Rodeo News: Bronze Bust of ProRodeo Hall of Famer Hadley Barrett Unveiled

A citation bust of North Platte, Nebraska native and ProRodeo Hall of Fame host Hadley Barrett was unveiled on April 30 at the Wild West Arena in North Platte.

The bust will greet rodeo fans as they enter the grandstands at the Wild West Arena. Barrett starred in some of the biggest ProRodeos across the country, including the National Trials Rodeo four times and as the television host of the Trials 22 times. On March 2, 2017, Barrett passed away at the age of 87, less than a week after announcing the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.

Barrett started her son-in-law, Randy Corley, in the rodeo advertising business in North Platte. The two advertised several rodeos, including the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, which Barrett started in 1965, and Corley in 1980.

Hadley took me under his cult, Corley said. He has not tried to tell me how to announce a rodeo, but he told me the lanes. He was one of the best instructors a person could have. He was so good. There’s no rodeo that he and I worked on together. What a time I have a real void in my heart for who Hadley Barrett was.

The sculptor in Barrett’s citation is Jake Hebbert, born and raised in the Sandhills of Nebraska, near Hyannis.
Buffalo Bill Rodeo will be June 15-18 at the Wild West Arena in North Platte, Nebraska. Performances start at 8 p.m. (CT) nocturnal. Tickets are on sale at NebraskalandDays.com and range from $10 to $23.

For more information, visit the website or call the office at 308.532.7939.
In print, from the left, are Randy Corley, Michelle Corley, Brittany Ballard holding her son (and Hadley’s great-granddaughter) Hadley Ann; Kim Jurgens; Wyatt Barrett and Trent Barrett.

PRCA Standings Shuffle: Wesley Thorp Jumps Inside The Top 5

Wesley Thorp knows what it takes to be on top of the ProRodeo mountain, and he has a PRCA World Championship (2019) to prove it.

After a slow start in Throckmorton, Texas, Heeler is changing his pace at the right time. Thorp teamed with champion Cody Snow to win at Lakeside and Springville, California. Rises ten places to fifth place in the latest PRCA | RAM world ranking.

Thorp said getting out west to outdoor rodeos has helped them get the meter they’ve been looking for this spring.

The main thing is that we went to California and went to several rodeos backward, Thorp, 26, said. They were all outdoor rodeos, and the scores were a bit longer, which fit our style well.

We caught two (steers) in Logandale (Nev.) and placed third in the normal. I guess that got things going, and we were able to continue to build on that. It looks like we can go to several rodeos and get a game plan, and we can start knocking down some of those good races.

Last season, Thorp finished ninth in the world rankings with $172,998. He said that to qualify for the Wrangler National Tests Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge again in 2022, riding the rollercoaster ride in the ProRodeo season will be crucial.

These late spring wins help a lot because it’s a roller coaster ride. There’s a lot of uphill and country, he said. For me, it’s kind of a figurehead for instigation and confidence and is suitable for putting together some runs and executing the game plan.

It’s critical that our peloton is ready to do it this close to the summer and is ready to move up to a good place in the standings, which will be very healthy for us.

Read PRCA Standings Shuffle: Wesley Thorp jumps inside the top 5 Full Story here

News: Cole Patterson ready to defend his NCFSR title in Torrington

Cole Patterson has fond memories of the Steer Roping National Circuit Trials.

Patterson made his NCFSR debut last time out and palm-walked and earned an NCFSR $10,786 record.

Patterson, who went on to win his first PRCA World Steer Roping Championship in 2021, is optimistic about his return to Torrington.

This is one of the most significant events we can attend as ropers, said Patterson, 26. So they put on a big show for us, and we managed to tie up some great steers. It’s also a friendly enough setup for ropers. I’ve been then before, but indeed it’s one I’ve wanted to return to.

The 2022 National Circuit Steer Roping Tests take place on Saturday and Sunday, and it starts at noon (MT) every day. Cowboys from Day 1 will compete in four rounds, and Sunday’s challengers will race two more games. After completing all six rounds, the top eight cowboys will advance to an eight-man semifinal.

The top four challengers from the semifinals will proceed to a four-person unforeseen death test. Patterson won the unexpected death trials last time with an alternate time of 10.0.

I grew up playing every night with my dad, and having these road tests means it’s essential for me to come and then see these guys, said Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, a special guest at the homecoming event. From NCFSR. This is an important event for this state and this megacity. We are delighted to have this event.

One of the businesses I have is steering rope, it’s one of those alphabets (events) at the rodeo, and I’ve always felt explosive that there’s a heritage then, and we need to save that heritage. Cole Patterson will ride 17-year-old Tigger this weekend. Tigger is the two-time reigning Purina Horse of the Time.

I just got him in shape and took him to his first rodeo last week since the (National Steer Roping Trials in November), Patterson said. I left it all downtime, so it’s fresh and ready to go.

