ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH Morgan and Kiss Take Title in Estes Park By Ted Harbin W hile familiarity breeds contempt, it can also inspire greatness. With that in mind, Shelley Morgan and her husband, Rex,
made their way up a Rocky Mountain pathway to Rooftop Rodeo. A year before, Morgan and her main mount, HR Fameskissandtell, cashed in at the Estes Park, Colorado, rodeo, so why not see if the magic could happen again. “She must like Estes Park,” Morgan said of Kiss, a 9-year-old sorrel mare out of Fames Fiery Kiss by CEO. “She was feeling it that night.” Yes, she was, and so were a number of other horses. Granny May Arena on the Estes Park Fairgrounds has hosted world-class barrel races, and the 2023 edition of Rooftop Rodeo was no different. Morgan and Kiss were just a step above everyone else in the field, and she collected more than $4,200 for it. Estes Park features two sections of barrel racing for all six nights. Ten cowgirls make their runs during the performances, then a dozen or more others will run in slack shortly after the last bull leaves the arena. On Sunday, July 9, during the second-to-last night of the rodeo, Steely Steiner clocked in 16.01 seconds to take a lead over an already aggressive field. Because the pattern had changed over the last few years, the records established a few
Shelley Morgan and Kiss were just a step above everyone else in the field in Estes Park, CO in 2023 taking the title in a time of 15.84 and added $4,200 to their 2023 earnings. Photo by Phillip Kitts
because it had rained quite a bit in previous days.” The footing held up, and so did Morgan’s time.
years ago may remain intact, but Steiner’s time didn’t stay at the top very long. Morgan was the second lady out in slack, and she and Kiss stopped the timer in 15.84 seconds. “Winning Estes Park helped us a ton,” she said. “I felt like we hadn’t gotten off to a great start yet. I’d placed at Vernal (Utah) and won Estes. My husband and I were discussing that it looked like we were firing now.” Morgan is coming off an exceptional 2022 campaign. She won the National Finals Rodeo average on her young mare and finished the year third in the world standings with $265,000 in earnings – $155,000 of that came during those magical 10 days in Las Vegas. She and Kiss placed seven times. In March 2022, the tandem cleaned up at the non-sanctioned The American in Arlington, Texas, the last time the big-money rodeo took place inside AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. It has since been moved across the road to Globe Life Field, home of the 2020 NFR and the Texas Rangers baseball team. She and Kiss have done some special things together. “She did feel like she was running in Estes,” Morgan said. “You can feel when she’s not running and when she’s overrating the barrels. Did I feel like she was going to do that good? No, but I knew it was going to be fast. “I know she’s done good there before, so a lot of times you try to go where you know the horse likes that setup. I was second on the ground, so that helped some. We didn’t know what Estes was going to be like,
“I just tried to focus on my position and put her in the right spots,” she said. “It seems we do a lot better when I trust her and let her do her job.” She has had some solid mounts before. She first qualified for the NFR in 2009 and finished 10th in the final standings. Rodeo money has changed considerably since then. She returned to ProRodeo’s mountaintop again in 2020, the year COVID reared its ugly head on the sport and forced the one-year hiatus from Las Vegas. She hasn’t looked back. In that three-year stretch, she’s collected nearly $326,000 … at the NFR. Her overall WPRA ProRodeo earnings are nearly $600,000, so her partnership with Kiss has paid great dividends. Every dollar comes in handy, especially for Morgan, who is behind the eight-ball a bit as far as money won and in position to qualify for her fifth NFR. As of the final week in July, she, Rex and Kiss were heading back to home in Eustace, Texas. Kiss needed a little time off the road, and it was a good chance for the Morgans to refresh their minds and bodies for the final two months of the regular season. “We’ve been on a little bit of the struggle bus this year,” she said. “I lost my dad in May, and for a little while, I lost a little bit of desire and had a struggle getting going again. “That week that we placed in Vernal and won Estes put a spark back in our fire. That spark wasn’t quite there until that weekend, but it felt good to get it back.”
22 WPRA NEWS AUGUST 2023
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