PRORODEO Sports News March 2026 Digital Edition

PASSINGS

ingly. He expects to use intracytoplasmic sperm injection technology, in which a single sperm is injected into an egg into a laboratory, then transferred into a recipient mare to carry for the term of the pregnancy. “We know the crosses that work, and we’re probably not going to be trying any new crosses with him,” Dre esen said. “We’ll see how that works a few years down the road.” The goal is to have generations of new buckers who have the abilities J Bar J has been known to carry. Maybe they’ll have Straight Jacket’s personality, too. “He knew he was cool, and he did it in the coolest way, whether it was how he reared out of the chute, whether it was how he sorted or whether it was how he would scare the ever-loving hell out of guys that were intimidated by him,” Dreesen said. “There were guys like Wyatt Casper, for example, that weren’t intimidated by him, and Straight Jacket wouldn’t do anything to try to scare Wyatt. “I truly believe that when we pass and go to the other side, we are really going to find out these animals know way more than we think they do.” CUTLINES NFR BULL RIDER DAVEY DUKE PASSES AWAY PRCA Staff Former National Finals Rodeo bull rider Davey Dyke died on Feb. 1. He was 45 years old. Dyke reached the NFR in 2005. He finished 16th in the PRCA World Standings that season with $67,840. The Ottumwa, Iowa, native joined the PRCA in 2004 and called Fremont, Iowa, home. He last competed in the PRCA in 2012. Dyke graduated from Colby (Kan.) Community College with an associate’s degree in criminal justice. He also attended Missouri Valley College. Dyke was a former high school wrestler. He competed in his first rodeo in 1999 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and didn’t get on his first bull until he was 18 years old. He qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in

J Bar J 2: Straight Jacket showed his personality from a young age. ‘He knew he was cool.’ (Courtesy Photo)

J Bar J 1: J Bar J’s star bucking horse Straight Jacket passed away in mid-Jan uary after suffering a broken left leg. (PRCA photo by Roseanna Sales)

little bit of his personality. “He didn’t think he was cool,” J Bar J’s Sparky Dreesen said. “He knew he was cool.” Out of legendary stallion Night Jacket by Kattle Bells, Straight Jacket died in mid-January after suffering a broken front left leg on the company’s Montana ranch. He was taken to Washington State University, where veter inarians operated for several hours before realizing the injury was just too severe. A stud himself, the Dreesens buried Straight Jacket next to another stallion, Bugs Bun ny; the two had been pasture buddies for several years. “We keep all of our studs in the stud pasture when they’re not with mares,” Dreesen said. “I would assume that he got kicked, because his leg was broke halfway be tween the shoulder and the knee, and it was just shattered. “They worked on him for about five hours trying to put it back together, but there just wasn’t any doing it.” Straight Jacket has been a major part of J Bar J’s breed ing program, just like his sire – he is one of 265 Night Jacket colts to have been selected to buck at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Straight Jacket has also had his own offspring perform in Las Vegas, including eight that were at the 2025 NFR. One of those is Shady Jacket, which helped saddle bronc rider Stetson Wright to an 89.75-point ride and share the Round 10 victory. On Feb. 7, Shady Jacket was half of Dar cy Radel’s 91-point ride to share the final-round victory at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. “This is going to be a bump in the road,” Dreesen said, referring to his breeding program and what he had envi sioned long term with the stallion. “We bred him to mares in the spring and the fall, and we’d get 10 to 15 (foals) in the spring and the same amount in the fall.” Because of technology, Straight Jacket’s legacy will con tinue. The stock contracting firm had hundreds of straws collected, and Dreesen said he will be selective when it comes to matching the sire with the right dam. He will focus on proven combinations and will then breed accord

PRCA File Photo

38 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE MARCH 2026