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Powder River Rodeo wins Polaris Ranger award

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The PRCA announced its Polaris Ranger Remuda Award winners Monday.

The winning stock contractor for the Polaris Ranger Remuda Award of 2019 was Powder River Rodeo based out of Riverton, Wyo. The Polaris Ranger Remuda Award for the rodeo committee went to the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo.

The PRCA’s annual Remuda Awards go to the stock contracting firm and rodeo committee that provide the best, most consistent pen of bucking horses, creating the best opportunities for contestants to score well.



This was Powder River Rodeo’s first time capturing the Remuda Award.

“This is super humbling, and we are awfully tickled,” said John Franzen of Powder River Rodeo. “This is a lifetime achievement for my folks (father, Hank, and mother, Lori). The best thing about the Remuda Award is what it’s supposed to mean having the best overall herd of bucking horses. We take self-pride in having the kind of horses that everybody who comes to the rodeo has a chance on. We want to have horses that win first place in the first performance, middle performance or last performance. It is really nice to have our peers recognize us for the effort that we put into it. This is just as good or better than winning a horse of the year award as far as us as a company because this recognizes not one of your horses, but all of your horses.”



The award was also a first for the rodeo, which has been part of the PRCA since 1936.

“This is a cool deal, and it is especially great for us because it is very difficult over the Fourth of July to put together a great set of bucking horses,” said Cindy Schonholtz, general manager of the St. Paul Rodeo. “Our livestock boss, Matt Weishoff, works with our main stock contractor, Tim Bridwell, to get a set of horses through the various stock contractors we use. For a town of 425 (people) we have the 10th-most added money of regular-season rodeos, and it is a source of pride for our community and for all of our members and volunteers. We will certainly be happy to bring that award home from Vegas for all of our hard work.”

The 2019 St. Paul Rodeo was July 2-6 and paid out $375,112.

The Remuda Award winners will be honored at the PRCA Awards Banquet at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Dec. 4.

Powder River Rodeo is operated by Hank and Lori Franzen and their family. They started their breeding program in 1986.

Powder River Rodeo’s Craig at Midnight was the 2016 PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year and the top bareback horse at the 2017 Wrangler NFR.

Powder River Rodeo’s bareback horse Khadafy Skoal was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2012.

“It was really emotional for us to win this Remuda Award,” John said. “We’re a family-run business. My folks started this company from the ground up. Our horses are what we do it for and what we love about the rodeo business. They are the true heroes, and they are the reason we got to where we are now.”

–PRCA