the event title on the tie-breaker based on his semifinal victory. There was a lot of great action in Omaha, but maybe nothing better than Sundell’s 90-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Miss Congeniality, a beautiful bay mare that twice won the halter as saddle bronc of the year (2005-2007). That’s what makes championships like Omaha so much fun to watch.

I will be expanding my horizons starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, when I announce the ranch rodeo at the Dakota Bronc Sisk Memorial Arena south of Maryville on State Highway A. My friend, Tim Schafer, is conducting the event, which will feature four-person teams competing in steer sorting, steer mugging, calf rope’n tie and wild cow milking. He asked me to try something new, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity. But more importantly, I’m looking forward to watching these great ranch cowboys (and, likely, cowgirls) show off their working skills. While rodeo contestants put a public face to the Western lifestyle, ranchers are its backbone. So if you’re in northwest Missouri or just passing through, stop by Sisk Arena and enjoy the show.

The 2011 season marked two significant accomplishments for Nebraska cowboy Kyle Whitaker. The biggest, and most celebrated, is his record sixth Linderman Award, given to the cowboy who best exemplifies the historic, all-around standard of being great hands in both timed events and roughstock events, qualifying in three events. In Whitaker’s case, he ropes calves, wrestles steers and rides saddle broncs. With his 2011 victory, Whitaker stopped Trell Etbauer’s reign at three straight years. It also marked the first time in five years Whitaker won the award – Mike Outhier won the title in 2007, followed by Etbauer’s three-year run. But this is nothing new to Whitaker, whose father, Chip, won four Linderman’s in his career. But the younger Nebraska cowboy has been quite proficient, too, qualifying for the annual award each season since 1997 – to qualify, a cowboy must win at least $1,000 in each of three events, and those events must include at least one roughstock event and one timed event. “It means more to me than a lot of guys,” Whitaker told the PRCA. “When I was a kid, everywhere my dad competed, they introduced him as the Linderman Award winner. From a young age, I’ve known the history of it. The award was always something I had in mind that I wanted to win. “It seems like there aren’t a lot of people who have a real awareness of what it means. It is my goal every year to qualify for it and win it. I’ve done it (qualified) every year since 1997, so that’s 15 rodeo seasons. I take real pride in that.” Kyle Whitaker is a class act, and I love visiting with him any time. He deserves this award as much as anyone, and I’ll make sure to spend some time with him in two months when he goes to Las Vegas to receive the award during the 2011 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

As I consider the work I’m doing on behalf of the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping, I can’t help but think about the first time the championship took place at the Lazy E Arena. That was in 1984. The building was prepared in time for the steer roping finale to take place in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo. I don’t know how the timing of the two championships worked, but I think the semantics could’ve been a real nightmare had Trevor Brazile been in the mix. Brazile, as most in the rodeo world know, owns 14 PRCA world championships: eight all-around, three tie-down roping, two steer roping and one heading – he is a fixture in all three events at the national finals. In 1984, “Super Looper” Roy Cooper was the only cowboy in the field at both the NFR and NFSR. He won the tie-down roping gold buckle, finished fourth in steer roping and second in the all-around to Dee Pickett. Of course, that was the last year semantics came into play for the two championships; the steer roping finals moved to an earlier date, and the NFR moved to Las Vegas. Over the years, there have been many outstanding all-around cowboys who have qualified for the NFSR and the NFR in the same season – Tee Woolman, J.D. Yates, Joe Beaver, Marty Jones and Cody Ohl, to name a few – but nobody personifies multiple qualifications like Brazile. I wish I’d been able to attend those two great events in 1984. Like every other championships I’ve witnessed, it would’ve been an awesome memory.

Mickey Gee won the PRCA steer wrestling world championship in 1999, winning the average title at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in the process. He also claimed the NFR average title in 2003, the only other time the Wichita Falls, Texas, cowboy has played on ProRodeo’s grandest stage. That’s a pretty good winning percentage. Gee returns to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas this December for just the third time in his career, finishing the 2011 regular season 15th in the world standings. He earned his trip to the NFR by just $1,658 over the No. 16 bulldogger, Stan Branco of Chowchilla, Calif. That takes me back to one of the top 30 events in ProRodeo’s regular season, the Lea County Fair and Rodeo in Lovington, N.M., one of the 24 events that were part of the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour. In the southeastern New Mexico community, Gee won the first go-round, then failed to collect another check. Still, that $1,967 gave him just the cushion he needed to squeak into the NFR field. Now he just needs to take advantage of it in Sin City.

