Monthly Archives: December 2014

1. Austin Foss, 85.5 points on Beutler & Son’s Black Kat, $19,002; 2. Steven Dent, 83.5, $15,018; 3. Richmond Champion, 82, $11,340; 4. Tilden Hooper, 81.5; $7,969; 5. (tie) Kaycee Feild and Jake Vold, 80.5, $3,975 each.

Two-time world champion saddle bronc rider Cody Wright is out for Rounds 8 and 9 and is doubtful for the final night of the 2014 season Saturday. Wright suffered a left shoulder dislocation and sprain Wednesday night. The joint in his riding arm was put back in place at the hospital. “It makes me sick, it really does,” Wright told NFR Insider Neal Reid on Thursday afternoon. “I hate to turn out in the middle of the year, let alone coming here and doing it. But like I told these boys of mine, I could get on and ride, but I’m here riding the best horses in the world against the best cowboys in the world. “Can I get on and be competitive? No, I don’t think I can. I could get on and tough it out and hopefully not hurt myself, but I’m more likely to hurt myself worse and be out more next year.” Wright will have to make a decision as to whether he will ride in the 10th round, but the chances seem to be slim given the severity of the injury. He entered the NFR second in the world standings and has earned $19,309 through seven rounds, placing just twice. He stands at $130,394 for the season and has been pushed to No. 4 in the standings. He was third in the average after the seventh round.

LAS VEGAS – It took seven go-rounds, but barrel racer Carlee Pierce of Edmond, Okla., finally earned a top paycheck at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Pierce and her horse, Streakin Easy April, rounded the cloverleaf pattern inside the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas in 14.04 seconds during Wednesday’s seventh go-round, earning $11,340. It was her biggest check of this year’s NFR. As is the case, she laid all the credit on the horse, a 6-year-old sorrel mare she calls Lolo. “Lolo has been great,” said Pierce, who was raised in northwest Oklahoma. “She has made a few mistakes, but so have I. When I ride better, she does better. She’s just young, so I have to make sure I’m doing everything right.” The cowgirl had limited expectations at this year’s championship knowing full well the growing pains with racing an immature horse against the greatest talent in ProRodeo. But Pierce has earned more than $25,000, placing in four of seven rounds so far. Plus she has three nights remaining in the season. “I can’t complain a bit about my baby,” she said of Lolo. “She’s been amazing. I’m so proud of what she’s done.” Maybe the most impressive thing about the talented filly is that she had competed in just two rodeos before leaving Oklahoma for the Nevada desert. Now she’s getting a crash course in rodeo on the biggest stage in the game. “I’m super excited about the future,” Pierce said.

LAS VEGAS – Coleman Proctor of Pryor, Okla., and Jake Long of Coffeyville, Kan., have earned a considerable amount of money over the years roping together. None of those dollars compares to the $46,000 they’ve earned over the last seven days in Las Vegas, where they are battling for every penny at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. This is the grandest stage in the game where the world champions will be crowned Saturday night. Proctor and Long have placed in five of seven go-rounds, including Wednesday, where they stopped the clock in 6.5 seconds for fifth place, worth $4,904. Proctor has moved his season earnings to $121,684. Long, who earned $1,000 more by roping with another header, is fifth in the world standings, while his partner is sixth. They are about $26,000 away from the No. 1 team, Clay Tryan and Jade Corkill. In order to catch the reigning world champions, Proctor and Long will need to gather big money over the final three nights of the championship. Tryan and Corkill are atop the average leaderboard, having downed all seven steers in a cumulative time of 54.9 seconds. Long and Proctor are third with a 38.8 on six. The average champion will earn a bonus of $48,732 when the NFR concludes Saturday night. Should the Oklahoma-Kansas duo remain in third, they will add $31,262. How big is that? The cowboys in each discipline who finish the season with the most money will win the coveted gold buckle for the world title. The race is on.

