ALLEN, Texas – When the top cowboys in the game compete for big money, they want to have the best opportunity to make it.
That’s why the top bareback riders in the game are happy to see Carr Pro Rodeo horses in the lineup for this weekend’s Tom Thumb Texas Stampede, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Allen Events Center.
“There’s no such thing as too much money,” said Matt Bright of Azle, Texas, who will make his first trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in less than a month. “The thing about Pete Carr’s rodeos is that when you go to one, you know you’re going to get a chance to win first. A lot of guys don’t have that.
“I really respect that guy a lot, because he used to be a bareback rider himself. I think that’s why he’s got such a good pen of bareback horses. He knows what kinds of horses guys can win on.”
While this is the first season Bright has qualified for the NFR, Bright has been one of the best in the business for a while. But that’s what the Texas Stampede is all about, featuring cowboys like Cody DeMers, Chris Harris, Tilden Hooper, Eric Swenson, Jared Smith, D.V. Fennell and Justin McDaniel, the 2008 world champion.
“This close to the finals, I wanted to stay tuned up, and running that the kind of money that’s available there is great,” Bright said. “I’ve been going to a rodeo every couple of weeks trying to stay on top of my game. With Texas Stampede being a hometown rodeo, it’s a pretty big deal. So is being able to compete close to the house.”
Fennell has been asked to compete in the invitation-only event before, but this is his first time to make the field – he was recovering from an injury last year and had to decline the invitation.
“You’ve got a chance at $10,000,” said Fennell of Neosho, Mo. “Bull riders get to do that every week, but with a bareback riggin’ in your hand, you don’t have that many chances. Hopefully I’m making an investment in my financial future.”
With that in mind, he knows how special it is to be able to climb on the back of one of the Carr Pro Rodeo bucking beasts.
“Pete’s got a nice set of horses,” Fennell said. “I wish Pete had a rodeo in my back yard every week with about $10,000 added; I’d never have to leave the house.”
Fennell knows a lot about good bucking horses. He’s been on his fair share. He also knows the Carr horses that will be part of this weekend’s event likely will be the top of the line, from NFR bucking horses like Black Coffee and Hylo Hills to animals like Alberta Child, Hometown Girl, Collins Pride and Pink Cadillac, which are some of the rising stars in the game.
“Pete’s one of my really good friends,” Bright said. “Ever since I started rodeoing professionally, he’s been really good to me. Pete’s deal is that he always tries to put an even pen of horses out in every performances, so it doesn’t matter when you’re up, you know you have a chance to win. You know the horses are going to be good.
“That’s the name of the game. Yeah, the horses buck hard, and if you stub you’re toe, you’re going to hit the ground. But if you do your stuff right, you’re going to win a lot of money.”