STRONG START Pozzi Tonozzi Continues to Add New Rodeo Wins to Her Resume By Ted Harbin O ver a career that has spanned more than two decades, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi has won her
fair share of Texas rodeos. One that had eluded her was the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in the west Texas town of Odessa. She changed that in 2023 and moved to the top of the ProRodeo world standings with the $6,322 she pocketed after posting the fastest run of the 10-day affair, a 13.53-second run she accomplished during slack. “I think something was different with the pattern or the time, because it was extremely fast,” said Pozzi Tonozzi, a 16- time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier and two-time world champion from Lampasas, Texas. “I rode Pickles (owned by Jeff and Andrea Busby), and it was my first run back at a rodeo since the NFR. “I am still learning with her. I don’t know her super well, so we went in blindly and it worked out. She’s a super nice mare, and I’m thankful the Busbys let me ride her.” Pickles is the barn name for RC Black In Famous, an 8-year-
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi has been fortunate to win rodeos across the United States but one rodeo that has eluded the two-time world champion until 2023 was the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, Texas. She and RC Black In Famous “Pickles,” owned by Busby Quarter Horses stopped the clock in 13.53 seconds to win the title. Photo by Robby Freeman
old mare by Famous Gold Coin out of RC Back In Black, a horse Jane Melby ran at the 2011 NFR that won the Scoti Flit Bar Rising Star Award that year. “I may not even be on her the rest of the winter,” Pozzi Tonozzi said. “She’s going to help Andrea, and I’m excited to see what Andrea can accomplish on her. You learn to appreciate every ride and every run, especially when they don’t belong to you.” Pozzi Tonozzi and Pickles bested the field by 13-hundredths of a second to take the biggest piece of the prize money. That jubilation helped even more when she had a breakdown along Interstate 20 and was forced to return to Odessa for another night’s stay. “I’m just thankful for friends and my husband, who came and rescued me,” she said. “It’s always better to break down after you’re winning.” Her winning continued. As of the end of January, she was atop the standings with nearly $25,000, about $6,000 ahead of fellow Texan Ilyssa Riley, who was second at the time. Coming off her latest NFR qualification, Pozzi Tonozzi is just going
to focus on doing the right things for her stable of horses. She has nice futurity colts she plans to run and will focus on that in the near future. Will she continue to push for the record number of trips to the NFR to catch Charmayne James and Sherry Cervi (19 qualifications each), or will she slow down and enjoy the ride? “You never know how things are going to go,” said Pozzi Tonozzi, who cashed in for more than $65,000 in Las Vegas two months ago. “I think I’m pretty set for the winter, and Birdie is my girl. I won San Antonio on her a couple years ago; she loves that place.” Each experience is one to learn from, and that’s just how the Texas cowgirl approaches her work in barrel racing. “You have good NFRs, you have bad NFRs and you have mediocre NFRs,” she said. “If you look at the money, it’s more like this was a mediocre NFR, but with winning that kind of money and winning a round on top of that, I’ve gotten to the point in my career that enjoying the small things that makes it fun. “The NFR was just crazy tough this year. To win what I won and my horses to come out of there sound, I always consider it a win.”
78 WPRA NEWS MARCH 2023
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