LAS VEGAS – At many rodeos across this land, a 7.7-second tie-down roping run would win the championship. That has happened just one time at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this past week, and the ropers were handling some bigger cattle. Times that fast are proof of the talent that exists with the top 15 ropers and the fact that they play the sport’s grand finale in an arena the size of a hockey rink. On Wednesday night, Tate Branch Auto Group cowboy Clint Cooper of Decatur, Texas, roped and tied his calf in 7.7 seconds to finish third in the seventh go-round. He was four-tenths of a second behind his brother, Tuf, and six-time world champion Cody Ohl. Having been raised in Lovington, N.M., and being the son of eight-time world champion Roy Cooper, Clint Cooper understands how to roll with the situation. On Tuesday night, he suffered a no-time. Instead of being flustered, he made up for it in Round 7, adding $11,340 to his earnings. So far at this year’s NFR, Cooper has earned just shy of $39,000. His season earnings have been expanded to $108,316, and he sits seventh in the world standings. Oh, and just three rounds remain. Taos Muncy, a “Riding for the Brand” saddle bronc rider from Corona, N.M., remains in a tight battle for the world championship. He has struggled at the NFR and has fallen from first to third in the world standings. He is $14,612 behind new leader Cort Scheer, a former college teammate at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Team roping heeler Jim Ross Cooper of Monument, N.M., suffered another no-time with his partner, Brandon Beers. The tandem has earned just shy of $18,000 in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – Cort Scheer doesn’t pay attention to the numbers. He’s in Las Vegas to ride bucking horses, and that’s all that matters to the Elsmere, Neb., cowboy. His goal is the gold buckle awarded to the world champion saddle bronc rider, and all those numbers that decide that will work out. Everyone else in his life is concerned with the numbers, especially that No. 1 spot. Scheer now occupies that with three rounds remaining at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He moved up from third to first on Wednesday night after a second-place finish in Round 6, where he rode Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Spur Strap for 80.5 points, pocketing $15,018. “I think I could’ve ridden that horse a lot better,” said Scheer, who attended Montana State University, Garden City (Kan.) Community College and Oklahoma Panhandle State University on rodo scholarships. “The last time I rode him, I think I was 86 on him at San Antonio. “I’m almost going to benefit from it, because I want to go that much more know. I know what I did wrong, so I can make the next one count. My spur out was week, so I’m excited to spur the heck out of one tomorrow.” Bronc busters must have their feet above the breaks in the horses’ shoulders to start the ride, which is known as the mark out or spur out. It allows the horse a head start, but it also sets up the rhythm of the spurring motion for the cowboys. Scheer thinks a stronger mark out will help his riding motion work better. “We’ve still got some good pens coming,” he said, referring to the 45 horses the bronc riders will be matched with over the final three go-rounds. “It’s just going to come down to drawing good, spurring horses out right and going at it. “I’m just having fun and forgetting about everything else that happens. I’m excited about getting on. I feel like I ride better after screwing up.” If he can screw up and finish in second place, the sky’s the limit for the top-ranked cowboy in bronc riding He has earned $56,635 at the NFR and pushed his season total to $156,049. He owns an $11,218 lead over the No. 2 man, Heith DeMoss of Heflin, La. Two-time world champion Taos Muncy of Corona, N.M., who was Scheer’s teammate at Panhandle State, is third with $141,437. Scheer’s lead can evaporate quickly with go-round winners earning $19,000 a night and the average champ pocketing $48,732 for having the best cumulative score at the conclusion of the 10-round championship. The race will come down to the wire. “I love it,” he said. “Riding with those cats … it makes it more exciting, and it makes you want to win a little more. “This is the best year I’ve ever had. This is the best shot (at the world title) I’ve ever had. Everything has been working great.”

