UPCOMING RODEOS & MEDIA NEWS

UPCOMING RODEOS

Etbauer becomes first cowboy to earn $3 million in a single event

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Trust Billy Etbauer to reach each new milestone in grand style. A week ago, Etbauer joined Trevor Brazile as the sport’s only $3 million cowboys by winning the saddle bronc riding title in Burley, Idaho. This week, a win at the Lynden (Wash.) PRCA Rodeo made him the first contestant to bank $3 million in a single event. The $1,495 he earned in Lynden, plus another $1,141 check for finishing fourth in the Horse Heaven Round-Up in Kennewick, Wash., brought his career earnings in saddle bronc riding to $3,002,158 and $3,003,492 overall. “It’s unreal,” Etbauer said. “I never would have imagined this when I started out. You’d like to say you have the $3 million in your bank account, but I kind of do still have it. (Rodeo) allowed me to buy land, build a home and make investments. It’s all been a blessing.” Etbauer put himself over the top in Lynden with an 80-point ride on the aptly named Showtime of the Northern Cross Rodeo Company String. It was almost a family double: wife Hollie Etbauer was second in the barrel racing to Kelli Tolbert by two-tenths of a second. The only money Etbauer earned in another event came in team roping in 1992. Etbauer heeled for Don Hall – regular partner Joe Sherman was ailing – and they earned $1,335 after finishing in a tie for third place in the first round of the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver with a time of 6.2 seconds.

Cooper, Martin, Strait receive American Cowboy Culture Award

ProRodeo Hall of Famer roper Roy Cooper, PRCA Chairman of the Board Keith Martin and country music legend George Strait are among those who have been selected for The American Cowboy Culture Award. The honorees were selected for their contributions to cowboy culture and Western heritage and will be honored in conjunction with the 22nd Annual National Cowboy Symposium & Celebration, and National Championship Chuck Wagon Cook-Off, Sept. 9-12, at the Lubbock (Texas) Memorial Civic Center. Cooper won eight world championships, including the all-around title in 1983. Cooper follows his father, Tuffy, as an award recipient. Cooper’s sons, Clint, Tuf and Clif, compete in roping events in the PRCA. Along with serving the PRCA, Martin is the chief executive officer of the five-time and reigning PRCA Indoor Rodeo of the Year San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, held every February. Strait, a team roper, is a longtime supporter of cowboys and the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, along with being an award-winning singer. The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame in Bismarck, N.D., also is receiving the 2010 award. Many in the rodeo community have been recipients of the American Cowboy Culture Award, including Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo, Jim Shoulders, Gene Autry, Larry Mahan, Ty Murray, Bob Tallman, Carl Nafzger, Buck Taylor, Red Steagall, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Mel and Wendy Potter and Stran and Jennifer Smith.

Film crew has plenty of drama from DeMoss brothers in Dodge City, Kan.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A crew from Committee Films of Minneapolis has been following the DeMoss brothers since mid-June, hoping to sell a reality series about life on the rodeo road to the National Geographic Network or the History Channel. They might want to change directions here and approach TNT, the We Know Drama folks. Heith DeMoss has soared from 15th to fourth since the film crew showed up, and elder brother Cody has come all the way back from knee surgery to the top ranks of saddle bronc riding in less than two months. For the second week in a row, Cody DeMoss didn’t just win a Wrangler Million Dollar Tour rodeo presented by Justin Boots, he made history in the process, at the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup, Aug. 4-8. He followed his arena-record 91-point ride at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days with an arena-record 92-pointer in the short go at Dodge City on Frontier Rodeo’s Medicine Woman. Heith DeMoss was second in the round and in the average (172-169). “That is cool,” Cody DeMoss told the Dodge City Daily Globe. “Me and him – one and two – that’s a dream. He is one of the best bronc riders in the world. He is turning into a bronc rider. It is an honor to ride with him.” Cody DeMoss was something of a longshot for the win going into the short round with an 80, the lowest score of those who qualified. The $3,705 he earned for the win, along with another win at Iowa’s Championship Rodeo in Sidney, moved Cody DeMoss from 23rd to 21st place in the PRCA World Standings. It makes a seventh appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo suddenly a very real possibility, especially given that he has soared to 10th in the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Standings and is a sure thing for the Justin Boots Playoffs. Chad Masters and Jade Corkill won no rounds of the team roping, but were steady enough to win three-head average with a total time of 16.8 seconds. The $4,987 they earned at Dodge City helped move Masters to within about $3,000 of Turtle Powell for the lead among team roping headers. Corkill cut Cory Petska’s lead in the heeling standings from more than $14,000 to exactly $7,000 in one week. The other champions at Dodge City were all-around cowboy Timber Moore ($8,177), bareback rider Wes Stevenson (171 points on two head), steer wrestler Olin Hannum (12.5 seconds on three head), tie-down roper Jerome Schneeberger (27.0 seconds on three head), barrel racer Jolene Montgomery (51.30 seconds on three runs) and bull rider Seth Glause (175 points on two head).

