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Slick roads, annual Sturgis H.S. fundraiser, horse sale record, N.D. barrel

Well, the BHSS weather pattern sure didn’t let us down this year. It’s been darned cold and the roads were anything but perfect all week. We had tickets to the Champions Challenge but our common sense got the best of us and we didn’t venture out on nasty roads in below zero temps. We both hate driving on bad roads if we don’t have to and as much as we’d have enjoyed the rodeo, we enjoyed being in our cozy house just as well. With age comes wisdom apparently.

Those nasty roads sure brought some grief to a friend of mine and many of you on Feb. 4 when Connie Weishaar, Reva, SD was injured in a head-on collision on I-90. Jake Barnes was driving in the west bound lane pulling a horse trailer when he lost control and crossed the median and hit Connie as she was going east bound. Barnes, a PRCA team roper and his traveling partner and horses were unhurt though the pickup was totaled. Connie’s pickup was also totaled and credit was given to the seatbelt and air bags for saving her life. It took two hours to get her out of the pickup using the Jaws of Life. Connie sustained broken heels and a broken bone in her lower leg and underwent surgery upon arrival at Rapid City Regional hospital. Connie is auctioneer Lynn Weishaar’s wife. I’ll be sending up prayers for healing and patience for Connie. She’s not someone that sits still very easily but it looks like she’ll be getting some practice at it for a while.

The annual fundraiser called the Smoker will be held for the Southwest Regional High School Rodeo on Feb. 22 at the Loud American Roadhouse in Sturgis, S.D. The fun event is hosted by the Sturgis High School Booster Club and will feature a live auction, silvent auction, live music, great food and lots of visiting. They will be serving the legendary steak tip dinners at two for $25. Dinner tickets will be sold at the door or for advance ones and more info, contact Chrissy Peterson at 605-347-1068.



A new record price was set at the Black Hills Stock Show horse sale. A 1999 sorrel mare named Shiners Okie Val brought $35,000. The Shining Spark daughter was out of a Docs Oak mare and was in foal to WR This Cats Smart. She was consigned by the Hills from Peyton, Colo., and was bought by Mark and Deb Pieper of Hay Springs, Neb. A two-year-old filly out of the mare and by the same stallion brought $15,500. I like to note that this high selling mare was a pretty sorrel.

The Casey Tibbs S.D. Rodeo Center in Ft. Pierre, SD will be reopening soon. It’s been closed for a little over a month for repairs from water damage that occurred when a pipe broke on a second story sprinkler system on Christmas Eve. Of course the place was closed, but the fire alarm went off and notified authorities of a problem (not that there was a fire). Thankfully, none of the exhibits were damaged.



There will be a Jessi Mead Barrel Clinic at Stanley, ND on May 31-June 1. It’s limited to 10 students and the tuition is $500. Jessi is a WPRA barrel racer who has been training for over 30 years. You can contact Jessi Mead at 303-648-0181 or Jodeen Bergstrom at 701-216-0115.

At the Wrangler Champions Challenge rodeo Feb. 4 at the BHSS, the steer wrestling had Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., tied for fifth; Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont./Jake Corkill were third in the team roping; Cole Elshere, Faith, S.D., was second in the saddle broncs; Trula Churchill, Valentine, Neb., was second in barrels, while Britany Fleck Diaz, Mandan, N.D. was third and Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., was fifth. A side note on the steer wrestling: Trevor Knowles of Mt. Vernon, Ore., won it on a local horse when he rode Ty and Dee Haugen’s good stud High On Corona at the rodeo. He’s a doggin’ horse that is very unlikely to ever get outrun by a steer! He resides at their place near Sturgis.

There’s yet another warehouse for unadopted feral horses being proposed on a 900 acre site near Riverton, Wyo., on the Wind River Reservation. It would take in about 250 head of horses and would sure be a nice monthly paycheck for the owner of the land. The BLM is seeking people’s thoughts on this before they go ahead and do it anyway. I can’t imagine any of the un-irrigated land around Riverton being able to sustain 250 horses on 900 acres for very long.

Well, that’s my circle for the week. Let me know if you have something you’d like for me to mention in my column!