Kingston barrel racer Tana Renick wins national circuit title

Tana Renicks’s goal at the start of the rodeo season was just to make the Prairie Circuit Finals.

  Anything beyond that, she said, would just be icing on the cake. After Sunday, Renick must really have a sweet tooth.

Not only did the Kingston barrel racer win the Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo last fall and qualify for her first National Circuit Finals Rodeo, she captured the national circuit title as well.

Riding her 14-year-old mare, XV Wildchild, Renick’s run of 15.3 seconds Sunday in the championship round at State Fair Arena edged Sherry Cervi of Marana, Ariz., who had a time of 15.41.

Jessi Eagleberger of Stringtown was third in the championship round with a time of 15.46.

“It’s awesome,” Renick said of her national championship. “Honestly, I am most proud that it gets my mare some recognition. She has been a really good horse for a really long time. I am proud for her.”

Renick, 36, bought the quarter horse eight years ago from a friend, who finally agreed to sell the mare after it had bucked her off one day. The quarter horse had bucked off another rider before and was difficult to handle at times.

Still, Renick fell in love with the mare the first time she saw her and was persistent in her efforts to buy her.

“I just loved the way she moved. I had to have her,” Renick said. “She’s been a lot of work, but she’s been worth it.” (read more)

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Rodeo Houston Super Shootout Winners Announced

HOUSTON, TX – A fantastic end to RodeoHouston, the inaugural Cinch RodeoHouston Super Shootout: North America’s Champions provided ample excitement in true Rodeo fashion. The winner of each event took home a check for $25,000 and a custom buckle.

Will Lowe had a great ride in bareback riding and won with a score of 89.5.

Lowe’s wife and son were both present to watch his win. He plans to save the money he won and put it toward his son’s college fund.

In barrel racing, Sherry Cervi won with a time of 14.45. She was one of two in the final round to not hit a barrel. Her horse, Stingray, is 9 years old and has given Cervi several great runs while in Houston.

“Rodeo is a big family,” Cervi said. “I appreciate Houston giving us this opportunity.”

For the second night in a row, Cort Scheer won saddle bronc riding. He won the 2011 RodeoHouston BP Super Series Championship and said it was unbelievable that he was able to win again in the Cinch RodeoHouston Super Shootout. He said this is the most money he has won in one rodeo, excluding the National Finals Rodeo. His total RodeoHouston paycheck was $85,350.

“It’s a lifestyle, not a competition,” Scheer said. “I really appreciate all Houston does for all the cowboys.”

Douglas Duncan won the bull riding with a score of 88. He was the only one to ride the full 8 seconds in the final round.

“It always feels good to win,” Duncan said. “I love my job.” Duncan claims RodeoHouston as his hometown rodeo, since he is from Alvin, Texas. He said he had a lot of family and friends watching him and that it meant so much to him to be able to win in Houston. For more information visit: www.rodeohouston.com

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Stran Smith…It is getting harder and harder to leave home..

For the better part of two decades, RodeoHouston held nothing but frustration for Childress’ Stran Smith.

Now it seems there’s always something special in store for him here.

“I got to win the $50,000 on (wife) Jennifer’s birthday last year,” said Smith, the reigning Houston tie-down roping champion and 2008 world champ.

“This year, actually, her due date was (Sunday) to have our first little girl (Faleh), but she always delivers early, so she’s almost two weeks old now.”

Smith’s stay in Super Series V, which features three defending champs, ends tonight with the third go-round at Reliant Stadium.

The other returning Houston winners are Shawn Hogg in bull riding and Ryan Gray in bareback.

Not an ideal situation

Advancing won’t be easy after Smith failed to win any money in the opening round. He did it last year, finishing second in his series after posting a no-time in his first run, but this year is different.

With the baby — his first girl after two boys, Stone, 7, and Scout, 5 – still so young, Smith’s wife and kids stayed home, leaving him to compete in Houston without their support for the first time.

That’s not a situation the 40-year-old veteran cares for.

“It’s getting harder and harder to leave home. That’s for sure,” Smith said. “And this year is really hard for us since they didn’t come down because the baby’s 13 days old. It’s hard for me to rodeo like that.