Champion steer wrestling horse Willy to be retired at end of year

Greg Cassidy revealed July 11 that the family’s highly decorated steer wrestling horse, Willy, is making his last appearance at the Calgary Stampede. The 24-year-old brown gelding, who has packed bulldoggers to more than $3 million in prize money, four world championships, six Canadian titles and an Olympic gold medal, will be retired at the end of the year. Although Willy has had disappointing results at Calgary, he showed he still had his power at the start of the winter rodeos, when Curtis Cassidy won $10,000 at Denver, two-time World Champion Luke Branquinho collected $17,000 on him at San Antonio and another $12,000 at Fort Worth and Cody Cassidy captured $8,300 at San Antonio and $52,000 at Houston. “Those were the only four rodeos he went to this winter,” Greg Cassidy said. This spring, the horse experienced soreness in his hind legs and was given extra time off. He was used only once at Innisfail last month as a warm-up for Calgary. “It’s time,” Greg Cassidy said. “He’s getting to the age where we don’t want to embarrass him. We want to retire him when he’s still working well. He doesn’t owe us anything anymore.” Once he’s done at Calgary this weekend, Willy will be turned out for most of the summer. He could be available for the Justin Boots Playoffs in Puyallup, Wash., and the Justin Boots Championships in Omaha, Neb., in September. Then he’ll be rested again until the Canadian Finals Rodeo at Edmonton, Alberta, in November and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at Las Vegas in December. “We knew it was coming,” Greg Cassidy said. “He gave us three or four more years than what we ever expected. It’s the passing of an era. “We’ve got three young horses that are coming up and are working well in Deuce, Magnum and Casper. Maybe one of them will be a superstar.” Cassidy has collected DNA from Willy, and it’s stored with a firm in Texas with the hopes of someday cloning Willy. “It’s still a work in progress,” he said. “It can be done at any time. We just need $150,000 to do it.” – Courtesy of Dwayne Erickson

Korkow Rodeo’s Little Vegas remembered as top bucking horse

Korkow Rodeos’ mare No. 711 Little Vegas, a nine-time selection for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – appearing both in bareback riding and saddle bronc riding competition – has died at Korkow’s Anchor K ranch near Pierre, S.D., at age 23. Cowboys won money aboard her in 12 go-rounds at the Wrangler NFR from 1996-2004. World Champion Dan Mortensen, who split first-place money after riding Little Vegas for 82 points in the sixth round of the 1997 NFR recalls that, “Little Vegas was an awesome horse, a mare that was a product of a great breeding heritage and the kind that you want to carry on that great program. It was a true honor to be able to get on her.” Little Vegas was retired following Cody DeMoss’ 87-point ride in Round 9 of the 2004 NFR. She lived out her years raising babies along the Missouri River Breaks. One of her up-and-coming colts – and her name/numbersake – is a black stud horse born in 2007, No. 711 Vegas Moon. Little Vegas was buried on the Korkow’s ranch in their horse cemetery.

