Bernard Hunter

Big Tex, steer roper J. Tom Fisher’s main horse the past seven years, passed away Sept. 26. He was 20.

“He got some bad bacteria in his intestines and then it got in his blood stream, and he got a fever and wouldn’t eat or drink and went downhill really fast,” Fisher said. “He was only sick for about six days. I qualified on that horse for the NFSR (National Finals Steer Roping) seven years in a row, and a couple of years before that my brother, Vin, rode him a bunch. This year would have been Big Tex’s 10th appearance at the NFSR. As old as he was, he was working as good as he ever had.”

J. Tom gushed about Big Tex.

“He was the best horse I ever had, by far,” he said. “He just worked the same every time. His best quality was every time you drew a good steer you could always go win.”

Fisher last rode Big Tex at the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up in mid-September, winning the second round on him with an 11.4-second time in his last competitive run.

“That was really cool to do that,” Fisher said.

Fisher placed in the last 19 rodeos he was aboard Big Tex.

J. Tom is headed to his ninth NFSR in Mulvane, Kan., Nov. 12-13, and he’s weighing his options about what horse he will compete on at the Kansas Star. Fisher is fifth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings.

“I won’t ever be able to replace Big Tex, but there are a couple horses of my dad’s (Dan) that I have ridden a little bit that he’s offered me to ride,” Fisher said. “Then, I have a roan horse that I bought this spring that I have been riding a little bit. His name is Freckles and he’s 16. I won Walla Walla, Wash., on him. I have a horse named Micah of my dad’s. He’s 16 and I rode him in Stephenville (Texas). We have about seven rodeos here in October, and I’m going to ride a few different horses and see what one will be the best fit for the NFSR.”

Source: ProRodeo

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SALINAS, Calif. – Any chance team roping heeler Cory Petska had of making the 2021 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo hinged on his run Saturday.

Petska and his partner/header Derrick Begay had to win the second round of the ProRodeo Rodeo Tour Finale at California Rodeo Salinas.

Petska entered the ProRodeo Tour Finale 16th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $56,148. He trailed Caleb Hendrix, who is in the No. 15 spot in the world standings, by $1,652. 

Petska is now back in the NFR mix as he and Begay won the round and they earned $2,300 each for their victory.  Begay entered the ProRodeo Tour Finale 11th in the world standings with $68,593.

RELATED: PRCA | RAM World Standings 

“I had to win Saturday and I just wanted to make sure I made a good catch,” Petska said. “I wanted to win some money and just do the best job I could. I wasn’t worried about the NFR. If I make it, I make it if I don’t, I don’t.”

The top eight team roping teams after the first two rounds at the ProRodeo Tour Finale advanced to the semifinals at 1 p.m. Sunday. The top four finishers in the semis will move into the four-team sudden-death finals.

“This was a huge win today,” Begay said. “We just went out there and made our run and now it is out of our hands. We did all we could. Our year ended today.”

Unfortunately for Begay and Petska, Petska roped a leg in the first round Thursday, which knocked them out of semifinal consideration.

Hendrix is roping with header Quinn Kesler, who is No. 13 in the world. Kesler/Hendrix were not competing at the ProRodeo Tour Finale. The PRCA regular season ends Sept. 30, but it ended Saturday for Petska.

RELATED: Rusty Wright rides to keep his NFR hopes alive in Salinas

In Salinas, Petska was riding Raymond, a horse he borrowed from his uncle team roping heeler Monty Joe Petska, a 14-time NFR qualifier (1985-86, 1988-92, 1996-97, 1999-2001, 2003-2004).

“I rode that horse a few years ago and won Hermiston, Ore., on him,” Cory said. “From Pendleton (Ore.) I drove home to Bancroft, Wis., because we are shipping cattle. I wasn’t going to drive from Wisconsin to Salinas and my uncle only lives 60 miles from Salinas. I was mad at myself that I roped a leg in the first round. I should be in a better position than I am. The situation that I was in at least I came through and did my job.”

Petska has qualified for the NFR 15 times (2003-11, 2013-18), highlighted by him winning the PRCA Team Roping Heeler World Championship in 2017 with header Erich Rogers.