Former world champion Rocky Patterson, Cole’s father, is competing in the NCFSR again. Rocky is the only two-time NCFSR champion, winning in 2012 and 2019.

Four-time world champion Scott Snedecor won $10,095 at the 2020 NCFSR and is ready for another race at Torrington. Snedecor rides 13-year-old Goose.

I can’t wait to get back then, said Snedecor. I enjoy the commission, and it is good to go out again. I like the qualifying rounds, where you get to do what you can for six games. Also, you get the unforeseen death deal, and that’s delicious for the helmspersons; we don’t get to do that very often.

Steer roper Slade Wood, who finished sixth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings a while back; he’s eager to see what he can do in the NCFSR. Wood will be riding Dynamo, 19. This shakes me, said Wood, 19. There are a lot of plutocrats and many steers on the rope, and I want to rope in this format. This should be fun.

Rodeo News: ProRodeo Hall of Famer J.W. Stoker Passes Away

ProRodeo Hall of Famer J. W. Stoker passed away on April 21 in Weatherford, Texas. He was 94.

Stoker, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2011, built a career spanning more than seven decades by being inversely complete as a trick rider and trick roper. In the spring of 1939, Stoker was hired by Clyde. Miller Rodeo Show as a young roper. Stoker was a member of several riding clubs where he learned rope tricks and lifting from Pinky Barnes, who traveled to Kansas City in the downtime of 1938 to teach children how to rope.

Stoker, who was known as the king of cowboy jockeys and ropers, took it so well that he got his first job at age 10 and the show’s sponsor, Clyde Miller, sealed the deal by hiring Stoker’s parents to ride With the program.

His ability as a horseman caused his photo to appear on the Wheaties cereal box at age 12.

Stoker was named the PRCA’s Specialty Act of the Era in 1985 and 1986, winning the second of those awards when he was 59 years old. He also appeared in several movies.
Stocker was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame on July 16, 2011.

It tops anything I’ve ever done before; it’s the icing on the cake, you could say, Stoker, told ProRodeo Sports News of his induction.
During his induction, Stoker spoke about the path he took to enter the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

I was born in Colorado Springs, I was in and out of the military in Colorado Springs and now I’m in the Hall of Fame, so I can say I really like Colorado Springs, Stocker said.

Following his discharge from service in 1953, he hit the road performing black lights. This use of imperceptible ultraviolet lights was the first such use in the professional rodeo.

Stoker worked at the biggest rodeos: Cheyenne, Madison Square Garden, Calgary, Boston Garden, Denver, Fort Worth, Texas, and Salinas, California.
His penchant for riding tricks, spinning black light rope, and catching graceful steeds has also been seen in many other countries, including Japan, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Korea, Finland, France, Australia, and Venezuela. He performed for the Queen of England, did tricks in the initial courtship of President Harry Truman in 1948, and entertained President Ronald Reagan and the unborn President GeorgeH.W. Bush at the 1984 Republican Convention in Dallas.

In 1973, Stoker spent seven months working for Casey Tibbs’s Wild West Show in Japan, and later for the state of Nevada to publicize the state and encourage Japanese tourism.

In Paint Horse Journal in March 1980, J.W. said, It’s a dying art, I predicted it in the 1940s and people told me I was crazy, but I’ve seen it come true.

Stoker won the Will Rogers Centennial Trick Roping Contest in 1979 in Claremore, Oklahoma, and performed at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He was also a featured guest on The Moment Show and Charlie Rose Show in 1990.

He also did rope tricks and rode The Kansan in the late 1940s, and in 1956 he performed numbers for the movie Bus Stop, starring Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, he was a stunt double in the Clint Eastwood movie Bronco Billy.

Stoker also acted as a trick rider for Roy Rogers, and Rogers actually rode one of J.W.’s favorite jerks, Punkin, at the Houston Rodeo in 1969.
Stoker’s wardrobe includes more than 50 elegant jeweled fringed shirts, 25 pairs of handcrafted ornaments, and 25 western headpieces. In December 2003, Stoker performed in The Great American Wild West show in Las Vegas and appeared in American Cowboy.

Also in his later days, Stoker made massive appearances at the Rose Bowl Parade with Trish Lynn and the All American Cowgirl Sprats, a Parker County stunt squad that tours the rodeo circuit. Stoker was needed to guide the peloton and turn them into trick riders.

He was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1999, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2015.

Stoker was honored by the metropolises of Weatherford, Texas, and Overland Park, Kansas, with J.W. Stoker Day proclamations from the mayors at both locations.
Stocker called Parker County home in 1969 and spent his last days working with his beloved scolders Romeo, Hollywood, and Blanco. While white nags were his trademark, Romeo, a make-up stud, was truly his favorite.

