Tana Poppino checks in from the road…

March 25, 2011 – I am so excited. I’m going to tour Cal Farley’s Boys Ranchon my way to Lubbock’s rodeo next week. I will be touring the campus andmeeting with some of the kids. You can learn more about it atwww.calfarley.org. I am taking this weekend off. Might even go to a ropingwith Marty.

March 21, 2011 – WooHoooo! Houston finally pays off! I’ve been running atHouston since ’03, and have never done any good (Goose did win his firstrun last year, then got hurt), but we made up for it yesterday.(Invitational Champions Rodeo) Congrats to Sherri Cervi who won it and toall the girls who competed. Even tho the $10,000 doesn’t count, it willhelp pay the bills. You know they keep piling up even if you aren’twinning. We (Amigo, Goose, & I) have been working hard to get back intopeak performance, but haven’t won much yet. I knew it was coming. Bothhorses look better than they have in a year. Amigo is really muscling up,and feeling good. Goose, I think, is finally sound again. I’m going tostart working him on barrels this week. “Those who wait on the Lord willrenew their strength and mount up with wings like eagles!”Look out. I’ve given everyone a good head start, but I have a feeling thatwe will be having a great spring and an awesome summer this year!

March 20, 2011 – Today we get another chance. Houston has invited thebarrel racing champions from the top 10 richest rodeos to compete for$50,000. I will be representing the Greeley Independence Stampede. Ten ofus will run, fastest 4 come back for a finals. Winner gets $25K, second,$10K, and on down. We are guaranteed $1600, thanks to RodeoHouston andCinch. It will be televised on FOX Sports. Amigo worked good during theregular rodeo, finally turning the first barrel. Dang that ugly blue fenceand the forklift behind it! (Amigo spooked the first run and took us out ofthe average.)

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Tana Poppino…. We are in Denver

Jan. 17, 2010 – We are in Denver. Ran our first one today. I ran a 15.36
which is placing 6th right now. Didn’t have a great third barrel. Amigo
started to step in and I had to pick him up and move him over which kept us
from hitting it, so I am thankful. Jeanne had a good run but caught the
first leaving it.

 I’m scheduled to meet with a bunch of school kids in the morning, I keep
trying to talk Jeanne into going with me, but she is resisting.

 On our way up to Denver, we stopped in Monument and met all the great
people who work at MAXX Sunglasses. I am so pleased to be partnering with
such a wonderful group of people. They just became the official sunglasses
of Major League Baseball. The glasses are high definition and very
lightweight, great to ride in and they really cut the glare!

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Tana Poppino Checks in from Odessa…..

Jan. 11, 2011 – Jeanne and I are in Odessa watching the team roping. The first round of barrel racing concluded yesterday morning in the slack. Nikke Steffes won the round with a 14.00. The last hole was split with 14.25s. I ran a 14.39 on the bottom of the ground, so I was pleased. The ground is deep and heavy here so towards the top is always better. I’ll be first out in our drag in the morning, so hopefully we’ll lay down a fast run that will get us a check in the average.   The Odessa rodeo takes all barrel racers, so there were almost 200 entries, a great way to start off the new year. Thanks to a great bunch of people who put on a great rodeo year after year. We appreciate the way they take care of the ground for us. Hats off!   We’ll be headed to Denver Thursday. I will be meeting with MAXX Sunglasses Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, I’ll be signing autographs at the Agapebooth and talking to people about EquiPride. If you are at the National Western, come by and say hello. Jeanne and I will be competing Monday,(1/17) in the afternoon and Tuesday afternoon.  

 –Tana Poppino Professional Barrel Racer. WPRA Prairie Circuit Director

-Discover your God-given talents, give your dream to God, work hard, trust Him, and never, never give up.

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Tana Poppino checks in.. Home from the NFR

 Dec. 20, 2010 – Home never looked better. As excited as I was about qualifing for the Wrangler National Finals, I also knew that the timing wasn’t great for me. I, and my horses, weren’t ready. It’s one thing to be competitive in July, but to try to get your “game” to its highest level in just thrre or four weeks wasn’t realistic. I was extremely hopeful, and knew our potential, but to think that you are going to compete with the best riders and horses in the world, well, that’s another thing. I was disappointed, but not overly so. I know we have a lot of work to do before the season gets rolling again in January.
 
 Thanks to Wrangler, Dodge, Las Vegas Events, the WPRA, the PRCA and the NFR crew for all their hard work and support for the NFR. The barrel race was extremely exciting, and the fans loved it. Thanks to the WPRA for all the awards, and to Circle Y Saddlery for the saddle.

 
 Thanks to all of you who cheered for me and support me in the good times and the not so good. You’ll never know how much your encouragement means to me. Thanks to Professional’s Choice, Total Health Enhancement, EquiPride, Cowboy Rigs, SpurRadio, and now, MAXX Sunglasses for their support. My family does so much for me, especially Marty. I couldn’t do this without him. Well, as I said, I have a lot of work to do, so I better get to it.

 
 Remember God gave us the greatest gift, His son, Jesus; so that we could have a relationship with Him. If you don’t know Him, this season would be a great time to get to know Him. We are here because of His love, share that love with someone else. Merry Christmas.

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Tana Poppino checks in after her fall in Round 4 of the NFR

 

Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 – Trust in the Lord and lean not to the front of your saddle, especially when your horse is smoking a run!  I guess I blew the average last night, not what I wanted to do at the NFR, but if you ain’t trying your guts out, you’ll never win big. I’m so proud of Amigo, he finished the pattern without me last night. Thanks for all the well wishes. I promise to do better tonight!

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Tana Poppino checks in from VEGAS!!