“If I have to rodeo like that, I’ll be done in less than a year.”

Smith says he doesn’t see that happening. He’s planning to rodeo for at least a couple more years. But competing here without family isn’t the only thing that’s different this time around.

He’s coming off recent surgery to clean out an ailing shoulder, and he’s competing on a new horse. But Reliant’s vast space suits him, and he’s feeling good after winning here last year.

“(Merel’s) really good, and I feel pretty confident, even though I haven’t been anywhere in a while and my shoulder’s still pretty sore and pretty tight,” Smith said.

“The good thing about it is it’s not a real fast setup. That’s where I’m struggling to get back to the top of my game.” (read more)

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Cancer doesnt keep team roper Gabe Gwaltney down…

Team roper Gabe Gwaltney has a busy schedule next week.

He’s set to compete in the Super Series semifinals Thursday at Reliant Stadium — two days after a third round of chemotherapy for a rare form of sinus cancer at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Gwaltney and partner Aaron Tsinigine were the top earners in Super Series IV, finishing with the best three-head time of 25.2 seconds on Saturday and moving on with $10,000 in their pockets.

“It’s a pretty neat deal to be able to come down here to one of the largest rodeos of the year and compete,” Gwaltney said. “When I first found out about this deal, and I knew coming into this I was up in this series, I told the doctor ‘Hey, whatever we do, I want to be here for RodeoHouston.’

“I don’t know if they actually worked my schedule around it, but it worked out pretty good.”

Doctors discovered the cancer in January after Gwaltney, 34, went in for sinus surgery related to problems he’s had breathing his whole life. He’s scheduled for a checkup in April to see where he’s at.

“When anybody says the word cancer, it really scares you,” Gwaltney said. “I’m a pretty big, stout guy (6-4, 240), and you don’t think that stuff will happen to you, and it goes to show that there’s no discrimination with cancer.

“You’ve just got to be positive.”

‘Just keep going’

The first thing he asked his doctor after his diagnosis was whether he’d be able to compete in Denver.

Missing RodeoHouston wasn’t even an option.

“A lot of people want to slow up and quit going, but I’ve taken the opposite approach — just keep going, enjoy life and have fun,” Gwaltney said.

Last year was the Missouri native’s first competing in Houston. He didn’t advance out of his series. (read more)

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Rodeo Houston ….

There were five former RodeoHouston steer wrestling champions in Super Series III — and Stockton Graves wasn’t one of them.

Perhaps he’ll be the next.

Coming off a title at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, Graves was the hottest bulldogger in the series, winning two go-rounds and finishing as the top money earner Wednesday at Reliant Stadium.

“I thought I’d been bulldogging pretty well,” Graves said. “I won San Antonio a couple weeks ago and that was a big win for me, so I’ve got things rolling a little bit and hopefully I can keep them rolling.”

Stockton was 4.7 seconds or better in all three rounds. He won the first go-round with a 4.5, posted a three-day time of 13.9 seconds and left with $7,750.

And he had to be good just to survive.

Brothers Cody Cassidy and Curtis Cassidy, the last two Houston champions, were in his bracket, along with former champs Wade Sumpter (2008), Jule Hazen (2007) and Ronnie Fields (2005).

Of the five champs in the series, only two moved on: Sumpter and Curtis Cassidy, the 2009 Houston winner. Cody Cassidy became the second defending champ eliminated before the semifinals.

Sumpter shared the win in the third go-round with Graves and finished second in the aggregate with $4,750.

Team roping header Turtle Powell, who won Houston last year with Cory Petska, joined barrel racer Sherry Cervi, who qualified in Super Series II, as the only reigning champs who’ve already advanced. (read more)

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Miranda Lambert Training to Become a Barrel Racer

Country star Miranda Lambert is in training to become a rodeo rider.

The singer/songwriter, who will wed fiance Blake Shelton in May (11), has revealed she’s obsessed with barrel racing, a rodeo event in which a horse and rider attempt to complete an obstacle course in the fastest time.

She tells Cowboys & Indians magazine, “It’s kind of my new hobby. I’ve already done one range rodeo where I did barrels, but I didn’t do that great. But that’s kind of what my new dream is.

