The Outside Circle: Brazile; adios Deuce; tie-down ropers & barrels
I can’t believe it’s August already. Where has the summer gone? County fairs are upon us and school is poised on the horizon and I’m still not caught up on the spring work.
Trevor Brazile is a household name in any household with a flicker of interest in rodeo. There is little doubt that he is the greatest roper of all time, surpassing all others with world championships and money won. A man like him might be expected to be a bit arrogant and pretty proud of his accomplishments.
While covering the steer roping at Deadwood, the oldest son of a friend of mine joined his Dad at the corner of the walkway where his Dad was taking photos. The blonde haired, happy boy has one of the most contagious smiles I’ve ever seen, and has a keen sense of humor to go with it. Austin sometimes uses a wheel chair to ease mobility when out in public, as he was at the roping, but is an active country boy otherwise. He was watching the roping when a man on a horse came through the gate and rode around that end of the arena, as had many others, to warm his horse up. He then rode over and sat on his horse by the gate and struck up a conversation with my friend’s son and they had quite a long exchange. I believe, without having consulted my watch, that the man and boy shared smiles and conversation for at least 20 minutes. When the guy’s turn was getting close, he smiled at my young friend once more and rode away. That man was Trevor Brazile. I couldn’t think more of him as a person now if I tried. He’s darned sure hero material for kids wanting someone to look up to and emulate. I know my young friend will never, ever forget his time spent with this nice guy and the great visit they had. I know I won’t.
I want to remind everyone about the Buster McLaury clinic coming up Aug. 9-12 at Brad and Beca Andrews place north of Red Owl, SD. I’m sure there’s a slot or two left in the colt starting or horsemanship clinics and there’s always room for one more to watch. Call Brad at 605-515-0088 or Beca at 605-515-0027.
Also, a reminder that the entries for the Ranchers Heritage Challenge in Rapid City, SD on Aug. 30 are due by Aug. 15. You can go online for an entry form at http://www.aqha.com and go to “Ranching.” You can also call 806-376-4811 for more information.
My heart goes out to the Vern and Laurie Ward family from Fruitdale, SD. They lost their great stallion “Deuce” to kidney failure this week. He was one of those really amazing horses that did it all for the family. Vern picked up broncs and hazed on him and Dallas Loudon roped calves on him in the NPIRA. More amazing though is that the Ward girls used him in all the events kids can get into at all levels. He did barrels, poles, goat tying, breakaway, heading, heeling and flag race in the rodeo arena. He was also used in ranch rodeos and for anything that needed done on the ranch. This once-in-a-lifetime horse was by Double Tough Doc (Doc Bar x King Cobra by King) and out of Mighty Ms Pine (Mighty Te Go x Pines Dina Lou by Poco Burleigh). If you ever saw one of the Wards on a beautiful, smokey, dappled buckskin, you saw Deuce. They sure don’t make many like him.
On a brighter note, Dane Kissack, Spearfish, SD, won the tie-down roping at the Days of ’76 in Deadwood, SD. He tied for first in the first round, and had a time of 18.9 on two head to win. Good job, Dane!
Also in the tie-down roping, Trevor Thiel, Belle Fourche, SD native, won first in the first round and second in the average at Cheyenne Frontier Days. I’m sure his folks are grinning from ear to ear over that!
Congrats to Denny and Doris Lauing, Sturgis, SD, on their stallion’s second place finish in the Red, White and Run barrel race at Seven Down Arena, Spearfish, SD. Under the competent guidance of Cami Bauer, St. Onge, SD, Colonels Frenchman placed third on Saturday and split fifth and sixth on Sunday. The Lauings will offer a fine group of this stud’s offspring at the SD Ranchers and Breeders sale Sept. 1 at Central States Fairgrounds in Rapid City.
The horse processing plant in Missouri is ready and waiting to begin processing. Only thing it lacks is USDA inspectors. It wouldn’t hurt to contact your senators by letter, as well as the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and ask them to get the ball rolling. Also, encourage your senators to reject the Moran Amendment in the farm bill, which would make it illegal to transport horses anywhere for processing. You can find the address of your state’s senators in the Government section of your phone book. Write a letter and help get this now legal process moving.
That’s my circle for this week. Send me your events and results as I always like to share them here!F