“We did what we had to do, and we will see how it goes,” said Begay about qualifying for the NFR with Petska.

Source: ProRodeo

For more information for Wrangler NFR, please visit www.nfrexperience.com. and ProRodeo.com Check out our latest news at www.howtowatchnfr.com or through social media at /LasVegasNFR and use #WranglerNFR.

With an $8,860 payday at the Washington State Fair Pro Rodeo in Puyallup, Stetson Wright did more than add another all-around title to his resume.
 
The Milford, Utah, cowboy made ProRodeo history by becoming the winningest regular-season all-around money earner with $285,135 in saddle bronc riding and bull riding.
 
ProRodeo legend Trevor Brazile held the record, earning $218,852 in the regular season all-around standings in 2015. Brazile’s money total was initially reported to be $282,242, but that figure was incorrect because it included the money he earned at the 2015 National Finals Steer Roping.

“I guess it’s going pretty good,” Wright said of his outstanding season. “I guess I never think about the money won, and never records too. I just think gold buckles. So, it’s pretty awesome to hear that.”
Brazile, who won a PRCA record 26 world championships and earned more than $7 million in career earnings, is an inspiration to many cowboys on the rodeo trail, Wright included.
 
“To have my name in the same sentence as Trevor Brazile is pretty awesome,” Wright said. “And to break a record that the 26-time world champion set is pretty special, too. “
 
At just 22 years old, Wright is already setting records and claiming NFR titles. In 2019, he became the first rookie to win the all-around world title. In 2020, he added gold buckles in the all-around competition and bull riding.
 
Some of those accolades stand out more than others, and Wright said this is one of them.
 
“This earnings record ranks up there, especially because Trevor Brazile held the record,” Wright said.
 
One might think Wright’s fame and recognition would change his mindset, but he said he likes to stay in the present, always focusing on his next ride.
 
“I don’t pay too much attention to anything I’ve done in the past or what I can do in the future,” Wright said. “I just focus on staying on my bull and horse every day. That’s all I can control, and I guess everything else will come if I do my job.”
 
He’s certainly doing his job, claiming 23 all-around, nine bull riding and four saddle bronc riding wins so far this season.
 
Looking back on his successful career, Wright expressed one emotion – gratitude.
 
“Everything means a lot to me, and I think, for sure, I’m thankful for everything that’s happened to me,” he said.
 
Wright still has a couple more weeks to add to his all-around regular season total. He’s set to ride in Pendleton, Ore., at the Pendleton Whisky Xtreme Bulls Tour Finale Sept. 13-14 and the Pendleton Round-Up.
 
Following a week in Pendleton, Wright will head to the ProRodeo Tour Finale presented by Pendleton Whisky in Salinas, Calif., Sept. 23-26.
 
After that, it’s all eyes on the prize for Wright and other Wrangler National Finals Rodeo-qualifying cowboys at the 2021 Wrangler NFR in Las Vegas Dec. 2-11.
 
But until Vegas, Wright’s mindset is straightforward: control what he can, and stay on the horse or bull.
 
“Just ride everything,” Wright said. “Ride everything I get on from here on out and just start getting ready for the NFR.”

Source: ProRodeo

For more information for Wrangler NFR, please visit www.nfrexperience.com. and ProRodeo.com Check out our latest news at www.howtowatchnfr.com or through social media at /LasVegasNFR and use #WranglerNFR.

Boudreaux Campbell looked forward to a second chance on a bull yet to be ridden in 2021.

He evened the score Sunday at the Washington State Fair Pro Rodeo in Puyallup.

Campbell, a four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, had an 86.5-point ride aboard Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Ghetto Spread for the first qualified ride in eight attempts.

More importantly, he won the average with 172 points on two head and $7,276 that unofficially vaulted the Crockett, Texas, cowboy into the top 15 in the PRCA|RAM World Standings.

“I might have stayed on that bull for two seconds in Canby (Ore.) last month,” said Campbell, 23, who entered the weekend on the bubble, ranked 16th in the world standings. “I was really looking forward to the rematch here in Puyallup, and I’m glad I came out on top. It always feels good when one bucks you off and you ride him a few weeks later.”

For Campbell, it was all about attitude and forgetting the past.