Six-time Bareback Riding Horse of the Year Grated Coconut goes into retirement

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Calgary Stampede's Grated Coconut, the six-time and reigning PRCA Bareback Riding Horse of the Year, has been retired from competition effective immediately, it was announced today in Calgary, Alberta. “Grated Coconut hasn’t competed since the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last December in Las Vegas,” said Dr. David Chalack, president and chairman of the board for the Calgary Stampede. “In watching him closely this spring out at Stampede Ranch, it is clear he is now primarily interested in spending time with the mares. “We’re happy to let him spend the rest of his days having fun at the Ranch – he’s certainly earned it. We are very proud that Grated Coconut retires as the current Canadian and world champion. He will continue to be the foundation for our Born to Buck breeding program. And during the Stampede, we will have a special tribute to Grated Coconut on the final Sunday (July 18).” Grated Coconut was honored as the PRCA's top bareback riding horse in 2003-04 and in each of the past four seasons (2006-09), equaling the record six such awards won by ProRodeo Hall of Fame saddle bronc horse Descent from the Beutler Brothers & Cervi string (1966-69, 1971-72). Grated Coconut is also a six-time Canadian bareback horse of the year. In eight appearances at the Wrangler NFR (2002-09), Grated Coconut was ridden successfully 13 of 15 times, providing paychecks for cowboys on seven of those rides. Royce Ford had the highest score on the horse at the NFR, finishing third with 88.5 points in the fifth round of the 2007 rodeo. Steven Dent set an arena record at the Caldwell (Idaho) Nite Rodeo with a 91-point ride on Grated Coconut in 2008, and Dusty LaValley was 91 points on him that year at the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver. "He is probably the most exciting and scariest horse I've ever been on," said Cimarron Gerke, who successfully rode Grated Coconut five times in six tries, including twice for paychecks at the NFR. "The first time I had him was at the Calgary Stampede in 2006, competing for the $100,000 on the final day. I was 87 on him for third place, and he was so good that day he scared the bull riders who were watching. "The thing about Grated Coconut was that even if you rode him, it was a battle all the way. He loved his job, always tried hard, and he's one of the smartest animals I've been on. He always seemed to figure people out. He had a game plan before you did. He won six horse of the year awards and should have won it in 2005 too. He's just a great horse." The 13-year-old stallion is the son of dam Coconut Roll and sire Wyatt Earp.

Four-time AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year Walt dies of aneurysm

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Travis Tryan’s great head horse Precious Speck, best known as “Walt,” died April 24 of an aneurysm while warming up for morning slack at the Clovis (Calif.) Rodeo. He was 20. “They had a special bond, and even in those final moments, Walt seemed to be looking out for Travis,” said Tryan’s wife, Hillary. “Travis could have been badly injured in the fall, but Walt laid him down on the ground. “Walt was gone almost immediately after that,” Travis said. “It all just happened really fast.” Walt, who was buried under an oak tree at PRCA team roper Bert McGill’s Annadale Equine Center in nearby Sanger, Calif., had been voted the AQHA/PRCA Team Roping Heading Horse of the Year in each of the last three years and four times overall (also in 2003). He was also third in the balloting twice. He won the award a year ago despite missing nearly two months of competition while recovering from a life-threatening bout of colic. Surgeons at the Idaho Equine Hospital in Nampa, Idaho, cut out a fatty tumor the size of a grapefruit. “Walt dodged bullets a couple of times,” Hillary Tryan said. “He survived a case of ringbone about 3½ years ago and then the colic last July. He had a fighting spirit and loved what he did. He always wanted to get back in the arena.” Travis Tryan, a Montana native who currently lives in Santo, Texas, surpassed $1 million in career earnings last season, and the great majority of that was won on Walt, who Tryan once called “the greatest horse that has ever lived.” Tryan rode Walt at all nine of his appearances at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. His brother, Clay, rode Walt there once, as did Trevor Brazile. While riding Walt at the 2008 Wrangler NFR, Tryan and his partner Cory Petska tied the then-world record time of 3.5 seconds in the eighth round. Tryan’s backup horse, Gold Digger, 19, had colic surgery in December and isn’t quite ready to return to competition. Duke, a horse he bought from Speed Williams in 2009, died three weeks ago of liver failure.