1. (tie) Sage Kimzey, on 4L & Diamond S Rodeo’s Haunted Mesa, and Elliot Jacoby, on Hurst Pro Rodeo’s Cactus Jungle, 86.5 points, $17,010 each; 3. Brennon Eldred, 84.5, $11,340; 4. Tyler Smith, 82.5, $7,969; 5. (tie) J.W. Harris and Jordan Spears, $3,984 each.

Cody Wright DOES NOT have a broken arm. He suffered a dislocated left (riding) shoulder and was transported to have it put back in place, according to the Justin Sports Medicine program.

1. Lisa Lockhart, 13.73 seconds, $19,002; 2. Fallon Taylor, 13.89, $15,018; 3. Carlee Pierce, 14.04, $11,340; 4. Nancy Hunter, 14.08, $7,969; 5. Michelle McLeod, 14.11, $4,904; 6. Jana Bean, 14.14, $3,065.

1. Spencer Wright on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Pretty Boy, 85 points, $19,002; 2. Cort Scheer, 80.5, $15,018; 3. Jake Wright, 80, $11,340; 4. Jesse Wright, 78, $7,969; 5. Wade Sundell, 77.5, $4,904; 6. Heith DeMoss, 77, $3,065.

1. (tie) Cody Ohl and Tuf Cooper, 7.3 seconds, $17,010 each; 3. Clint Cooper, 7.7, $11,340; 4. Timber Moore, 8.0, $7,969; 5. Trevor Brazile, 8.8, $4,904; 6. Ryan Watkins, 8.9, $3,065.

We just received a report that Cody Wright, a two-time world champion from Milford, Utah, is being treated for a possible broken arm. We are awaiting confirmation. His status for the rest of the NFR is questionable. Bareback rider Steven Peebles is out of the competition with a fracture in his spine.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – There are four world champions in this year’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bareback riding field: Kaycee Feild, Bobby Mote, Will Lowe and Justin McDaniel. Together, they own 11 gold buckles. They are NFR regulars and veterans. Richmond Champion is at the opposite end of the spectrum, one of three rookies competing in ProRodeo’s grand championship. But Champion owns more go-round victories than any member of the quartet; Mote, Feild and McDaniel have one round title through seven nights, and the 21-year-old Texan has two. The latest came Wednesday night during the seventh go-round, where Champion matched moves with Three Hills Rodeo’s Angel Eyes for 86 points. He added another $19,000 to his NFR earnings, now at $39,537. “I didn’t really know that horse; I’d seen her one time,” he said. “Tim O’Connell won the (Wrangler) Champions Challenge on her in Omaha, so that’s good news coming here. “I was actually talking to (Three Hills owner) Dave Morehead while I was putting my rigging on her. He said, ‘Richie, you’re not going to win a million tonight, but you might as well win $19,000.’ ” Champion made his name this year in a non-Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event, RFD-TV’s The American, where the young cowboy earned $1.1 million for riding bareback horses. He was the second bareback rider to mount the powerful horse at this year’s NFR; Austin Foss scored 80 points on Angel Eyes to place fourth in the third go-round. “Austin told me, ‘She was just OK with me, but she’s going to buck today,’ ” Champion said. “ ‘I can already tell she’s a different horse than the day I had her.’ ” He has earned just two paychecks through seven nights in Las Vegas, but each has come over the last three nights. His earnings have been padded quite nicely by having the top spot at the end of the night. In addition to the big money, he also is awarded a buckle each night he wins a round. “I didn’t picture the round buckles, because I had the end-sight in mind … the gold buckle, the world championship,” he said. I guess it’s because you assume if you get to that point, other things are going to have to come. I didn’t exactly put in a number. I’m glad I didn’t limit myself to a number of round wins. I keep moving forward.” The key ingredient is a positive attitude. “I’m just having fun,” Champion said. “Sometimes you do better when you don’t worry about it. I’m just enjoying the experience, and I’m loving it.” It shows.

