PECOS, Texas – Some of the greatest cowboys in ProRodeo’s history were part of the 129th West of the Pecos Rodeo, with more than 50 world championships being represented in the opening ceremonies through the four nights of the event, from June 27-30.
It was just one way to kick off a whale of a competition. From 16-time world champion Trevor Brazile to eight-time titlists like Speed Williams and Rich Skelton to reigning champions like Kaycee Feild, the Pecos rodeo was a cavalcade of the sport’s stars.
“We like to show the fans the caliber of athletes they’re going to see at the rodeo that night, and I think everybody in Pecos really liked getting to see all those gold buckles,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo, the livestock producer in Pecos.
That was just a taste of the excellence. What fans witnessed inside Buck Jackson Arena was a championship-caliber rodeo, highlighted by Steven Dent’s 91-point ride on Carr Deuces Night to win bareback riding – it was the highest marked ride on the horse at a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event and the second highest marked ride on the horse ever; Feild was 93 points in winning the non-sanctioned RodeoHouston title earlier this year.
“I’d never been on that horse, but I’d been on Pete’s Dirty Jacket before,” said Dent, a four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Mullin, Neb. “Actually a couple years ago I finished second on him; Chris Harris won on Deuces Night before anybody knew about that horse. I’ve been wanting to get on Deuces Night ever since.
“It felt really good. She left the chute really hard. She feels like she stalls out and leaps six feet in the air. If every horse felt like that, there would be 500 more bareback riders in the world.”
The ride was magnificent, and it proved the power of excellent livestock. In fact, Dent won the rodeo by just one point over Clint Cannon, a three-time NFR qualifier from Waller, Texas; Cannon rode Dirty Jacket for 90 points on the rodeo’s opening night.
“He bucks every time I’ve been on him,” Cannon said of Dirty Jacket. “He’s one of those horses you can win on every time if you ride him right. What’s great about that horse is just how electric he is. When the gate swings open, I think he kicked the back of the bucking chute three times before he got to the end of the gate.
“He’s just so showy and electric. He bails out of there and just keeps cracking them.”
Dent took home the lion’s share of the prize money with $3,491. It was a great way to kick start his Cowboy Christmas – a series of lucrative rodeos around the Fourth of July holiday. It was even better that Dent did so on borrowed equipment.
When Dent and traveling partner Ryan Gray landed at Midland (Texas) International Airport, they found out that their rigging bags didn’t make it onto the plane in Denver. After scrambling to find equipment to use, they called on Gray’s wife, Lacey, who was en route to Pecos from the couple’s home in Lubbock, Texas. She headed back home, retrieved an old rigging and a few old gloves, then met Dent and her husband in Seminole so they had time to make it back to Pecos in time for the rodeo.
Gray rode first, posting an 83 on Carr’s Miss Hollywood to finish in a tie for eighth place, then the scrambling resumed. Saddle bronc rider Cody Martin grabbed the rigging from the back pens, then helped Dent strap the equipment onto MGM Deuces Night.
“We had five guys between us, so we had plenty of time,” Dent said. “I pretty much just climbed on and nodded.”
And it worked quite well.
Martin, a two-time NFR qualifier from Eagle, Colo., then matched moves with Carr’s Miss Congeniality for 86 points to share the rodeo victory with Wade Sundell, a three-time NFR qualifier from Boxholm, Iowa; Sundell had ridden Carr’s Choir Girl for that score on Thursday night.
Bull riders Jarrod Craig of Hillsboro, Texas, and Chris Roundy of Spanish Fork, Utah, shared the event title with matching 87s; Craig rode Carr’s Itch N Scratch, while Roundy matched moves with Carr’s The Mexican. Each cowboy earned $3,097.
West of the Pecos Rodeo
Pecos, Texas
June 27-30
All-around cowboy: Landon McClaugherty, $2,138, team roping, tie-down roping and steer roping.
Bareback riding: 1. Steven Dent, 91 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s MGM Deuces Night, $3,491; 2. Clint Cannon, 90 points on Carr’s Dirty Jacket, $2,677; 3. Will Lowe, 87 points on Carr’s Showgirl, $1,978; 4. Caine Riddle, on Carr’s Real Deal, and Kyle Brennecke, on Carr’s Dirty Jacket, $1,047 each; 6. Wes Stevenson, on Carr’s Big Lights, and Austin Foss, on Carr’s Grass Dancer, 85, $524; 9. Jessy Davis, on Carr’s Miss Hollywood, and Ryan Gray, on Carr’s Miss Hollywood, $175.
Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Ben Shofner, 4.9 seconds, $1,929; 2. Ryan Mims, 5.2, $1,596; 3. (tie) Donelle Goodman and Shayde Etherton, 6.1, $1,097 each; 5. Kody Dollery, 6.4, $599; 6. Grady Gray, 6.5, $333. Second round: 1. Kyle Whitaker, 4.3 seconds, $1,929; 2. Jarret New, 4.4, $1,596; 3. Beau Clark, 4.8, $1,264; 4. Zack Cobb, 4.9, $931; 5. Riley Duvall, 5.1, $599; 6. Monty Eakin, 5.2, $333. Average: 1. Ben Shofner, 10.9 seconds on two head, $1,929; 2. Kody Dollery, 12.2, $1,596; 3. Donelle Goodman, 13.4, $1,264; 4. Shayde Etherton, 15.9, $931; 5. Jarret New, 17.5, $599; 6. (tie) Cole Cameron and Jason Thomas, 22.9, $166 each.