The PRCA has released the 2011 AQHA Horse of the Year winners, including in barrel racing. There are some great stories that go along with some of these winners, and I hope to share them with you soon. Congratulations to all of those who earned a spot among the best in the business: Team Roping – Heading 1st place:  Classic(Sycamore Guld Finger) Ridden by Keven Daniel Owned by Zac Small 2nd/3rd place SPLIT:  Vegas(Ra Sonoita Silver) Ridden by Turtle Powell Owned by Turtle Powell Rudy(Rappers Ruff Stuff) Ridden by Arky Rogers Owned by Arky Rogers Team Roping – Heeling 1st place:  Dugout(CDS Quixote) Ridden by Brady Minor Owned by Brady Minor 2nd place:  Amigo(Sunday Night Bingo) Ridden by Patrick Smith Owned by Patrick and Christi Smith 3rd place:  Cave Man(Fine Snip of Doc) Ridden by Jade Corkill Owned by Jade Corkill Tie Down Roping 1st place: Sweetness(Eightys Sport) Ridden by Houston Hutto, Timber Moore, Clint Cooper, Trent Creager, Blair Burk Owned by Spur Resources LTD 2nd place:  Reata(Smokin Reata) Ridden by Shane Hanchey Owned by O L Buck Daniel 3rd place:  TC(Time to Catch Wa) Ridden by Tyson Durfey, Ryan Watkins, Fred Werneck Owned by Frederico Werneck Steer Roping 1st place:  Pokey(Senior Sonita) Ridden by Cody Lee Owned by Cody Lee 2nd place:  Boxer(Direct Peppy) Ridden by Shay Good Owned by Shay Good 3rd place:  Pops(Skips Harlan Tyree) Ridden by Rocky Patterson, Chet Herrin Owned by Rocky Patterson Steer Wrestling 1st place:  Wick(Dashes Dapper Star) Ridden by Wade Sumpter, Billy Bugenig, Ken Lewis, Seth Brockman Owned by Wade Sumpter 2nd place:  Maximus(MP Right Back Atya) Ridden by Todd Suhn Owned by Todd Suhn 3rd place:  Streak(Black Velvet Win) Ridden by Dane Hanna, Travis Carnine, Cule Edge, Sean Mulligan Owned by Travis Carnine, Dane Hanna Barrel Racing 1st/2nd place SPLIT: Stingray (MP Meter My Hay) Ridden by Sherry Cervi Owned by Sherry Cervi and Mel Potter Duke (Yeah Hes Firen) Ridden by Brittany Pozzi Owned by Brittany Pozzi 3rd place:  Fire Bug (Flaming Firebug) Ridden by Jeanne Anderson Owned by Jeanne and Rick Anderson

By the PRCA There will be 22 first-timers among the 104 PRCA qualifiers for the Dec. 1-10 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, including six in the bull riding field and five saddle bronc riders. It is the third lowest number of NFR rookies in the last decade. Rookie bull rider Chandler Bownds, 20, is the youngest qualifier among the 104 and two-time world champion team roper Walt Woodard, the oldest at 56. Woodard made the first of his 20 Wrangler NFR qualifications in 1976, 15 years before Bownds was born.

