GOAL ACCOMPLISHED Griffin Gets Big Win in Fort Madison By Kristen M. White E mily Griffin has a lot going on. Between an almost 2-year-old daughter and more than 30 head of horses at her home in Saint George, Kansas, where she and her husband AJ run Rafter EP Performance Horses, it’s a wonder Griffin finds time to rodeo. But she does, and her trip to the Fort Madison, Iowa, rodeo was definitely worth it. Her single run there in 17.56 seconds was enough to win her the rodeo, and a check for $3,337.
“My husband used to bulldog, and the first time he went to Fort Madison, he won it, so he always told me it was a good rodeo,” she said. “He kind of talked me into it – and now I’m really glad that he did!” Griffin ran Famous French Moon, or Belle as she’s known around the barn, toward the bottom of slack. When she clocked the nice time, Griffin was pleased, saying it felt like a good, solid run, but she knew there were still a lot of other ladies to run in the performances. “It felt like a really good and snappy and quick run. I was just happy with my horse,” Griffin said. “My time held through the first two performances, and so on that last day we were definitely checking the standings.” She continued to hang on, with Stephanie Fryar finishing second in 17.76 seconds. Griffin thanked the committee for doing a great job with the ground, making it super across the board for everyone’s horses.
Belle was unstarted when Griffin bought her as a 2-year-old. As a youngster she was a bit antsy, so Griffin said they turned her out for a while, and about 18 months ago brought her back into the picture. Now, as a 9-year-old, she’s proving that she’s ready for the rodeo scene. “We walk around a lot to warm up. She likes to hang out before we run, and now she’s pretty calm and cool,” Griffin said. “Younger, she was a little bit of a handful, but she’s turned out to be a pleasure to be around. She’s a competitor for sure, very serious.” With this year’s goal accomplished, Griffin is excited to see how they do at the circuit finals, and said her next big goal is to get into Denver. She said it’s “such a cool rodeo that I’d like to get in there and see where it goes from there.” She and AJ are plenty busy with Rafter EP Performance Horses. They started things with two nice mares, and bought a stallion in 2017 that complimented them well, then began adding to their broodmare band. Griffin said their first full crop is now 3 and she’s excited to see what the horses do. “Our Stallion’s futurity year got kind of crazy with me having a baby, so he didn’t have a huge shot and went straight to the rodeo,” she said of their stallion NotEvenIfTheresAFire. “He pulled a check at his first amateur rodeo, so I’ve started taking him to pro rodeos and he’s plugging right along. I hope he makes a good backup.” She and AJ stay busy with all the horses. She is an equine veterinarian, and although she isn’t working at a practice right now, she gets “plenty of time working on our animals!” Emily Griffin got a big win aboard Famous French Moon the first part of September at the Tri-State Rodeo in Fort Madison, Iowa. Belle, as she is known around the barn, carried Griffin to the winner’s circle and now looks to carry that momentum into the Prairie Circuit Finals. Photo by Emily Hilton
Emily Griffin won the Tri-State Rodeo in Fort Madison, Iowa, in a time of 17.56 seconds and picked up a check totaling $3,337. Photo by Emily Hilton
Griffin’s biggest goal this season was to make her Prairie Circuit Finals, and she’s done that. She started running last year at some rodeos, about six months after her daughter was born, just seasoning her horse and getting some experience. “That mare that I was running, she really kind of came on this year the week after Dodge (City), and decided she was going to be a rodeo horse,” Griffin said with a laugh.”
16 WPRA NEWS OCTOBER 2022
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