COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The dream season continues for barrel racer Brittany Pozzi-Pharr.
Pozzi-Pharr, of Victoria, Texas, who earlier this year broke the regular-season record for earnings in professional barrel racing, recently earned another honor when her horse, Stitch, was named American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Barrel Racing Horse of the Year.
“You can’t script a year like this,” Pozzi-Pharr said. “This is a fairytale season. Stitch is so amazing. When you have him, he’s like guaranteed money, as long as I don’t screw up. He’s a natural, for sure. I really hoped he would win. Now that he has, we’ve got to live up to it now.”
Pozzi-Pharr – ranked No. 1 in the world standings by more than $30,000 thanks in part to 11 victories, including Cheyenne (Wyo.), Denver, Fort Worth and Tucson – is headed to her fourth Wrangler NFR with her first world title in mind. She narrowly missed last year, finishing only $2,567 behind World Champion Mary Burger.
Toward the end of her rookie season in 2003, Pozzi-Pharr bought Stitch, a horse new to the rodeo scene. The horse performed well in three rounds at the 2003 Wrangler NFR, but lacked the maturity and experience needed to become a consistent winner.
Then, the calendar turned to 2007, and nothing has been the same since.
“He was getting better and better, but I couldn’t wait until he turned 10 years old,” Pozzi-Pharr said. “I knew that would be his year. He’s 10 this year, and he’s grown up. Before, it was culture shock, but this year, the maturity hit, and he’s learned to handle the different types of ground. At first, he had problems with noise, and he’d get riled up from the crowds. That really doesn’t bother him anymore.”
The ringbone that nearly ended the career of Walt, the 17-year-old team roping heading horse owned and ridden by Travis Tryan, doesn’t bother the horse anymore, either. Four years after winning his first AQHA Horse of the Year award, Walt topped the list again this year after a miraculous recovery.
“He was injured all of last year, and with ringbone, it can be a career-ending injury,” Tryan, of Chico, Texas, said. “He’s not only come back from the injury, he’s worked this year better than ever.”
Instead of surgery, Tryan and his veterinarian opted for joint fusion to treat the ringbone, which is a lameness disease of the pastern and coffin joints and a degenerative disorder that has no known cure.
“He gives you a chance to win any time,” Tryan said. “You can take him to Cheyenne (Wyo.) and to the (Wrangler) NFR the next day, and he’ll still feel the same at either place. It doesn’t matter to him.”
Tryan bought Walt at the end of the 2000 season. The following year, Tryan reached the Wrangler NFR for the first time. And thanks to Walt, he hasn’t missed since.
Lee Graves hasn’t missed the Wrangler NFR much either, especially with trusty steer wrestling horse Jessie under him. Jessie, a 12-year-old black gelding who finished third in AQHA voting last year, earned the top honor in 2007 as Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year.
Graves owns Jessie and lets several bulldoggers, including Shawn
Greenfield, ride him as well and estimates that some $360,000 has been won on the horse this year. Jessie’s win ended a record three-year reign by Jim Burks’ star horse, Zan, who won the award from 2004-06.
“This horse has gradually been getting better and better since I bought him two years ago,” Graves, of Calgary, Alberta, said. “This year has been phenomenal. There haven’t been too many rodeos where one of us hasn’t earned a check. When I’m not winning, the horse is.”
Since 1989, the AQHA has annually honored the top three steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping, steer roping and barrel racing horses in the PRCA. Horse owners receive a bonus and a bronze statue for their accomplishment. The top PRCA and Professional Women's Barrel Racing (PWBR) timed-event contestants conduct the voting.
Cowboys had equal respect for Diesel, the heeling horse owned and ridden by Randon Adams, of Logandale, Nev., and Amigo, ridden by Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas, and owned by Smith and his wife, Christi. The voting ended in a first-place tie for top heeling horse. Diesel claimed top honors in 2006, while Amigo is a first-time winner.
Like Jessie, the two other horses are first-time honorees as well.
AQHA honors in tie-down roping went to Flip, owned by Paige Maass of Giddings, Texas, and ridden by her husband, Justin Maass, and Scott Kormos.
Shep, owned by Scott Shepard and ridden by C.A. Lauer, of Buffalo, Okla., topped the list in steer roping.
AQHA Horses of the Year
Steer Wrestling
1. Rocks Eye Opener (Jessie), owned by Lee Graves, ridden by Lee Graves and Shawn Greenfield
2. FF Zans A Baron Jack (Zan), owned by Jim Burks, ridden by Rodney Burks
3. Docs Otoe Peppy (Smarty), owned and ridden by Billy Bugenig
Team Roping (Heading)
1. Precious Speck (Walt), owned and ridden by Travis Tryan
2. Lite My Dynamite (Sic Em), owned by Trevor and Shada Brazile, ridden by Trevor Brazile
3. (tie) Go Fish Burner (Blow Fish), owned and ridden by Brandon Beers
PC Lonewood Ike (Frisco), owned by Colter and Carly Todd, ridden by Colter Todd
Team Roping (Heeling)
1. (tie) Baileys Cooper Doc (Diesel), owned and ridden by Randon Adams
Sunday Night Bingo (Amigo), owned by Patrick and Christi Smith, ridden by Patrick Smith
2. Owens Cub (Switch Blade), owned and ridden by Kory Koontz
3. Freckles Taz (Taz), owned and ridden by Kinney Harrell
Tie-Down Roping
1. Smash Par Fancy (Flip), owned by Paige Maass, ridden by Justin Maass and Scott Kormos
2. Leos Showtime (Scout), owned and ridden by Jake Hannum
3. High Little Sug (Boogie Man 2), owned and ridden by Mike Arnold
Steer Roping
1. River Lightning Bug (Shep), owned by Scott Shepard, ridden by C.A. Lauer
2. Foxy Duplicate (Pacific), owned by Shandon Stalls, ridden by Shandon Stalls and Guy Allen
3. Die Hard Romance (Roan Ranger), owned by Trevor and Shada Brazile, ridden by Trevor Brazile
PWBR Barrel Racing
1. Sixth Vision (Stitch), owned by Randy Pozzi and Brittany Pozzi-Pharr, ridden by Brittany Pozzi-Pharr
2. I Am Not TE (Slim), owned and ridden by Brandie Halls
3. (tie) Perryman Star (Amigo), owned by Tana and Marty Poppino, ridden by Tana Poppino
Top Tally (Tally), owned by Nathan Williams, ridden by Darlene Kasper
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