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MOUNTAIN STATES CIRCUIT: BARRELS continued from page 16 The two went 14.07 in the first run despite slipping around the third barrel. Nikki Hansen, of Dickinson, North Dakota, won the round in 13.91 seconds. “That first run we slipped and still placed,” continued Lockhart. “We made a mistake and still cashed. “Levee just stepped up. He was very consistent. And he saved the best for last.” The 13.60 in the final run was the fastest time of the Finals. “It was a great weekend,” said Lockhart. reaching the NFR. “We were going to a rodeo almost every day,” said Lockhart. She took time out of her hectic schedule to pick up a crucial circuit win at Rapid City, South Dakota at the start of September. “If I didn’t win Rapid City, I don’t know if that would be enough to get in,” she said of the Badlands Circuit Finals which encompasses South Dakota and North Dakota. With primary horse Rosa injured in July and out for a month during the summer, Lockhart was forced to accelerate the seasoning pace for Levee, a six-year-old gelding. “This was going to be a seasoning year for me,” she said. The horse is registered as Promise Me Fame Guys and out of Bar Blue Lass and by Aint Seen Nothin’ Yet. The horse was trained by Tenley Epperson of Billings, Montana and taken to the futurities by Samantha Flannery of Mission, South Dakota. “I have had him not quite a year and half,” said Lockhart of the horse owned by Teton Ridge. “He’s very fun-loving. He’s a happy horse, very friendly.” But untested in the small arena of the State Fair Center. “I wasn’t sure how it would fit him,” Lockhart said. dialed in and ready to go,” Lord said. “And after she won the second round, she felt better and knew what she was there for. “Going into the third round I knew it was going to be tough. I wanted to make another good run like I did in the second round and let everything fall the way it was going to.” Lord stopped the clock in the last round in 15.28 seconds. Pozzi Tonozzi had the fastest time of 15.14 seconds, but Lord was just a hair faster to take the average win. Lord and year-end winner Andrea Busby will represent the Mountain States at the NFR Open next summer. In the meantime, Lord is busy working with a couple of other newer horses, including at 6-year-old stallion Al Capone, and a 5-year-old Rain Man, that she futuritied a bit. “I love seasoning horses. If they’re a little seasoned at futurities and everything, I really like to haul them and see what they can do,” Lord said. “Next year we’ll definitely be playing it by ear.” In addition to some younger horses in the trailer, Lord’s children, ages 11 and 6, are busy with their own sports and activities, which is part of why she’s been concentrating on the circuit rodeos and staying closer to home in Lamar, Colorado. She said she looks forward to the NFR Open since it’s in the middle of peak rodeo season, plus close to home in Colorado Springs (less than three hours away). Busby won the year-end title with $27,784, edging out Pozzi Tonozzi on that front as well. She finished a close runner-up with $27,720.
The circuit finale was a chance for Beisel to earn one championship while chasing two more. She and Hurst will advance to the national circuit finals, now dubbed the NFR Open, with a national title on the line. Before that, though, she’ll be one of the top 15 cowgirls in the standings battling for the elusive world championship in Las Vegas. She’ll have stalwarts Chongo (Namgis D33) and Pipewrench (Namgis D 35) loaded and ready, and now she has some faith in Beau to perform at the NFR if she gives him the call. “I had to change my mindset on running him (in Duncan),” said Beisel, who also won year-end titles in 2016 and 2020. “It’s great prep for the Thomas & Mack if I need him. I don’t have a lot of experience on him indoors. I usually save him for the summer run, because that’s where he excels. That’s a good place for him to be as far as kind of a weak spot on my team. “He fills a big gap for me in those big, wide-open pens. I try to rotate them around and try not to overuse one. I’ve had him for five years, and this is the first time he’s been to Duncan for me.” He might just have to return.
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“Ray is a horse we raised that actually came from my grandad, Hunter, and my grandma, who has passed on,” said Munsell, originally from the tiny community of Arnett, Oklahoma, but now living in Alva, Oklahoma. “They raised him. My dad showed his dad a little bit. The mare (dam) was one my grandad ranched on, and I’ve just had him and rode him since he was 4. “He’s carried me a long way, and he’s won a lot of money for me. He was a big key to me getting to the (breakaway roping) finals this year.” He was also a big part of Munsell winning the year-end title. The money they earned at the circuit finals helped propel the cowgirl to the top of the region, made up of contestants and rodeos primarily in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. “I know with the horse I was riding, this was our setup to float across there and have a fast go at them,” said Munsell, who credited runner-up Addie Weil for competing hard after battling a recent illness. “I watched Addie run (that final round), and she had a good run and placed in the round. “After she roped, it knocked it out for me that I was going to have to win the round. I won the round and placed in the average to win the year-end.” It was a good course of action for her, and the challenges she faced in Duncan will allow her a chance to prepare even better for her upcoming battle for the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle when she arrives at Las Vegas in December. “This is the last place I get to go where it’s this kind of setup, a rodeo atmosphere, until I go back to Vegas,” Munsell said.
22 WPRA NEWS DECEMBER 2022
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