1. Dustin Bird/Paul Eaves, 3.7 seconds, $19,002; 2. Erich Rogers/Cory Petska, 3.9, $15,018; 3. Trevor Brazile/Travis Graves, 4.0, $11,340; 4. Aaron Tsinigine/Clay O’Brien Cooper, 4.2, $7,969; 5. Coleman Proctor/Jake Long, 6.5, $4,904; 6. Kaleb Driggers/Patrick Smith, 8.2, $3,065.

1. (tie) Dakota Eldridge and Curtis Cassidy, 3.4 seconds, $17,010 each; 3. (tie) Casey Martin and Luke Branquinho, 3.9, $9,654 each; 5. Bray Armes, 4.1, $4,904; 6. Wyatt Smith, 4.4, $3,065.

1. Richmond Champion on Three Hills Rodeo’s Angel Eyes, 86 points, $19,002; 2.Tilden Hooper, 84, $15,018; 3. Tim O’Connell, 83.5, $11,340; 4. (tie)Bobby Mote and Kaycee Feild, 81.5, $6,436 each; 6. Austin Foss, 81, $3,065.

LAS VEGAS – The race to the 2014 saddle bronc riding world championship will go down to the wire. Cort Scheer of Elsmere, Neb., is on the longest sprint of his life. He is third in the world standings with four days remaining. In horseracing terms, he’s just past the halfway point on the track and can’t even see the finish line from his viewpoint on the other side of turns 3 and 4. But he’s running as fast as he can. Only $735 separates the No. 1 cowboy from the No. 3 man. Louisianan Heith DeMoss is in the top spot, while Taos Muncy of Corona, N.M., is a neck behind. All three cowboys have pocketed more than $141,000 this season. Scheer – who attended Montana State University, Garden City (Kan.) Community College and Oklahoma Panhandle State University – won the first go-round, then was the runner-up the next night. He returned to the pay window after Tuesday’s sixth round, where he added $1,532 for finishing in a tie for sixth place after a 76.5-point ride on Harry Vold Rodeo’s Happy Valley. Scheer has earned nearly $39,000. He also is second in the average race, with a cumulative score of 469.5 points on six rides. He is 10 points behind average leader Spencer Wright. But that doesn’t matter to the Nebraskan, who is riding this year for round wins. Those pay $19,000 a night. He knows in order to win that coveted gold buckle, he needs to finish the season with more money earned than any other bronc rider in the field. That’s just the way he likes it.

LAS VEGAS – The pounding a steer wrestler’s body takes is incredible. These giant men leap off running horses onto a sprinting steer, then slam their feet into the ground, twist their own bodies in order to lay the animal flat on its side. At the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, it’s done in a quick fashion in a tiny arena with considerable money on the line. Bray Armes of Ponder, Texas, has experienced the good and the bad of the NFR in this year’s championship. On Sunday night, he strained his lower back and continues to compete. On Tuesday night during the sixth go-round, the powerful bulldogger grappled his steer to the turf in 4.2 seconds, adding $4,904 for finishing fifth. With four nights remaining on the season, he has cashed nearly $16,000 at the NFR and has pushed his season earnings to more than $85,000. But this isn’t the championship he had envisioned. He suffered a no-time on Saturday night when the steer escaped his grasp. He failed to place in the fourth and fifth rounds, primarily because of his back pain. But he continues to battle, which is just what many would expect out of the man who grew up in the Texas Panhandle community of Gruver. Including this year’s pay, the talented bulldogger has earned more than $200,000 over the last three seasons at the NFR alone. He knows the City of Lights can be magnificent, but it has its downside, too. Armes plans to make that move to regain his status near the top. He sits eighth in the world standings and has four more chances to cash in. It definitely will be exciting.

