Athletic animals part of bareback riding mix in Lovington

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LOVINGTON, N.M. – Pete Carr loves to watch great athletes at work.

He’ll get the best view in Jake McClure Arena during the 76th annual Lea County Fair and Rodeo; Carr, the owner of Dallas-based Carr Pro Rodeo, will be standing just behind the bucking chute as each animal lurches into the arena, and he’ll see the tremendous force and bucking action that makes for mini-tornadoes in the dirt.

Pete Carr
Pete Carr

“Lovington is a great rodeo, and we’re really proud to be involved,” said Carr, a former bareback rider who now raises bucking horses and hauls them to some of the biggest events in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, including Lovington. “They are a Silver Tour rodeo, which is pretty special. They keep growing and want to improve their rodeo. That is very important for a committee to have that mindset.”

It’s that frame of mind that has kept Carr Pro Rodeo near the top of the business in terms of great production and great animal athletes. Carr burst onto the scene in 2005 with the help of Real Deal, which was voted as the Bareback Riding Horse of the Year that season. Two years later, Riverboat Annie was named the runner-up to the world champion bareback horse.

Since then, Carr has hauled outstanding animal athletes across the country, giving the top cowboys in the game the best shot at making a significant living on the backs of tremendous bucking beasts.

“If you look at the NFR stock roster, you can see Pete Carr’s loaded,” D.V. Fennell said of the Carr Pro Rodeo owner. “That’s not just me saying that. That’s 16 of the top bareback riders in the world. He’s got superstars.”

Riverboat Annie has been a superstar for many years. Last year, in fact, she helped Caleb Bennett to the win in Lovington.

“I told Pete Carr that I’d been looking forward to this match-up,” said Bennett of Morgan, Utah, who matched moves on the 11-year-old roan mare for 89 points to win $4,446. “I had her at the Heartland Finals a couple years ago, and I was 88 points on her down there. I was really excited to have her in Lovington. It’s one of those deals that when you find out your draw, you just can’t wait to ride.

“She’s just a pretty solid horse and is pretty consistent in how she bucks. She’s a great bucking horse and has been for a long time.”

There were a lot of cowboys that felt that way a season ago. Fennell, a two-time NFR qualifier from Porum, Okla., rode the young mare Deuces Night for 87 points to finish second, while 2008 world champion Justin McDaniel of Porum rode Real Deal for 86 and third place.

“To be successful, you’ve got to want to win,” McDaniel said. “Pete goes all out. He tries really hard. You can go to any of Pete’s rodeos and win on any of his horses on any given day.

“Real Deal was the rankest horse I’ve seen in a long time.”

Having great bucking animals will help draw any roughstock cowboy to a rodeo, but cowboys know all the little things that make an event successful. It always comes back to the people, especially in Lovington.

“It’s a good rodeo,” said Cody Taton, the saddle bronc riding director for the PRCA. “The horses are good, and it’s a great committee there. They work really hard. My hats off to those guys, too.”

Carr credits much of the recent success in Lea County to the fair and rodeo boards that work all year to produce an outstanding event.

“We are very blessed to be part of such a great event in New Mexico,” Carr said. “It’s fun being involved with such dedicated people and being part of what they are building in Lovington. I would really love to see their rodeo get nominated for rodeo of the year, because they truly deserve it.”

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