“I used to sing at rodeos all the time, and I thought, ‘Yeah, I want to be one of those girls who ride in with their hair flying behind them.'”

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Jerrad Hofstetter advances to semis at RodeoHouston

Tie-down roper Jerrad Hofstetter stayed at the RodeoHouston fan zone far longer than required Thursday, signing autographs for a never-ending line of fans.

In fact, he put pen to paper – and hat, boots and just about anything else — for about 200 times longer than the total of his three days of competition in Super Series I, and still he called it the easy part.

“I love our sport and I remember being a kid,” Hofstetter said. “I always wanted an autograph, so I don’t want to leave anybody behind I guess.”

Making fans happy also helps him stay even-keeled.

Hofstetter was in good spirits after advancing to the Super Series semifinals in second place in the aggregate with $2,750. But he was down a day earlier after a no-time in the second of three go-rounds.

Then a little cowboy moseyed up, reminding the Lubbock native what’s important.

“(Wednesday) night I was a little upset about missing one and a 7-year-old kid came and got an autograph, and he was going into open heart surgery (Thursday) morning,” Hofstetter said.

“That makes you realize this doesn’t even matter.”

Hofstetter won the third go-round in 8.7 seconds, matching the low time posted in the first Super Series by Cody Ohl in his first go. Ohl won the aggregate, advancing with $6,500 in winnings. (read more)

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Brittany Pozzi Runs Home with the Cash

Big Congrats to Brittany Pozzi and Duke for winning the average at  the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo and La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tuscon, AZ winning over 19,000 for the weekend!!! Way to go!

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Despite Surgeries, Cowboys Come Back Strong

Reigning world champion bareback rider Bobby Mote returned to competition for the first time this year at the Tucson Rodeo just weeks removed from hernia surgery.

Mote shared a second-place finish with Canadian Dusty LaValley in the final day of competition Sunday at the La Fiesta de los Vaqueros.

“I’m a little sore, but that’s still to be expected. It has only been five weeks since the big surgery,” said Mote, who’s from Oregon.

Tucson’s rodeo also was the first contest of the year for the winner of the bareback riding event.

Kelly Timberman’s horse delivered a difficult ride combined with kicking action to help the Wyoming cowboy win the top prize.

“I had a great horse,” he said of Oakey Robin. “I made a comparable ride and got a good score. The judges liked it.”

Timberman, 35, spent the early part of his year getting ready for the college rodeo season.

He’s an assistant rodeo coach at Wyoming’s Casper College – his alma mater.

Like Mote, a recent surgery also kept Timberman out of the chutes.

“I’ve been getting those kids ready for their season, and on top of that I had a surgery and I’ve been out for six weeks,” he said of his undisclosed procedure. “I just stayed home and got in shape and got ready for the season.”

Timberman’s coaching duties prepare him for his own rodeos….(read more)

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Houston we have a problem….

The Reliant Stadium rodeo at Houston kicks off Tuesday.

The website shows eight-time Canadian saddle bronc riding champion Rod Hay in the lineup.

He’d like to be there with a purse of $1.755 million on the table.

And the organizing committee would like to have him there.

They even show a picture on the website of him holding the buckle and standing in front of the trophy saddle they gave him last year, when he won $54,250.

But Hay won’t be there.

He’s still got problems with the right leg he shattered last year at the mid-June Daines ranch Innisfail rodeo.

“I go in for surgery on March 1 and they’re going to take out the hardware, straighten out the leg and see if they can make it work better,” Hay reported.

There are no projections on when he might ride bucking horses again.

“I have no idea until they go in and see what can and needs to be done,” he responded.

Travelling partner and reigning Canadian champion Dustin Flundra is also listed among those contestants in the Houston lineup for the fifth section that goes March 13 to 15.

But he won’t be there, either.

The Pincher Creek cowboy fractured his left (free arm) elbow at Fort Worth on Feb. 5 and doesn’t expect to connect with a Calgary specialist until next Friday.

The Houston rodeo, which, like the Calgary Stampede isn’t sanctioned by the sports’ head office in Colorado Springs, is an invitational show. (read more)

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