handled it like a champ. After having run him as a futurity horse only 15-20 times before he got hurt, Choate didn’t know Dash all that well. He’d never run outside, and he’d only made a couple of pro runs prior to Ponoka. “Every run I make, I learn something new about him,” she said. “He’s the horse that I least expect to do well at rodeos because he’s timid and scared of everything, but if there’s one thing he knows, it’s barrels. I mean, my stirrup fell off going down the alleyway in the first run (at Ponoka)! I was shocked with the great way he handled it all.” Her other horse, Boozer (TJR Stinson Blue) was Choate’s first futurity horse. At the beginning of the season, when Choate was feeling pretty down, Boozer was there for her in a big way. “Rodeo had kicked my butt the first six or seven months,” Choate said. “I thought, ‘Why do I keep doing this? I’m a crazy barrel racer over here, and I just keep going.’” She talked to a friend – after hitting a barrel at a rodeo – and the friend told her to keep her head up, noting that sometimes it just takes a single rodeo to turn a season around. “Five minutes later, the WPRA called and said a spot in Rodeo Austin had opened up and could I make it?” she said. “I drove all the way to Austin and ran Boozer and he stepped up. We did well in the long round and won the semis. He threw two shoes in the finals, but I was so thankful. That rodeo really did turn around my season!” Choate says she is definitely a goal setter – originally aiming for the Rookie and now eventually shooting for the NFR. Sitting top 10 in the world (as of publication) she’s definitely got a good shot.
made. Originally Choate was entered in a lot more places, but she decided she wanted to stay up north, so she turned out of quite a few. “My horses were liking the cooler weather, firing harder and not so drained from the heat. And they were working well so I didn’t want to put the extra miles on them,” she said. “I thought I’d go to these four, not try to break my neck to get somewhere, just let it be. And it worked out.” Choate cashed checks at two of the other three she ran at – picking up $3,647 at Williams Lake, BC, and another $557 at Raymond, AB. While Choate is a newbie in the WPRA, so are her horses. She says they’re “just babies, and we’re just winging it. Rookie on rookie!” She does her best to make it fun for everyone. Take Dash, for example. He suffered an injury and was originally going to be out for about eight months, but she and her family felt like he wasn’t quite ready, so they gave him two years off instead. Originally Choate planned to introduce him to pro rodeo slowly, but then she didn’t have much time and “just threw him to the wolves.” He WPRA Rookie Bayleigh Choate decided to spend her Fourth of July in Canada and what a profitable decision that was for her. Choate dominated at the Ponoka Stampede winning the first two rounds, the average and the showdown round to pocket $21,302.
BARREL RACING 1. Bayleigh Choate 2. Shelley Morgan 3. Jordon Briggs 4. Stevi Hillman 5. Wenda Johnson 6. Leslie Smalygo 7. Paige Jones 8. Kylee Scribner 9. Lisa Lockhart 10. Katie Pascoe
$25,505 $20,352 $18,267 $16,135 $14.424 $13,722 $13,001 $12.790 $12,687 $12.632
“After Austin, my goal was top 30 so I could get into some of the big rodeos next year. I crept my way up and when I was in about 22 nd , I thought I’d go for top 15. I mean, what do I have to lose?” she said. “If you just focus so much on making money or winning, it’s not even fun anymore,” she said. “Who cares if you win or pull a check if you’re not having fun? You’re going to burn out your horses putting so much pressure on them and yourself.” With Choate’s talent, her positive mindset and a couple of strong horses in the trailer, it’ll be fun to watch where rodeo takes her next. Bayleigh Choate and Dash raced their way to the top of the leaderboard for most money won over the Fourth of July. Now with a sizeable lead in the Rookie of the Year standings, Choate has her sights set on running down the alleyway at the Thomas and Mack at her first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. She is currently ranked 10th as of August 1, 2022.
AUGUST 2022 WPRA NEWS 13
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