MAKING IT COUNT Angelone Comes Out on Top in San Antonio By Kristen M. White M artha Angelone is ecstatic to etch her name into the books at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, becoming the first woman to win the breakaway roping event at the storied rodeo. But it didn’t come easy. Angelone faced a variety of calves, so she called on the services of two different horses to help get her to the finish line.
“It really tested me!” she said. “I had kind of a different game plan for each calf I’d drawn. With those type of formats like they have at San Antonio, when you’ve got people like Jackie (Crawford) and JJ (Hampton) behind you, you can’t just safety up and get a check. You’ve got to go.” And so she did. Angelone’s biggest struggle came in the first round (she was in Bracket 3) when she broke the barrier. She wasn’t the only one who had issues though, and her time of 11.9 seconds still placed her third in the round. “I was second out in my bracket, and the first calf didn’t really go anywhere, so I didn’t know if all of them would be fresh like that,” she said. “I told myself I had to really go at it, and then I broke the barrier. But got lucky that I still placed third.” In the second round, she stopped the clock in 2.2 seconds for a second place finish, and in the third round she again finished second in 2.1 seconds. She drew a variety of calves and that’s where her individual prep came in. “I knew I’d drawn weaker in the second round, so I got on my other horse, Simba, but then on the last night (third round) I knew I had the strongest calf in the pen, so I got back on Scamp and made a good run that night,” she said. Her performances combined were enough to move her on out of the bracket – there were five total – to the semifinals. Reviewing video on her draw for the semifinals, she said she knew it was a weaker calf that went to the left, so she again chose Simba. It was a good combination and she won her round with a 2.1 second run, moving her on to the finals. “For the last round, I knew I had a good one, so that really pumped me up,” Angelone said. “I love when you can see it to the end and try to throw your whole rope out there.” Angelone stopped the clock with yet another 2.1 second run, and it was enough to edge Cadee Williams who finished in 2.2 seconds. Winning was a dream. “I absolutely love being the first to win here,” she said. “It’s an awesome experience to even get to rope there, so all of us wanted to win. To be the first, wow. We’ve never gotten to rope at these big winter rodeos like that one, so it’s a cool feeling!” Angelone is grateful to currently have three horses to ride (though she laughed that sometimes having so many choices makes it a tough decision). Simba is a 10-year-old that she got a couple of years ago and was asked to see if she could make something out of him – she saw his potential so she bought him and he’s become a great mount. He’s the horse she turns to when she has a softer draw because he “likes to float across and let you throw.” And there’s Scamp, owned by her friend Michaela Caudle, who is
currently in law school. She knew Scamp was a good horse and asked Angelone to ride him and keep him on top of his game for now when she doesn’t have the time. She rode him through the NFR last season and notes that he “has a lot more motor than my other two horses,” so he’s been an added blessing in her trailer. With $11,250 in her pocket from San Antonio, Angelone said she really hopes to put herself in position for a good – but not crazy – summer run. “I want to be smart this summer. I won a bunch last summer but came home broke, and that’s scary. I don’t want to be in that position,” she said. “I want to hopefully make the Finals again and I’d like to come home and go to some circuit rodeos. Just put myself in a good position where I don’t have to be out there all summer. Pick the ones that are the best and make them count.” Martha Angelone roped her way to the top of the leaderboard at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. This was the first year this big indoor Texas rodeo has featured women’s breakaway and Angelone was more than happy to leave town with the inaugural title. Photos by Hailey Rae (top image) and Kay Miller (bottom image)
24 WPRA NEWS APRIL 2022 DECEMBER 2021 WOMEN’S PRO RODEO NEWS APRIL 2022
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