LAS VEGAS – A master mechanic needs the right tools to be successful at his job. So do the world’s greatest bareback riders. Take Caleb Bennett, for example. The Tremonton, Utah, cowboy realized he didn’t have the perfect tools to compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He made a change, and it paid him back very well during Tuesday’s sixth go-round. “I had to switch riggings,” said Bennett, who rode Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s River Boat Annie for 81 points and a share of third place Tuesday night. “I had to go back to an old rigging; the new one wasn’t sitting right.” A rigging is everything to a bareback rider. It’s strapped tightly to the horse’s back, and Bennett wedges his riding hand through the hand-hold and locks himself onto his dance partner. Bennett’s new rigging was built just enough different that it affected his riding style. “For me, if a rigging fits too high off a horse’s back, then I don’t have any pressure on my arm with my riding style,” said Bennett, who earned his first check of the 2014 NFR worth $8,071. “I get laid too far back, and I don’t have any weight on my feet. I can’t have my rigging to low or two high. It’s quite the process. I guess I didn’t check that out enough.” It’s a good thing he did on River Boat Annie, a 13-year-old red roan mare that was named the 2007 Reserve World Champion Bareback Horse. He had ridden the powerful horse twice before and had scored high. His last bout with the horse was a victory in Lovington, N.M., in 2010 when he rode her for 89 points. “That ride (Tuesday) felt really good,” he said. “I was pretty excited to have her. When I got off, I thought I was going to be 84 or 85.” Now just four nights remain in the 2014 season. The Utah cowboy – who won the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo this past spring – is taking a simplified approach for the remainder of the NFR. “I’m going to go in with a clear mind and not overthink it anymore,” Bennett said. “I’d really like to win at least two of these last four go-rounds and be in the mid- to high 80s and really jump up there in the average. I want to make ups some ground. A lot can happen and a lot can be done. “Anything can happen here.” Yes, it can.

LAS VEGAS – The first turn around the cloverleaf pattern was a little wide for Carlee Pierce during Tuesday’s sixth round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Wide turns make things slower, but barrel racing is all about speed. Instead of making up ground, Pierce and Lolo compounded it, knocking down the third barrel and suffering a five-second penalty. That kept the Edmond, Okla., away from the pay window. “I rode terribly,” said Pierce, a three-time NFR qualifier who grew up near Woodward, Okla., and lived in northwest Oklahoma for a number of years. “Lolo was a little out of control. All I can say is I’m thankful we weren’t expecting much this year.” Pierce wasn’t expecting much out of the horse, whose registered name is Easy Streakin April, because Lolo is just 6 years old. The mare with a strong pedigree still has a lot of learning to do, and she’s getting a crash course inside the Thomas and Mack Center. “I think six runs in a row is a lot for a young horse,” said Pierce, who will stay with Lolo instead of trying to utilize another youngster, her backup horse, Tiny, a 5-year-old sorrel mare. “I’m disappointed in my riding and not so much her run.” Just four rounds remain in the 2014 ProRodeo season, and she hopes to cash in at the most lucrative rodeo in the world. Go-round winners earn $19,000 each night, so there’s a lot of room for growth. The most important thing for the Oklahoma cowgirl, though, is to keep the education process positive for Lolo. “She is a very cool horse,” Pierce said. “I have a bit of a wild side and like to go fast, and I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be.” That will change soon enough.

LAS VEGAS – For the fourth time in five nights, Coleman Proctor and Jake Long have cashed in at the Las Vegas casino known as the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. On Tuesday night, the team ropers stopped the clock in 5.5 seconds to take the last paying spot in the sixth go-round, earning $3,065 for sixth place. They have only missed the pay window on two nights so far, and four rounds remain in the 2014 season. “It’s been a great week,” said Proctor of Pryor, Okla. “I’m really excited and happy with our average position. Things are starting to take shape.” They are. Coleman and Long, of Coffeyville, Kan., are No. 3 in the average race with a cumulative time of 32.3 seconds on five qualified times – they finished with a no-time on opening night. They have earned more than $41,000 at the NFR and around $117,000 in 2014 and sit fifth in the world standings. “Tonight I didn’t do a good job,” he said. “My rope ran around my (saddle) horn as Jake was trying to heel. I thought I was in a good place right when I was coming back up the wall. When I put more rope between me and the steer, it put me going straight into the wall when Jake heeled. “Jake pulled off a phenomenal shot. I didn’t get that steer handled as good as I needed to, but he did a great job once again.” It helps to have a great partner, and Proctor has one in his longtime friend. They began roping together as youngsters. “I think the bottom line is we have the great chemistry,” Proctor said. “We never have to talk about it; we always know where the other one will be.” When chemistry works, the reaction is explosive. The race to the world championship is well within their grasp.

