WINNING FORMULA Mowry Learns To Trust Emmett enroute to Calgary
Stampede Title By Ted Harbin, photos by Emily Gethke T here’s not much that turns Kassie Mowry’s focus away from training colts and preparing for futurities. She’s found it this year in two rodeos that count nearly $60,000 of her earnings: RodeoHouston and the Calgary Stampede. Mowry, of Dublin, Texas, had no intention of competing in the WPRA’s ProRodeo system much this year. It all changed when she raced her way to a second-place finish in Houston in March. That cash advance propelled her into a trip north of the border for the 10-day stampede, where she took advantage of every opportunity and walked away with the biggest prize available, the $50,000 check provided to the winners of each event. In the process, she and Famous Ladies Man left Alberta with $64,500 in earnings, with all but $25,000 counting toward the world standings – all money earned in the preliminary rounds will count toward a National Finals Rodeo qualification, but only half of the Showdown Round earnings are allowed. “I think he loved the energy of that arena,” Mowry said of Emmett, a 7-year-old bay gelding by Dash Ta Fame out of Lady Perks. “The crowd was really loud, and he thrives off that. He’s also very good in high-pressure situations, because he stays so focused. “He’s very versatile. I can say that in a lot of places. He is very good about making adjustments. With the excitement and the crowd being so loud, I think he knows it was a high-pressure situation, and he just fits right in.” Running in Pool B of the two-pool, tournament-style format, Mowry and Emmett were clocking well; they finished third in the opening round before winning the second, pushing their earnings to $9,000. A tipped barrel in the third round offered up an opportunity for Mowry to learn something about herself and her mount, and they went back to work. “I feel like I didn’t trust him running up to that barrel,” she said. “I asked him to start the turn too soon. I was let down with myself after
that. I knew I needed to come back and place to make it on to the short- go. I didn’t want to make him run in the Wild Card Round, because I didn’t want to put any more runs on him than I needed. “I focused on getting him to that barrel, not weaking and trusting him.” It paid off with a Calgary Stampede record 16.86-second run to win the fourth round, carrying the $14,500 she’d earned into the final two runs of her week in the Great White North. “After that, I just decided to trust him,” Mowry said. “I just told myself, ‘Don’t get in his way.’ ” The trust comes with run after run together, and that’s something the two have done over the last few years. But she also has several other young horses she rides, trains and needs to get ready for their own competitions that pop up. In fact, she’s about to the teeth of her futurity season, so her schedule is busy. She knows she needs a minimum of 25 rodeos in order to be NFR eligible. As of July 18, she was seventh in the world standings with a little more than $78,000 in the bank that counts toward the world standings and another $35,000 that doesn’t. She has 14 rodeos she has attended, so she will need a few more to make the 25 minimum and she may need to add to her overall amount if she’s going to play on ProRodeo’s biggest stage in December, but she’s taking it all in stride with a horse that can help. “Emmett is an incredible athlete,” Mowry said. “He’s got really quick feet and can really run out, too. It’s a good combination. He’s always focused. He’s got a lot of natural work and rate to him. Besides that, his personality is such that he’s really a pesky horse, really playful. He loves to go and loves to do stuff. “He’s got a high energy level. It works good on the road. He gets off continued on page 29 Kassie Mowry made headlines at the Calgary Stampede in 2022. The full-time futurity trainer took time away from her young prospects to showcase Famous Ladies Man “Emmett” and showcase she did. The duo set a new arena record (16.86 seconds) enroute to their first Calgary Stampede title. Now with big paydays at Houston and Calgary, Mowry is in position for a third Wrangler NFR qualification
Kassie Mowry had a very profitable week at the Calgary Stampede pocketing $64,500 of which $39,500 counted to her WPRA world standings for the year, moving her into the Top 10 with two months left in the regular season.
16 WPRA NEWS AUGUST 2022
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