Team roping: First round: 1. Matt Sherwood/Dakota Kirchenschlager, 5.6 second, $2,003 each; 2. Josh Morris/Jody Pinkert, 6.0, $1,658; 3. David Key/Travis Woodard, 6.1, $1,313; 4. Arky Rogers/Clint Summers, 6.6, $967; 5. (tie) Casey Gattis/Seth Smithson and Shane Philipp/Josh Philipp, 6.7, $484 each. Second round: 1. Ty Blasingame/Rich Skelton and Chad Masters/Clay O’Brien Cooper, 5.9 seconds, $1,831 each; 3. Tate Kirchenschlager/Tommy Zuniga, 6.0, $1,313; 4. Chance Kiehne/Cullen Teller, 6.5, $967; 5. Josh Morris/Jody Pinkert, 6.8, $622; 6. (tie) Clay Tryan/Travis Graves and Speed Williams/Coleman Proctor, 6.9, $173 each. Average: 1. Josh Morris/Jody Pinkert, 12.8 seconds on two head, $3,005 each; 2. Nathan McWhorter/Twister Cain, 14.4, $2,487; 3. Ty Blasingame/Rich Skelton, 14.5, $1,969; 4. (tie) David Key/Travis Woodard and Tate Kirchenschlager/Tommy Zuniga, 14.6, $1,192 each; 6. (tie) Chad Masters/Clay O’Brien Cooper, Drew Horner/Justin Copp and Charly Crawford/Jim Ross Cooper, 14.8, $173 each.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Wade Sundell, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Choir Girl, and Cody Martin, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Miss Congeniality, 86 points, $2,827 each; 3. Cody DeMoss, on Carr’s Coffee Bean, and Joaquin Real, on Carr’s True Lies, $1,494; 5. Chuck Schmidt, 83 points on Carr’s Fiesta Savvy, $747; 6. Cody Taton, on Carr’s Mike & Ike, and Jake Wright, on Carr’s Paper Doll, 80, $480; 8. Ty Atchison, on Carr’s Couch Jumper, and Spencer Wright, onm Carr’s Corner Guard, $160.
Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Houston Hutto, 9.4 seconds, $1,842; 2. Charley Russell, 9.9, $1,524; 3. Jerrad Hofstetter, 10.3, $1,207; 4. Tommy Smith and Justin Maass, 10.4, $730 each; 6. Jesse Clark, 10.5, $318. Second round: 1. Landon Williams and Landon McClaugherty, 9.2 seconds, $1,683 each; 3. Tuf Cooper, 9.4, $1,207; 4. J.D. Kibbe, 9.7, $889; 5. Cimarron Thompson, 9.8, $572; 6. Clint Singleton, 10.1, $318. Average: 1. Houston Hutto, 20.5 seconds on two head, $2,763; 2. Landon Williams, 20.9, $2,287; 3. Charley Russell, 21.5, $1,810; 4. Jesse Clark, 21.6, $1,334; 5. Cimarron Boardman, 22.1, $857; 6. Shank Edwards, 22.9, $476.
Barrel racing: 1. Kenna Squires, 17.31 seconds, $3,253; 2. Stacey Grimes, 17.45, $2,602; 3. Reagan Dillard, 17.58, $2,114; 4. Jana Bean, 17.68, $1,626; 5. Jean Winters, 17.71, $1,301; 6. (tie) Chasity Tamburro and Savanah Reeves, 17.77, $895 each; 8. Whitney Baker, 17.83, $732; 9. Judi Reed, 17.87, $651; 10. Lizzy Ehr, 17.90, $569; 11. (tie) Shelly Frasier-Mack and Tammi Reynolds, 17.91, $447 each; 13. Caren Lamb, 17.95, $325; 14. Kelly Allen, 17.99, $244; 15. (tie) Angie Meadors, Stevi Hillman and Brittany Fellows, 18.01, $54 each.
Bull riding: 1. Jarrod Craig, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Itch N Scratch, and Chris Roundy, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s The Mexican, 87 points, $3,097 each; 3. Brad Harris, on Carr’s Maggie’s Pet, and Wrangler Dunda, on Carr’s Private Eyes, 82, $1,636; 5. Brett Stall, 79 points on Carr’s Ryan’s Express, $818; 6. Sunshine Schwartz, 75 points on Carr’s Fletch, $584; 7. Michael Crenshaw, 71 on Carr’s Just John, $467; 3. Rankin Lindsey, 69 points on Carr’s Ryan’s Express, $351.
Steer roping: First round: 1. Cody Scheck, 12.4 seconds, $1,886; 2. Shandon Stalls, 13.5, $1,561; 3. (tie) Jim Davis and Chance Kelton, 13.7, $1,073 each; 5. Landon McClaugherty and Scott Welch, 14.5, $455 each. Second round: 1. Joe Wells, 12.3 seconds, $1,886; 2. Jim Locke, 12.4, $1,561; 3. Vin Fisher Jr., 12.7, $1,235; 4. Shane Suggs, 12.9, $910; 5. (tie) Cody Garnett, Chris Glover and Chance Kelton, 13.0, $303 each. Third round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 10.6 seconds, $1,886; 2. Pecos Shannon, 12.4, $1,561; 3. Howdy McGinn, 14.0, $1,235; 4. Cody Garnett, 15.1, $910; 5. Chance Kelton, 16.7, $585; 6. Jess Tierney, 19.7, $325. Average: 1. Chance Kelton, 43.4 seconds on three head, $2,828; 2. Tony Reina, 52.9, $2,341; 3. Chris Glover, 64.6, $1,853; 4. Pecos Shannon, 25.9 on two, $1,365; 5. (tie) Scott Welch, Cody Garnett and Will Gasperson, 28.1, $455 each.