on right now, and we’re all a little frustrated because all of these rodeos are getting canceled. “I’m just thankful I got to win a lot at the beginning and am not playing catchup right now.” Pozzi Tonozzi is always busy developing young horses, and the fact that Katniss and Birdie are two mares she has brought along from the start makes their success so far this season extra special. “It’s nice. These are all horses I raised and trained, and they’ve been waiting in the wings and have been trying to get everything perfected,” said Pozzi Tonozzi, one of just eight women in WPRA history with more than $2 million in career earnings. “It came together this winter.” The forced break in the action may be frustrating, but Pozzi Tonozzi is using her time wisely. “I am OK with it,” she said. “We’re taking a break. We wish we would’ve gotten to compete at Houston, but we’re going to take a break and get ready for whenever they decide to start having more rodeos. “Now, I get to rest my horses, get all my embryos pulled and do all that. It is frustrating, but it’s also kind of a nice break. Now, I’m training 3-year-olds.”
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi called upon two of her self-made horses to get the win at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo which had eluded her until 2020. Aboard her 9-year-old mare Babe on The
Seeing her horses develop and thrive is the rewarding part of the hard work Pozzi Tonozzi puts into her horse operation on a daily basis. Always up for a challenge, she still loves the thrill of the ticking clock and matching up against the sport’s best on the grandest stages. “I think just the competition,” Pozzi Tonozzi said of what keeps her going strong. “Barrel racing is a humbling sport. You can be on top of the world one day and the bottom of the barrel, literally, the next. “I think it’s just the competition that keeps all of us hungry for more.”
“Heck, you can’t go to a rodeo without it being tough,” she said. “In some ways, it makes it a little easier to advance all the way to the finals, and in some ways it makes it a little bit harder. If you start off on a good note, it seems pretty easy, but if you don’t do very well in the first couple rounds, then you’re looking for a round win in the third round and that can be tough.” million-dollar rodeo, then climbed aboard Birdie for the semifinals and finals. Photo by Robby Freeman Chase, whom she calls “Birdie,” Pozzi Tonozzi stopped the clock in 14.02 seconds to tie Jill Wilson in the championship finals of the bracket-style rodeo.She rode her 7-year-old chestnut mare Ima Famous Babe “Katniss” in Bracket 5 of that portion of the
With the win at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo following wins in San Angelo and placing in Jackson, Mississippi, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi moved to No. 1 in the WPRA
World Standings, a place she will hold for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19. Photo by Robby Freeman
Pozzi Tonozzi’s San Antonio triumph was just the latest in a string of impressive wins for the 13-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier. She won the average in San Angelo, Texas, aboard Katniss with a 44.15-second total to bank $13,676 and had earned a good check for placing in Jackson, Mississippi, as well. The result: the two-time Wrangler NFR average winner (2006- 07) and two-time RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo champion (2012-13) vaulted to the top of the WPRA World Standings with $59,888 through March 9. With all major sports suspended in the wake of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Pozzi Tonozzi is happy to be in the No. 1 spot. “I was really excited,” she said of taking over the world standings lead. “I didn’t get to run at Houston before they canceled it. So, I’m glad I’ve got a lot won because nobody knows what’s going
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi had long dreamt of getting to ride around the arena as the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Champion and that dream came true this past February. She captured the title after amassing $23,500 in earnings to Jill Wilson’s $23,250. Photo by Robby Freeman
APRIL 2020 WPRA NEWS 13
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