Team roping horses each claim fourth AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year award

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. – Team roping heading horse Precious Speck, owned and ridden by Travis Tryan, and team roping heeling horse, Baileys Cooper Doc, owned and ridden by Randon Adams, both earned their fourth AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year honors. Precious Speck, “Walt,” has taken top honors in 2003 and from 2007-2009, while Baileys Cooper Doc, “Diesel,” has claimed consecutive first-place honors since 2006. Steer wrestling horse Rocks Eyes Opener, “Jessie,” owned by Lee Graves and ridden by Graves and Trevor Knowles, picked up a second Horse of the Year award. Jessie also got the top nod in 2007. “When you back him in the box, he’s going to give you 110 percent every time,” said Graves, of Calgary, Alberta, who leads the PRCA World Standings with season earnings of $120,574. Larneds Ricoche Doc, “Woody,” owned and ridden by Dan Fisher, was voted the steer roping AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year for the second consecutive year. Also picking up a second honor was barrel racing horse Rare Fred, owned by Ronald Martin and ridden by 2006 World Champion Mary Burger. “Fred” also was named AQHA/WPRA Horse of the Year in 2006. In the tie-down roping, Big Smokin Wonder, “Pearl,” owned by Sid Miller and ridden by Cody Ohl, took its first AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year honor.

The rest of those recognized included:

STEER WRESTLING– 2. Black Velvet Win “Streak,” owned by Richard and Leigh Ann Ramsey, ridden by Jeff Green, Shawn Greenfield, Travis Carnine, Dane Hanna, Cash Myers, K.C. Jones and Stockton Graves; 3. (tie) Latches Rockette, “8-Ball,” owned and ridden by Jake Rinehart and Docs Otoe Peppy, “Smarty,” owned and ridden by Billy Bugenig.

TEAM ROPING HEADING– 2. Lite My Dynamite, “Sic Em,” owned by Treda LLC, ridden by Trevor Brazile; 3. BMG Custom Hotrod, “Bullseye,” owned by Chuck Crawford and Charly Crawford and ridden by Charly Crawford.

TEAM ROPING HEELING– 2. Take Aim N Fire, “Slim Shady,” owned and ridden by Justin Davis; 3. (tie) Freckles Taz, “Taz,” owned and ridden by Kinney Harrell and Boot Scootin’ Bingo, “Gambler,” owned by Dean Tuftin and ridden by Rich Skelton.

TIE-DOWN ROPING– 2. Eightys Sport, “Sweetness,” owned by Spur Resources 1, Ltd., ridden by Clint Cooper, Houston Hutto and Blair Burk; 3. Acre Te Run, “Oz,” owned by Justin Maass, ridden by Maass, Scott Kormos and Cimarron Boardman.

STEER ROPING– 2. White Hot Ike, “Bullseye,” owned and ridden by Chance Kelton; 3. Happy San Doc, “Happy,” owned and ridden by Paul Patton.

BARREL RACING– 2. Judge Buy Cash, “Jethro,” owned by Frank and Lynne Mays, ridden by Brenda Mays; 3. Sugar Moon Express, “Martha,” owned and ridden by Lindsay Sears. 10/20/09

The top 25 timed-event contestants in the PRCA World Standings and the top 25 in WPRA NFR standings as of Oct. 5 are eligible to vote on those timed-event horses nominated for the 2009 AQHA/PRCA/WPRA Horse of the Year. Voting was conducted by phone on Oct. 6 through ProCom. Points were awarded as follows: 1=3 points 2=2 points 3=1 point The animal with the most points is awarded AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year in each timed event category. Horses that are nominated must be AQHA registered horses, and anyone can nominate a horse.