I lived a good, clean life, I didn’t bomb or drink, Stoker said in August. 7 at the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center in Fort Worth.

Burial services are listed for 10 a.m. (CT), April 30 at Parker County Cowboy Church, 5050 FM 5, Aledo, Texas 76008.

Stoker will be in state from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. m. on April 29 at White’s Funeral Home, 130 Houston Ave., Weatherford.

Interment Johnson County Memorial Auditoriums, 1200 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kansas, 66210 on May 4 at 11 a.m. (CONNECTICUT).

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Stoker’s memory be made to All American Cowgirl Sprats, 4101 Williams. Tate, Suite 100, Grapevine, Texas, 76051 in order to create the J.W. Stoker Memorial Scholarship, to be used to help youth attend tricks and snare camps.

Stoker is preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Wilma Stoker, and his sisters, Frankie Hill and Bessie Fugate, and motherfucker J.C. Hill.

He is survived by six fucking and fucking Karen Krehbiel, Donald (Sondra) Hill; Ronnie Hill (Gina); Wallace’s Hill (Rhealene); Debbie (Brad) Miller; and Hunter (Geri) Fugate. Stoker is also survived by 15 great whores and whores, and 27 great-great whores and whores.

Bareback rider Caleb Bennett sidelined with elbow injury

With a right elbow injury, Sans Protection jockey Caleb Bennett, a nine-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, will be sidelined for six weeks.

Bennett underwent a medical procedure on the elbow of his riding arm on April 18 in Austin, Texas.

Overall, I’m not a fan of the elbow, and it blew up fairly badly (around March 1), according to Bennett, 33. He possessed a lot of bone chips and other knickknacks. He was trying to bike as long as he could with the (injury). My objective was to make it until the end of April. May is a quiet month, as are the major cash openings, and it would be my best chance to get started.

They gave me an endoscopy for my elbow. They retrieved significantly more splinters and bone fragments than they had expected to find. They took out about 17 bone chips. I’m not sure how I managed to drive like this. This is, however, how I make ends meet, and I require it. They estimate that I’ll be gone for four to six months.

Bennett is 10th in the PRCA | RAM World Ranking at $38,923. Through the end of the week, he won $6,622 at the San Angelo (Texas) Rodeo (April 15) and the Red Bluff (California) Round-Up (April 17).

Bennett wants to return to activity at the Darby (Mont.) Riggin Rally event on June 4.

The money I made in San Angelo and Red Bluff made getting much-needed rest that much simpler, Bennett said. That boosted the rankings, and I felt like I had a pretty decent winter and spring, so I’m not too stressed about endlessly venturing out, and there’s plenty of cash to be won starting in June. I want to go back and win that finishing touch.

Bennett qualified for the NFR eight in a row for a long time between 2012 and 2019 and then again in 2021. He completed the best calling fourth in the 2016 world rankings and was 10th the year before.

In the 2021 Wrangler NFR Presented by Teton Ridge in Las Vegas, Bennett contested two rounds, highlighting his Round 9 victory with an 88-point ride at the Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Medicine Show.

With a right elbow injury, Sans Protection jockey Caleb Bennett, a nine-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, will be sidelined for six weeks.

Bennett underwent a medical procedure on the elbow of his riding arm on April 18 in Austin, Texas.

Overall, I haven’t liked the elbow, and it blew up pretty bad (around March 1), the 33-year-old Bennett said. He had a lot of bone chips and stuff. He was trying to ride with the (injury) as long as possible. My goal was to try to get through the end of April. May is slower, as are the big open doors for cash, and that would be my best chance to get off the ground.

They gave me an elbow endoscope. They removed far more splinters, and pieces of bone than they naturally suspected were there. They removed like 17 bone chips. I have no idea how I was driving like this. However, this is how I make ends meet, and I need this to happen. They say I’ll be gone from four to a month and a half.

Bennett is 10th in the PRCA | RAM World Ranking at $38,923. Through the end of the week, he won $6,622 at the San Angelo (Texas) Rodeo (April 15) and the Red Bluff (California) Round-Up (April 17).

Bennett wants to return to activity at the Darby (Mont.) Riggin Rally event on June 4.

The money I made in San Angelo and Red Bluff made getting much-needed rest that much simpler, Bennett said. That boosted the rankings, and I felt like I had a pretty decent winter and spring, so I’m not too stressed about endlessly venturing out, and there’s plenty of cash to be won starting in June. I want to go back and win that finishing touch.

Bennett qualified for the NFR eight in a row for a long time between 2012 and 2019 and then again in 2021. He completed the best calling fourth in the 2016 world rankings and was 10th the year before.

In the 2021 Wrangler NFR Presented by Teton Ridge in Las Vegas, Bennett contested two rounds, highlighting his Round 9 victory with an 88-point ride at the Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Medicine Show.