CIRCUIT FINALS: WILDERNESS BARRELS NEW LEVEL Savannah Bennett Ready to Experience Life Changing Moments in 2024 By Ted Harbin T he biggest change in Savannah Bennett’s life is happening now. S he and her bareback-
riding husband, Caleb, are expecting their first child the end of May. With that comes a change in lifestyle and an adjustment to how they handle their business in rodeo. It hasn’t changed how they approach life or the passion they have for the sport. Bennett was already 10 weeks into her pregnancy when she saddled up her horses for the Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo, which took place in early November at Heber City, Utah. She rode Hez A Cool Breeze – a 10-year-old gelding she owns with her mom, Marcy Hall, and calls Leo Leo – and Fabulous JJ – a 7-year-old mare she calls JJ owned by Bill and Cheryl Kennedy – to a share of the average championship. “It was pretty special for us this year, because it was kind of rough on us,” said Bennett,
Savannah Bennett proved that her husband PRCA Bareback rider Caleb Bennett isn’t the only champion in the family. Savannah finished in a tie for average title at the Wilderness Circuit Finals in Heber City, Utah, but thanks to her higher placing in the final year-end standings she earned the chance to compete at the NFR Open in July in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo by Amanda Dilworth
originally from Salmon, Idaho, now living in Corvallis, Montana. “I had set my goals on making the circuit finals, so to go there and have that success, it was kind of a surreal feeling for me because I’ve never been at that level before. “To go in there and do that well was pretty amazing. It’s huge for me, because it really advances me for next year in rodeo. It gives you a big jumpstart.” She rode Leo Leo in the first and third rounds – winning on the final night with a 15.35-second run – and JJ in the second round to share the aggregate title with Abby Phillips. They both finished with a three-run cumulative time of 46.78 seconds; Bennett advances to the national circuit finals rodeo, the NFR Open, based on finishing higher in the Wilderness Circuit standings; part of that came with the $5,277 she earned in Heber City. The national championship is set for July 9-13 in Colorado Springs, so just six weeks after the baby is scheduled to arrive. “I’m not going to be able to ride like I normally ride, but the two horses that I’m running are very solid,” she said. “They probably won’t have a ton of runs on them before we leave, so I’m just going to
get them in really good shape so they’re ready. They’re pretty easy that way. I’m grateful to have those two horses in my pasture.” They’ve been the defining piece of the puzzle for Bennett’s success the last few years. They are companions on the road when her husband isn’t with her. He’s a 10-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, so he has his own schedule to keep. After he suffered an injury last July, he went on the road with her. “I used to think we were apart a lot when we were dating and first married, but last year there was a lot more to it,” said Bennett, who has been with her husband since 2017 and been married for a little more than four years. Eleven years ago, she took advantage of a good horse to buy her WPRA permit. When Leo Leo came along, she went all in on her card and has been off and running ever since. It’s been opening doors. “I am very goal oriented,” she said. “I’d like to make the (NFR) one time, but I honestly don’t want to rodeo my whole life. I’d like to have some weanlings and yearlings, and in the next three years, I’d like to start doing the futurity thing and raising and training barrel horses.” She’s taking all the right steps to make that happen.
22 WPRA NEWS FEBRUARY 2024
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