Big Tex is the new 90-point standard in bareback riding

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Below is a story I wrote for Classic Pro Rodeo about its great horse, Big Tex. On Friday, Oct. 15, the big, bay gelding was named the PRCA bareback riding horse of the year. Since the story was released, Big Tex was ridden another time in Texarkana, Ark.; Brandon Holmes rode the horse for 88 points, the only time in 2010 Big Tex and his rider were marked less than 90.

WASKOM, Texas – When rodeo cowboys sleep, they dream of great bucking horses and world championships.

“The reason why we ride bareback horses is to get on horses like Big Tex,” Steven Peebles said of the Classic Pro Rodeo horse that has been one of the top broncs in the business the past four years.

George Gillispe rides Big Tex for 91 points at Crossett, Ark., in August. (PRCA PHOTO BY ROBBY FREEMAN)
George Gillispe rides Big Tex for 91 points at Crossett, Ark., in August. (PRCA PHOTO BY ROBBY FREEMAN)

In fact, Big Tex was named the 2008 reserve world champion bareback horse in a vote of the men who strapped themselves to the top bucking horses, the bareback riders.

“He’s big and stout and a lot of fun to ride,” said Peebles, a qualifier to the 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo from Redmond, Ore. “Anytime you get on him, you can be in the 90s on him.”

In rodeo, 90-points-or-better markings are the high-water mark for bareback riders, saddle bronc riders and bull riders. Based on the 100-point scale, half the score is based on the animal’s bucking and action, and half is based on the cowboy’s ability. Scores in the 80s are great; scores in the 90s are phenomenal and rare.

In 2010, cowboys who have made the qualifying eight-second rides on Big Tex have scored in the 90s, which is virtually unheard of in the world of rodeo. In fact, the world record of 94 points was matched this past June, when Tilden Hooper of Carthage, Texas, matched moves with Big Tex at the Wild Wild West Pro Rodeo in Silver City, N.M. 

“That is a fantastic horse and has been for a long time,” Hooper said of Big Tex, a 10-year-old bay gelding. “He’s always special. That day with me, he was more special than he’s ever been. I did feel like I made a pretty good ride, but that day that horse was just phenomenal.”

When two great athletes work together, magic happens. It’s like Joe Montana connecting with Jerry Rice. It’s something Classic Pro Rodeo owner Scotty Lovelace saw in the animal when he purchased Big Tex from Jim and Maggie Zinser of J-Bar-J Rodeo.

“Jim Zinser is a bucking horse man, and he has been since I was rodeoing back in the 1980s,” said Lovelace, who has owned his Waskom, Texas-based livestock firm for 20 years. “He and his wife are friends of mine, and they’ve made a name for themselves because of the horses they raise up in Michigan.

“With Big Tex, it’s very seldom you will find a horse that is that big and that athletic. If you compared rodeo to football, Big Tex is like a lineman that is tremendously athletic.”

The more the horse bucks, the more he’s appreciated by the jockeys who attempt to ride him. Peebles had his chance this past March when he and Big Tex matched moves in Reliant Stadium in the shootout round of RodeoHouston, where the winner earns the $50,000 top prize.

The judges said the young cowboy failed to have the heels of his boots over the front shoulders of Big Tex on the horse’s first jump out of the chute, a disqualifying penalty. Some who saw the ride believe the penalty cost Peebles the championship.

“I wasn’t judging, but I think I had a pretty good chance,” Peebles said. “I’d love to have that horse before the NFR or at the NFR. That’s a horse I wouldn’t mind riding every time I enter a rodeo.”

While Peebles failed to pocket biggest regular-season payday in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 2010, Big Tex was half the equation that helped Clint Cannon to the 2009 Houston title with a 92-point ride.

This season, the Waller, Texas, cowboy rode Big Tex for 90 points in Weatherford, Texas, but it was just one of several outstanding scores: Jerad Schlegel of Burns, Colo., scored 90 on Big Tex in Rio Rancho, N.M., in January; Hooper was 94 in June; and George Gillispe of Midland, Ore., was 91 in Crossett, Ark., in August.

“I very seldom buck him where he isn’t going to have talent on his back,” Lovelace said. “I really protect him. Those great horses are worth so much money, and I’ve got five horses that are that caliber: Big Tex, Wise Guy, Fancy Free, Scarlett’s Web and Goodtime Charlie. I’ll buck them about 10 times a year, mostly to keep them fresh so they’re always at their very best.

“The one thing about Big Tex is that he doesn’t have bad days. He’s special that way.”

This season will mark the fourth straight trip to the NFR for Big Tex; he’s got a ways to go to match his stable-mate, Wise Guy, the 2009 reserve world champion bareback horse. Wise Guy has been to the last 12 NFRs and will likely be back for a 13th this December.

“Big Tex has been one of the most famous horses to come from the J-Bar-J,” said Matt Bright of Azle, Texas, who was bucked off Big Tex in San Antonio earlier this year. “If you’re a bareback rider, he’s a horse you want to draw. It’s an opportunity to win first place, no matter what other horses are out.

“There’s nothing dirty about that bucking horse. He’s as honest as he can be. If a guy can match moves with him, he’s one of the most perfect horses to draw.”

Bright knows pretty well. He’s been ranked near the top of the bareback riding world standings much of the season and is in position to qualify for his first trip to the NFR. Since that day in San Antonio, he’s been thinking about all the scenarios.

“Big Tex would be my dream draw,” Bright said. “I’d like a rematch with him in the 10th round of the NFR. That, for me, would be the ultimate.”

Hooper has a lot of respect for what Bright says and for what he does. In fact, there’s something about that buck off in San Antonio that has been mentioned among bareback riders in the months since.

“Matt is as good as anybody out there, and if Big Tex could get him on the ground, well, that says a lot about that horse,” said Hooper, a two-time NFR qualifier. “I think before that day, people thought that horse was easy to ride. He feels good when you’re riding him and you’re doing your stuff right, but, for sure, if you stub your toe, he’ll put you on the ground.”

Lovelace has seen Big Tex at his best countless times, but he said there was just something spectacular about that day with Hooper in Silver City.

“That was unreal good,” said Lovelace, who rode bareback horses at amateur rodeos before he got into the stock contracting business. “I’ve seen a lot of rides in my life, and that was unreal. That horse had his day, and Tilden spurred that horse in the neck every jump.”

This season is nothing new for the gentle giant. At the 2008 NFR, three-time world champion Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., matched moves with Big Tex for 91.5 points to tie a Thomas & Mack Center arena record. But where does the gelding fit into the talk of the best bareback horses in rodeo?

“When I think of the horse of the year, I think of a horse that gets off the ground real high and has a lot of kick every jump,” Peebles said. “I want just a solid bucking horse that you can be in the 90s on. I would put the (world champion) halter on Big Tex.”

Awards are nice, but they’re not why Lovelace is in the business. The truth is, Big Tex won’t really care too much whether he’s the best bucking horse in the business or whether he’s just one of the best.

He comes from a great lineage – his daddy, Night Jacket, is also considered one of the best bucking horses in the industry and was sold last year for a record price – but he belongs to rodeo, its athletes and its fans.

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