BACK ON TOP Gilbert Wins Inaugural Breakaway title at Rodeo Austin By Allie Bohus N ew Year. New Game Plan for the 2021 WPRA World Champion Breakaway Roper Sawyer Gilbert. “Be selective where I enter and win when I show up,” said Gilbert about her 2023 game plan after winning the world in
2021 and finishing 18th in 2022. So far the game plan is working in her favor.
A big win at the inaugural breakaway roping at Rodeo Austin gave her a big boost in the standings moving her into the Top 10 as of the end of March with $22,601 won at 10 rodeos. In Austin, she roped her first calf in the first performance and got him caught about halfway down the arena. The calves were small and ran hard, but she made sure she didn’t break the barrier. “My horse kind of hopped at the barrier I was like a 3.9 but I got the first one knocked down,” she said. She came back in the semifinals and had a slow calf that both girls before her broke the barrier on. She made a clean run, and her 3.4 second time was enough to make it back to the finals.
‘firsts.’ “It was exciting; it was one deal I hadn’t thought of as a ‘first’ for breakaway ropers,” she said. “Since 2020, breakaway roping hasn’t stopped growing, so to have Austin include breakaway the sport is still growing and blossoming. It is really rewarding to continue to see it getting bigger with better opportunities each year.” Winning Rodeo Austin was also a slight variance for Gilbert who has excelled at average rodeos, but now a lot of the big rodeos are in a sudden death format. This has changed the way she prepares in that she really focuses on taking each calf at a time. The average is strongly preferred by Gilbert. Sawyer Gilbert topped the leaderboard in the first year of breakaway roping at Rodeo Austin. It was a welcomed win after Gilbert missed qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping in 2022 to defend her world title from 2021. Photo by Rodeobum.com, James Phifer
“When you have to advance on one calf, it doesn’t matter what kind of superman run you make if you draw bad,” she said. Last year she narrowly missed qualifying for the NFBR by finishing 18th in the world. It changed the way she has been rodeoing this season in that she has been very selective as to where she enters. “Last year I had a game plan and I followed it. I just didn’t have the end result I wanted,” noted Gilbert. “Rodeo is a very ‘show- me’ kind of sport. Just because you won the world doesn’t mean you will keep winning in the future. The next week someone else is going to win. “I decided I am just going to go where my horses are going to
The calf she drew in the short round was solid - the girls that had run him before had won the round on him. “I made a really good run. My horse worked good..it was a very good business type of run. I was first out and set the bar. I knew I did all I could do; I just did my job,” she said. Returning to the winner’s circle was exciting for Gilbert after some tough breaks in 2022. The horse she won the world on is 21 this year and will foal this spring, and the mare she hauled last summer passed away suddenly. So, she and Straight Sneakin Docwood “Roger” are “kind of freewheeling at the moment,” she said of the 18-year-old gelding. “I was really glad to see the old paint still feeling his youth. He’s a big part of all my success in the past and I’m sure for more in the future.” Each event winner wins a Rodeo Austin branding iron. Gilbert, who is a sixth-generation cattle rancher from South Dakota, was quickly questioned by her family as to what she was going to do with the iron. She thought it was a pretty fun award, and it appears it will remain in her trophy case! “We raise Angus cattle in Buffalo (SD) and we can’t brand anything with a pair of longhorns on it,” she said. The Rodeo Austin win was special for Gilbert because it is such a big historic rodeo, and she was grateful that breakaway roping is still having Sawyer Gilbert and Roger stopped the clock in 2.2 seconds in the final round to win the title at Rodeo Austin. With the win, Gilbert moved into the Top 10 as rodeo athletes head into the Spring rodeo run. Photo by Rodeobum.com, James Phifer
Each event winner receives a Rodeo Austin branding iron making for a very unique item to add to their trophy cases. Photo by Rodeobum.com, James Phifer
excel and do what’s best for my horses. I know that means I may not make it to the finals but feel this is my best game plan this year. If I don’t make it, there is always next year, when I’ll have 3-4 horses in the trailer that are seasoned and ready to go.”
APRIL 2023 WPRA NEWS 21
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