HEMPSTEAD, Texas – The organizers of the annual Waller County Fair and Rodeo had no idea what to expect during this year’s event. They had dreamed big, changing from an amateur rodeo to the ranks of ProRodeo as a member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. They hired the best personnel in the business, from announcer Andy Stewart to barrelman/act Mark Swingler to Carr Pro Rodeo. “It definitely fulfilled everything we wanted it to be,” said Clint Sciba, co-chairman of the rodeo committee and vice president of the Waller County Fair Association. “Our rodeo had a Vegas-type feel to it; Pete Carr and his people put on the kind of show that everybody is talking about. “Pete Carr and the Carr Pro Rodeo Company is as professional as it gets. Pete has a great group of individuals that work hard to make sure the Carr Pro Rodeo brand stays at the top of must-see PRCA stock and rodeo entertainment.” That’s just the foundation for a successful event. The key reason the rodeo committee decided to take its event to the professional level was to up the ante for fair-goers and others from the community that wanted to see the highest level of rodeo. Organizers knew bringing the best in the business – from world champion cowboys and cowgirls to the top animal athletes – would make for quality entertainment for fans in that region. “The stock was unbelievable,” Sciba said. “We bucked 30 bulls in two days and had just three rides, but one of those rides was for 92 points to win it.” Tim Bingham of Honeyville, Utah, won bull riding by matching moves with Carr’s Itch and Scratch. He was just one of several contestants to walk away from the weekend’s festivities with a new Montana Silversmiths buckle given to champions. Other winners include steer wrestlers Termaine Debose, Ben Goodman and Cole Edge, who posted 4.3-second runs; tie-down roper Justin Maass, 8.7 seconds; barrel racers Reagan Dillard, Lauren Devang and Shelley Morgan, 14.87 seconds; team ropers Shane Phillp/John Phillip and Tyler Wade/Tyler Barton, 4.6 seconds; bareback rider Steven Anding, 88 points on Carr’s Grass Dancer, a horse seen every year at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo; and saddle bronc rider Bryan Hammons, 82 points on Carr’s Rodeo Spot. “In bareback riding and saddle bronc riding, both those rides were the highest marked rides ever done in our arena,” Sciba said. “That’s the difference in the caliber of the stock and the caliber of the contestants we had this year.” This is just the first step in continuing the growth of the annual event. “I don’t think it could’ve gone any better,” Sciba said. “I think in Waller County, there was a lot of buzz about Friday night’s rodeo all day Saturday. We had people talking about it. It was great. Our sponsors, guys who know rodeo, were blown away by the production Pete and his people put on.”

Waller County Fair and Rodeo Sept. 30-Oct. 1 Final Results All-round: Caleb Smidt, $1,191, tie-down roping and team roping Bareback riding: 1. Steven Anding, 88 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Grass Dancer, $1,354; 2. Chris Harris on Carr’s Island Girl and Evan Jayne on Carr’s Power Aid, 83, $882; 4. Jake Brown on Carr’s High Tide, Matt Bright on Carr’s Open Range and Zach Dishman on Carr’s Black Road, 81, $328. Steer wrestling: 1. Termaine Debose, Ben Goodman and Cole Edge, 4.3 seconds, $1,248 each; 4. Sterling Wallace, 4.6, $728; 5. Britt Walters and Logan Gledhill, 4.8, $364. Team roping: 1. Shane Phillipp/John Phillipp and Tyler Wade/Tyler Barton, 4.6 seconds, $1,542 each; 3. Casey Gattis/Jaytin McCright and Justin Davis/Ryan Motes, 5.1, $960; 5. Blake Teixeira/Luke Groth, 5.3, $524; 6. Jake Kropik/Dee Rampy, 5.4, $291. Saddle bronc riding: 1. Bryan Hammons, 82 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Rodeo Spot, $1,392; 2. Sterling Crawley on Carr’s Simple Man and Justin Browning on Carr’s Trail Dust, 80, $907; 4. Jeremy Ray Melancon on Carr’s Fiesta Savvy and Aaron Lide on Carr’s Centerfold, 78, $401; 6. Jacobs Crawley, 76 on Carr’s Show Girl, $211. Tie-down roping: 1. Justin Maass, 8.7 seconds, $1,818; 2. Braxton Laughlin, 9.7, $1,505; 3. Caleb Smidt, 9.9, $1,191; 4. Seth Childers, 10.0, $878; 5. Ricky Canton, 10.1, $564; 6. Adam Gray, 10.4, $314. Barrel racing: 1. Reagan Dillard, Lauren Devang and Shelley Morgan, 14.87 seconds, $1,363 each; 4. Billie Ann Sexton, 15.03, $984; 5. Bennette Barrington, 15.10, $757; 6. Morgan Montello, 15.18, $606; 7. Sioux Smith, 15.20, $454; 8. Lippy Eppenauer and Meagan Reichart, 15.23, $265;. 10. Cassie Moseley, 15.26, $151. Bull riding: 1. Tim Bingham, 92 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Itch and Scratch, $1,940; 2. D.J. Domangue, 79 on Carr’s Synergy, $1,561; 3. Dalton Votaw, 76 on Carr’s Fireplug, $1,230; no other qualified rides.