Sunday, Dec.?, 2010 – Don’t know what the date is, just that it’s Sundayand it’s the 4th round here in Vegas. I’ve been very happy with the wayAmigo is running. His second run was awesome, thought I might win theround, but I guess I just showed everyone else that the ground was fast.Anyway, I am extremely pleased. Last night we didn’t get a very good firstbarrel and it caused us to get the second. I need to do a better jobriding. Thanks to all of you who are cheering and praying for me. Ireally do appreciate it.  

Got to go to the trade show and meet a few of you on Friday. Iwill be back next Friday and Saturday so drop by the WPRA booth at 11, orthe ProChoice booth at noon. I finally met Kat Abbott who painted the pony.It was as awesome in person as the pictures. It’s in the WPRA booth, you’vegot to see it. She does such a wonderful job painting the horses.   

I also met the owners of MAXX Sunglasses the other night. Rick and NancyMilner are wonderful people. I think Nancy put some photos on Facebook.  

The WPRA banquet was great, and the gifts were awesome that they presentedus. Thanks to Jerri Mann and the rest of the board for those awards, andsaddles. The saddles are on display in the WPRA booth as well. Congrats toall the rodeo committees especially the Prairie Circuit rodeos, Hardnter,Ks, won Small Rodeo of the Year. Claremore, Bennington,and Hastings wonJustin Best Footing Awards, and Manhattan won Most Improved. Cheyenne andRed Bluff tied for Big Rodeo of the Year. These committees really went allout for the barrel racers last year and we appreciate it.  

If you are watching on TV, you are seeing a great barrel race. Toughhorses and talented ladies make our sport unique! I’d waiting to see thatvictory lap up close and personal!

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Tana Poppino: Count down to Vegas!!!

Nov. 19, 2010 – It’s definately countdown time to the WNFR. Since our prep time was shortened, and our performance at Dallas was not yet up to par, I’ve been taking in jackpots as often as I can this week. We drove in the blistering rain to Carthage Wednesday night. Amigo performed well. He may be 15, but he’s still got it. He won the jackpot, but unfortunately Goose and I still need to work on our timing and cues. Thursday we went to Ochelata. I got a couple of exhibitions in to work on body positioning. It seemed to help. I knocked first barrel down, but was pleased with his second barrel. Saturday we will go to Checotah and try again. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes for the Finals, hopefully we will have lots to cheer about!

—
Tana Poppino
Professional Barrel Racer
Big Cabin, OK
918-244-9401

Discover your God-given talents, give your dream to God, work hard, trust H=m, and never, never give up.

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Tana Poppino…. Goose and I need more work before Vegas

Nov. 15, 2010- Wow, the people in Allen know how to throw a party. The TexasStampede has a new home in Allen, and they really made us feel at home.Thanks to all the committee people for their hard work, especially FrankCucharillo (I hope I spelled it correctly). Frank was the barrel racersliason, because he is married to a barrel racer, Jodi Rush, he knows what’simportant to us and he took care of everything for us.  

My ribs felt pretty good, and let me tell you, Goose tested them. He isfeeling really good, and because we haven’t had a lot of practice, I’m alittle behind. Goose and I need more work before Vegas, but I was happywith Amigo. He made two nice runs. I clipped the third barrel leaving it todo well in the first round, and won third in his next round. Goose and I arespending some quality time in the practice pen this week, and I’m probablygoing to hit some jackpots if I can.  

Brodie has shoulder surgery Wednesday. Dr. Tandy Freeman did thehandiwork. Brodie is doing well. Our sport is so blessed to have such awonderful gifted man like Dr. Tandy to help our athletes out. He isamazing. Surgery during the week, then rodeos or PBRs on the weekends.  

Today is the Talking with Tana show on SpurRadio.com at 1 pm (centraltime). We will be doing a couple of shows from Las Vegas, so stayed tunedin.

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From Marketing Executive to Rodeo Star- Tana Poppino

Raised on a ranch in southeast Colorado, Tana Poppino has spent her entire life around horses. That love and a competitive nature drew her to the world of rodeo at an early age.  She participated in the amateur rodeo ranks throughout high school and college but pursued a career at Grand River Dam Authority in their media and communications department which she enjoyed for 20+ years.

Tana worked for the GRDA in Vinita, Oklahoma, which is a state-owned public power producer. They operate 2 coal-fired generating plants, and three hydro plants which produced electricity for about 15 cities and towns in Oklahoma, as well as rural electric cooperatives. She worked for 20+ years in the Media/Marketing Department producing corporate videos, annual reports, company brochures/media and corporate photography. Tana also worked with many cities and civic organizations on their marketing efforts and although she enjoyed her job she never called it her career passion.

The draw of the rodeo always beckoned for Tana to participate more regularly than the weekend competitions that she continued to pursue in her spare time. The ultimate goal on the rodeo circuit for a Barrel Racer is to find that special horse that could compete at the top professional level. In 1999, Tana thought found him, a bay 4-yr-old gelding, whose official name was Perrymans Star, but she called him Amigo.

Competing with the Big Girls

Tana took her time training and seasoning him for three years, and Amigo continued to prove himself a winner. In 2003, Tana took the big step and entered the winter pro rodeos, sanctioned by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, to see how she would do against the “big girls”. Although their first run wasn’t good, Tana and Amigo came back and won the second round at the National Western Stock Show in Denver. For the next three years, she continued to work her marketing job and tried to rodeo on the side using accumulated leave, comp time, and unpaid leave. (read more about Tana)

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Tana Poppino answers your questions..

One of our Facebook fans asked…..

Tana, what do you look for in a prospect?

When I’m looking for a prospect, I look for an athlete, a horse that is
quick on their feet and very fluid. I like a good looking horse, but
other than that it’s always wait and see. We try to find what each
horse likes to do and teach them to excel. It’s important that they
love whatever it is they do, whether it’s barrels or roping.

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