do my job, most of the time he gets a check.” Briggs worked primarily in the futurity circuit before acquiring Rollo. She won Barrel Futurities of America championships in 2006, 2014 and 2019. “I knew he was special,” she added. “I knew he could place every time. I didn’t know he could do what he’s done.” The partnership almost ended last year. While on the mend from ankle surgery, “All the tendons tore from the bone and I had some screws put in,” she said, Briggs received a lucrative offer for Rollo. “It was life-changing money,” Briggs said softly. Briggs originally committed to the deal. “But 24 hours before it was done, I couldn’t do it,” she said. “My husband and I cried about it. I was sitting in physical therapy, getting ready to learn how to make my ankle work again. I started bawling. “I couldn’t ride, I couldn’t even walk. Nothing makes you appreciate something when you can’t do it. Any time I can rodeo, it makes me grateful.” Briggs was also spurred by memories of her mother, who allowed her daughter to ride her prized horse Bozo in junior rodeos.
barrel. You can’t see it until you’re in the arena. You have to handle your horse a lot more.” Tied with Dona Kay Rule after the first two runs for money won, Briggs also had a little extra motivation for the third. “I wanted that guitar,” she said of the prize that goes to the high money winner. “My husband (Justin) plays guitar. I thought it would be so cool to have that guitar.” Briggs won the Semifinal 2 with a time of 14.52 seconds. “I knew it was going to be tough,” she said. “I just wanted to make a nice smooth run. After that time, I told Rollo, ‘You know what you’re doing. You’ve got this figured out.’ “ Briggs put herself in the final four and position for the big payday by winning the Super Shootout in 14.55. She initially thought that gave her the RODEOHOUSTON victory. “Rookie mistake,” Briggs said with a laugh. It was only her second time competing at the event. She was first out for the Championship Shootout in a foursome that included three-time world champion Hailey Kinsel, 2017 world champion and past RodeoHouston champion Nellie Miller and former RodeoHouston winner Kassie Mowry. “That’s a tough group of girls. Ice in your veins girls,” Briggs admired of the field. “When you finish the Super Shootout, in your mind you’re fixing things. First on the ground, that is fresh on your mind. “I wanted a fast time.” She did even better. Briggs had the fastest time of the entire rodeo. Mowry was second in 14.55, followed by Kinsel in 14.80 and Miller in 19.80. “Rollo always gets better the more he runs,” said Briggs. “If any horse is built for the 10 rounds of the NFR, it’s Rollo. He just gets better and better.” Briggs and Rollo, out of Blazin Black Beauty by Dash to Fame, have been together since the horse was a yearling. “He’s Rollo because he’s a little round, on the chubby side,” Briggs said. “He looks like a little calf horse. “He’s part dog. He likes to nibble at my shirt and if he doesn’t get the attention he wants, he bites my skin. He is very personable and loves being scratched.” Briggs estimates that Rollo has earned $425,000 in the past year. “Rollo never changes. He runs to the same spot every time,” she said. “He makes the same run every time, very consistent. As long as I Jordon Briggs didn’t have as much experience at RodeoHouston as the other three ladies she raced against in the final round but that didn’t slow her down any. Briggs battled it out against Hailey Kinsel, Nellie Miller and Kassie Mowry. After the big payday, Briggs moved to No. 1 in the WPRA World Standings giving her some different options for the upcoming summer run, while juggling her futurity horses and family at home.
“I was, ‘Why do you let me run him?’ ” Briggs wondered. “My mom cared more about the memories. “Then the thought came to RodeoHouston awarded each Super Series champion in each rodeo discipline with a custom guitar. Jordon Briggs had her eyes on that prize from the start as she wanted to win it for her husband, Justin, since he plays guitar. After winning a total of $7,000, she was able to present her husband with this one-of-a- kind prize.
me. What if my daughter wanted to be a barrel racer and wouldn’t get the chance to ride Rollo? I can’t take that away from her.” Rollo stayed. “We’re happy to have him in our family. That is what is most important,” said Briggs. Briggs’ RodeoHouston win celebration was short-lived. The family, it includes young daughter Bexley, returned home on Saturday night and a wildfire erupted three miles from their home the next morning. It was one of many fires to ravage Texas. “We could see the flames,” said Briggs. “We were on pins and needles. We were hoping we didn’t have to evacuate.” Fortunately, winds blew the fire west, away from Tolar. “We prepared in case the wind changed,” she said. “We had trailers backed up and ready to load.” That included a week’s worth of clothes for each and their 14 horses. They also cleaned out their tack room, loading up 12 saddles and 70 bridles. “You know where our priorities were,” Briggs said with a laugh. The win in Houston has altered her summer plans. Briggs planned to pasture Rollo for two months after competing at San Angelo. “I’ll skip some rodeos and go back to some others,” she said of her summer. “I’ve never been to Reno. I want to go there. I’ll go back and train some more horses, trying to find some backups for Rollo. And we’ll do more visiting with family. “Making the NFR is still a big deal. There is a lot of money out there. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
APRIL 2022 WPRA NEWS 15
15 WPRA NEWS DECEMBER 2021
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