By the PRCA The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association has announced changes to the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour presented by Justin Boots, effective for the 2012 season. Under the new format, the field for the Justin Boots Playoffs and Justin Boots Championships will be determined by the PRCA World Standings rather than the tour standings. The tour standings will now be utilized for a new incentive for contestants that will also take effect for the 2012 season. In addition to the large payouts available at Tour rodeos, cash bonuses will be paid to the cowboys who finish in the top six of the Tour standings in each event at the end of the season. Eligibility for the bonus money – which will count toward the PRCA World Standings – will be contingent on a rule that contestants cannot enter and then turn out of (withdraw from) more than one tour event during the season. “The event reps and the board of directors have taken the initiative to restructure the tour, which will make it better in the long run,” PRCA Contestant Director Fred Boettcher said. “I think the biggest positive of this is that guys are going to show up to the Tour rodeos. In the past, sometimes guys would only show up if they drew well, but now they will show up and compete.” In addition to reducing the number of turnouts at some of the PRCA’s marquee events, the new system is intended to allow cowboys to compete closer to home. “Anytime the cowboys can rodeo smarter and be able to keep their money together and reduce travel costs, it benefits everybody,” said Spud Duvall, vice chairman of the PRCA board. “We are hoping that, by putting this new system in, it will be good for everybody in the PRCA, from the cowboys to the (rodeo) committees and all of the members.” While allowing cowboys to rodeo more economically was viewed as an important step, the support of rodeo committees was also integral to the approval of the new system. “We had communication with six or seven committees on a conference call and told them what we wanted to do,” PRCA Contestant Director Red Lemmel said. “The committees liked the aspect of it helping with the turnouts, because there’s nothing worse than four or five guys in the same event not showing up at a rodeo. This will benefit both the big and small rodeos, because it gives cowboys incentive to hit the smaller rodeos on the way to the bigger ones.” Dr. R.C. Trotter, president of the Dodge City (Kan.) Round-Up, directs one of the original tour rodeos, and has always used Tour status to his event’s advantage. “From a fan’s perspective it’s a good thing to be a tour rodeo,” Trotter said. “It says we’re singled out as an elite rodeo. I use it as a marketing tool in my area to separate myself from other rodeos, without having to say I’m bigger and better and have a bigger payout than some of the others. We use the fact that we’re the only Wrangler Million Dollar Tour rodeo in the state of Kansas as a selling point, and that sends a message to the public that we’re special. “Being part of the Tour pushes us to be better. It motivates us to bring in good stock, good contract acts, and have the best possible payoff. Being a tour rodeo energized this community for us. It’s always a good thing to be part of an elite group, and it gives us a marketing edge.” The Sikeston (Mo.) Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo is a Silver Tour event on the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour. “The tour has helped us in many ways,” Sikeston General Chairman Chris Deen said. “It’s given us the opportunity to get bigger name cowboys to our event. Not that we didn’t have them before, but it has brought more to us. How much the quality of our rodeo has improved since we’ve been in the tour is unbelievable. Being part of the tour absolutely steps up your game.” PRCA Contestant Director Bret Tonozzi said the potential boost that could be given to rodeos outside the tour was a strong reason to support the changes. “The inception of the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour has been a great development for the sport of ProRodeo because of the way it has been able to spotlight some of our best events,” Tonozzi said. “These changes will be beneficial because it will not only improve these events, but it will also be a boost to smaller rodeos, as well.” PRCA Commissioner Karl Stressman said the changes to the tour format are the result of a collective effort, one that he said will be beneficial. “We’re trying to listen to everyone and determine what’s best for our sport,” Stressman said. “We have discussed the importance of open communication among our members, and these changes are a direct result of that. Our contestant directors have worked hard to provide us with the information to create a system that benefits contestants and committees alike, and we feel their decision will pay dividends for the association as a whole.” There are two event designations on the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour: Gold and Silver Tour rodeos. Nine of the 24 tour stops in 2011 were gold events – rodeos that add $20,000 or more in committee purse to the bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping (heading and heeling), saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping and bull riding competitions. The 15 silver rodeos added at least $10,000 in each of those six events, and also feature equal money in the team roping.