PECOS, Texas – If you ask any bareback rider which animal they want to mount at the West of the Pecos Rodeo, they’ll have a tough decision.
With champions in Real Deal and River Boat Annie and a pen full of athletic bucking broncs, it’s hard to pick just one. Ryan Gray might pick Grass Dancer, the smaller horse on which he scored a record-tying 94 points last year. Gray might also select River Boat Annie, the 2007 reserve champion bareback horse that helped Bobby Mote to the Pecos title a year ago.
But 2008 world champion Justin McDaniel is pretty darn tickled with his horse, Big Lights, a Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bucking horse from Carr Pro Rodeo, which will be one of the many fine animal athletes on display in Pecos beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 23-Saturday, June 26, at Buck Jackson Arena.
“If I could pick any of the Carr Pro Rodeo horses to get on, it would be the one I got,” said McDaniel, 23, of Porum, Okla., a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “I’ve got a bucker. He’s kind of an eliminator but one you want to get on.”
McDaniel knows better than most about the horse that’s been to the NFR multiple times, voted on by the top cowboys in the game to be part of ProRodeo’s grand finale. In 2008, Big Lights helped McDaniel to a second-place go-round check that was a big help in his world title hopes. In 2009, McDaniel split the first go-round victory with Jason Havens, who rode Big Lights.
That’s just one of the many reasons he’s looking forward to being in West Texas.
“Look for all of us in this rig to do well in Pecos,” McDaniel said of his traveling posse, NFR qualifiers Steven Peebles, Jared Smith and D.V. Fennell. “We all drew good. Steven’s got a good one in Perfect Storm, and Jared drew the champion bucking horse, Real Deal. D.V.’s got YoYo, and I was 90 on him in Dallas. As far as Big Lights, there have been lots of good wins on him.”
Gray has drawn well, too. When the random selection process was complete, the Lubbock, Texas, cowboy had drawn River Boat Annie.
“Last year’s rodeo featured one of the great matchups you love to see, when you have one of the best cowboys in the sport on one of the best horses in the world,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo. “You can feel the electricity, and you know the outcome is going to be special when the gate cracks.”
Not only had Gray watched Mote, a two-time world champion, win last year’s rodeo, he’s one of the many cowboys who knows a lot about that bucking horse.
“She’s been a great horse for a lot of years,” Gray said. “She has a couple different trips, but you know she’s going to buck. That’s the nice thing about having her next to your name when the draw comes out: If you do your part, you have a good shot at winning.”
Gray said the mare has changed over the years and has become tougher to ride. Cowboys who have been around have seen the change, and they’ve adjusted.“I’ve had her at the NFR twice,” McDaniel said. “She’s definitely changed. When she came around at first, she really blew in the air. Now that horse is strong. I’ve been on her twice now that she’s grown, and that horse is strong. That’s just a great bucking horse.”