“I had to clear my mind and tell myself I was better than that bull,” Campbell said. “There are no gimmes in this sport, and I just took the fight to him instead of letting him take the fight to me and kept moving with the bull jump for jump. I had to be very fundamental and do things right, and it worked out.” 

Campbell finished third in Puyallup’s first round behind world standings leader and six-time world champion Sage Kimzey and Stetson Wright, the two-time reigning PRCA all-around champ and 2020 bull riding world champ. Campbell was one of only two riders to make the whistle in Sunday’s short round.

“You don’t want to count your dollars when you have Sage and Stetson riding right after you,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t their day today, and luckily I was able to pull through and get the win here. But those guys are champions and they’ll be back.”

Campbell had no idea of his precarious place in the world standings.

“I don’t look at the standings,” Campbell said. “I’ve had a terrible summer. I’m capable of being in the top five, if not, first or second in the world. I just have to stay confident. My goal isn’t just to make the NFR, but to win the world. The year isn’t over and there’s a lot more money to be won. I need to keep the gas pedal mashed down because it’s the last month of the season and you have to give it all you’ve got.”

Other winners at the $260,690 rodeo were bareback riders Austin Foss, Clint Laye and R.C. Landingham, (168.5 points on two head each); steer wrestler Ty Erickson (7.5 seconds on two head); team ropers Cody Snow/Wesley Thorp (9.3 seconds on two head); saddle bronc rider Rusty Wright (175 points on two head); tie-down roper Roger Nonella (15.6 seconds on two head); and barrel racer Katie Pascoe (29.85 seconds on two runs). Stetson Wright won all-around honors after winning $9,496 in saddle bronc riding and bull riding.

Source: ProRodeo

For more information for Wrangler NFR, please visit www.nfrexperience.com. and ProRodeo.com Check out our latest news at www.howtowatchnfr.com or through social media at /LasVegasNFR and use #WranglerNFR.

Trevor Brazile was at the Pendleton Round-Up fast asleep in his trailer on the famed grounds in Oregon when he heard the news.
 
The highjacked Flight 11 crashed into floors 93 to 99 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City at 8:46 a.m. (ET).
 
Flight 175 struck floors 77 to 85 of the South Tower 17 minutes later.
 
It was part of a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against the U.S.
 
On Sept. 11, 2001, the world changed forever when the World Trade Center in New York City collapsed.
 
“Heck, yeah, it is something I will never forget,” said Brazile, the 26-time PRCA World Champion. “I was in a trailer asleep in the infield grounds of Pendleton (Ore.). I was rodeoing with Tommy Guy, and we got a call from Tommy’s mom that we were under attack and to turn on the news. We didn’t know if it was two planes or if there were war planes coming after that. Nobody knew what was going to happen. It was a wake-up call for America, for sure. Before that, the thinking was that can’t happen here, and it was real sobering. It was a numbing situation.”
 
The death toll of the attacks was 2,996.
 
Saturday, Sept. 11, marks the 20th anniversary of those, and the events of that tragic day are fresh in the minds of cowboys who were competing on the PRCA trail.
 
Like Brazile, five-time PRCA world champion steer wrester Luke Branquinho vividly recalled 9/11.
 
“I was in a hotel room in Pendleton at the Oxford Suites,” said Branquinho, who was 21 at the time. “I was with my traveling partner Trav Cadwell and his wife, and we were in the room, and she came and hollered at us to come watch TV and watch everything that was going on. It was unbelievable seeing what was going on. It’s something you thought would never happen to our country. I was heartbroken for all the people who lost their lives and their families.”
 
Scott Snedecor, a four-time PRCA Steer Roping World Champion (2005, 2008 and 2017-18) stepped off a plane into a new world.
 
“I just got off a plane in Pasco, Wash., when I learned of the attacks,” said Snedecor, who was 26 at the time. “Nobody really knew what was going on. It was almost like it wasn’t real. How did somebody do something like that? Then, you saw all the stuff on TV and the news channels how things unraveled, and you realized it really happened.”

Source: ProRodeo

For more information for Wrangler NFR, please visit www.nfrexperience.com. and ProRodeo.com Check out our latest news at www.howtowatchnfr.com or through social media at /LasVegasNFR and use #WranglerNFR.