LAS VEGAS – The sixth round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo didn’t go quite well for the cowboys who are “Riding for the Brand” of Tate Branch Auto Group. Saddle bronc rider Taos Muncy of Corona, N.M., had the best showing of the three, riding Powder River Rodeo’s Rain dance for 75.5 points, just one point out of the money. That hurt more than expected. Muncy, who was the No. 1 cowboy in the bronc riding world standings through the fifth go-round, was moved to second place, but not by much. Louisianan Heith DeMoss, who finished in a tie for third place Tuesday night with a 78, scooted past Muncy by just $329. It looks to be a tight race all the way to the finish, too. Muncy’s former college teammate, Cort Scheer of Elsmere, Neb., is third in the world standings. Only $735 separates first and third place. Neither roper – heeler Jim Ross Cooper from Monument, N.M., and tie-down roper Clint Cooper, who grew up in Lovington, N.M. – earned a qualified time in Round 6. Jim Ross Cooper and his partner, Brandon Beers, moved down to sixth in the average race with just five qualified times. Still, only two teams have solid runs through all five rounds. Clint Cooper, who was No. 2 in the average, dropped to 10th. Average champions collect a bonus of $48,732 when the 10-round championship concludes Saturday night. Still, four nights remain for New Mexico’s brightest rodeo stars in their 2014 season.

LAS VEGAS – Most nights this time of year, the Thomas and Mack Center is a basketball court. This week, it’s home of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. It’s a lot smaller than at a typical rodeo, so times must be fast. Wyatt Smith is learning that the hard way. On Tuesday night, the education came through for the Rexburg, Idaho, cowboy. He wrestled his steer to the ground in 3.6 seconds to finish second in the sixth go-round, earning $15,018 in the process. It was just the second qualifying run for Smith. “The start is so fast here, and I’m just trying to figure it out,” he said. “I’ve been late on everything. Finally I figured out how to get out of the start, and it’s super-fast.” Steer wrestlers must catch their steers before they reach midcourt if they hope to win. When the animal gets too big of a head start, the chances of the steer wrestler earning a check is slim. “It finally felt good, and I can relax a little bit and have some fun now,” he said. Smith wasn’t having much fun. After posting a 5.6-second run on opening night, he failed to secure a time in Rounds 2-5. “Oh, yeah, you could see me take my hat off and wipe my brow,” Smith said. “I have been having heck and fighting things. I kept telling myself that if could get my hands on one, I’d be OK and remember how to tip one over.” Then he did a back flip in celebration, showcasing his years in gymnastics. “Everybody keeps saying we’re at halftime, and there’s still a lot of money out there and a lot of steers to get thrown down,” Smith said of the 10-round marathon that is the NFR. “Everybody’s bulldogging so good, and that’s what it’s all about. “It’s tough. It’s a dogfight.” It is, and now Smith is back in it. Each night, each of the top 15 race for their share of $61,298. The man with the fastest time earns a nightly paycheck of $19,000. That is plenty of incentive. “I’m out of the average,” he said, referring to the cowboy who finishes the NFR with the fastest 10-round cumulative time. “Now it’s all about going for first every run. I know it’s going to be so fast, so you just have to have fun.”

1. Aaron Pass, 83.5 points on Honeycutt Rodeo’s Pair a Dice, $19,002; 2. Sage Kimzey, 73.5, $15,018; 3. Beau Hill, 72, $11,340; no other qualified rides.