2019 PRCA Media Guide - Awards

2018 Pendleton Whisky Let ’er Buck Stock of the Year Awards Each year, the top ProRodeo cowboys in each roughstock event vote for the top bucking horses and bulls. Contestants vote in the fall, and the winning animals are acclaimed at the PRCA’s annual awards banquet in December just before the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Stock contractors are proud of these top buckers. They invest heavily in purchases and/or breeding programs, feed and medical care for their bucking stock for years, fostering the animals’ growth and development until they are ready to perform at rodeos. In 2010, Pendleton Whisky expanded its ProRodeo involvement by sponsoring the stock awards, which are now known as the PendletonWhisky Let ‘er Buck Stock of the Year Awards. PendletonWhisky provides cash prizes for the top three animals in each event and funds the stipends for stock contractors who provide bucking stock for the Wrangler NFR. Bulls 1. Spotted Demon, Big Stone Rodeo, Inc. 2. Sweetpro’s Bruiser, D&H Cattle 3. Hot and Ready, Smith, Harper & Morgan The 2018 PendletonWhisky Let ‘er Buck Stock of the Year Awards went to: Bareback Horses 1. Virgil, C5 Rodeo 2. Onion Ring, Korkow Rodeos 3. Showstomper, Frontier Rodeo Saddle Broncs 1. Lunatic From Hell, Burch Rodeo 2. Maple Leaf, Frontier Rodeo 3. (Tie) Spring Planting, Flying Five Rodeo; Floodtide, Rosser Rodeo

Best bareback horse 2018 Virgil C5 Rodeo

Virgil won Bareback Horse of the Year for a second consecutive year after taking many cowboys to the winner’s circle in 2018. This past December, the 10-year-old gelding made his third trip to the Thomas & Mack Center.“It really means a lot to us, me as an owner yes, but it means more to my crew,” saidVernMcDonald, owner of C5 Rodeo.“We all love this horse and it justmeans somuch to do it two years in a rowwith the same horse. You can’t put a price on it, it’s overwhelming.” During Round 5 of the 2018 Finals, Clayton Biglow scored 93 points on Virgil, setting a newWrangler NFR and arena record for the highest bareback riding score. In 2017, Tim O’Connell won Round 3 of theWrangler NFR with a 91.5-point ride on the 1,600-pound horse.Their paths crossed again at the Fallon County Fair & Rodeo in Baker, Mont., Aug. 19, 2018 and the result was record-breaking with a 91-point ride. McDonald said he’s been unable to find another bronc like Virgil since buying him in 2013. “They don’t make them like that,” McDonald said. “I’ve been trying to find another Virgil or raise another Virgil and I just can’t – they’re so few and far between.”

PRCA ProRodeo photo by Phil Doyle

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PRORODEO AWARDS