TAKING STOCK: Badlands Circuit awards bucking horses, bulls of the finals, year
Minot, N.D. (October 23, 2023) – Several bucking horses and bulls in the Badlands are getting their time in the spotlight.
The RAM Badlands Circuit has awarded its 2023 Bucking Horse and Bull Awards at the circuit finals rodeo in Minot Oct. 13-15.
The Bareback Horse of the Year goes to #200 Pejuta Haka of Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo, Kyle, S.D. The Bareback Horse of the Finals was won by #107 Colorado Bulldog, owned by Bailey Pro Rodeo, Karlsruhe, N.D.
In the saddle bronc riding, the Saddle Bronc of the Year went to #747 South Point, owned by Sutton Rodeo, Onida, S.D. The Saddle Bronc of the Finals went to #4631 Bugsy, owned by Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo.
In the bull riding, the Bull of the Year went to #626 Schott in the Dark, Sutton Rodeo, and the Bull of the Finals was awarded to #901 Time Traveler, also of Sutton Rodeo.
It’s not the first award for the bareback horse Colorado Bulldog, said Shane Gunderson, owner of Bailey Pro Rodeo.
The stallion, who is thirteen years old, won Bareback Horse of the Year in 2020, and has been selected to buck at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo six times.
The buckskin “circles to the left every time,” Gunderson said. “The cowboys love him.” Raised by Steve and Deb Waagen, the stallion is easy to handle. “When the mares aren’t around, you have to push him out of your way. You can walk up to him, feed him and pet him.”
Clay Jorgenson won the second round at the Badlands Circuit Finals on Colorado Bulldog with a score of 85.5 points.
The saddle bronc horse South Point is a perennial favorite among the Badlands cowboys.
The sixteen-year-old bay gelding, raised by Steve Sutton on the ranch near Onida, S.D., has been to the Wrangler NFR ten times and is headed there again this year. Several cowboys have won National Finals Rodeo rounds on the horse.
“If the cowboys don’t stub their toes,” Sutton said, “they’ll win first place, or at least get a check. He doesn’t throw many off, and he’s really showy.” South Point won third place in the 2022 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year category and is a 2023 inductee into the Casey Tibbs Rodeo Center in Ft. Pierre, S.D.
Both award winning bulls were raised by Dallas Schott, McLaughlin, S.D., the bull man for Sutton Rodeo.
Schott in the Dark, the Bull of the Year, is a seven-year-old black and white who bucked at the 2022 Wrangler NFR. A son of the famed bull Bushwhacker, Schott in the Dark was an IVF calf and is a muley.
Time Traveler, Bull of the Finals, is a son of Schott in the Dark and out of a Mossy Oak Mudslinger daughter.
The four-year-old black brindle is good in the chutes and “good to be around,” Schott said. “He is a good handling bull. The guys like to get on him.” Schott called the bull a “money bull. You can’t slip up or you won’t ride him.”
The 2023 Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo took place in Minot Oct. 13-15, with champions crowned in each event.
For more information, visit the website at RodeoMinot.com or the Badlands Circuit Finals Facebook and Instagram pages.
–Badlands Circuit Finals
