ProRodeo Sports News - April 16, 2021

Those who know about the buckskin mare aren’t surprised with the massive scores riders have been earning on her this year, mainly because she’s been lighting up the scoreboard for years. Mason Clements won San Antonio last year with a 91-pointer on Gun Fire, Chad Rutherford (90.5 points in 2020) and Caleb Bennett (93.5 in 2019) have won the last two Cody (Wyo.) Stampede bareback riding titles on her, and five-time World Champion Kaycee Feild hit 90 on her to win the 2018 Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo. “I’m going to say she’s our next superstar,” said Heath Stewart, rodeo manager for Frontier Rodeo. “We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good horses, but she’s one of those elites. She’s still got the capability of bucking a guy off, but if a guy does his part, he can be 90. “She’s the one to have, for sure.”

VIDEO

hard to get many at a rodeo. The days of the old big-time eliminators in the bareback riding are over, because the guys just get too sore. “I’d rather see somebody be 90-something points than see them hit the ground. We need to inspire the cowboys and not knock the air out of them.”

Stewart had a feeling from the early days that Gun Fire – out of sire Big Medicine and damGun Smoke – could be one of Frontier Rodeo’s stars. “When we first bucked her, she looked awfully good,” Stewart said. “She used to turn back and spin, and she still turns back but doesn’t spin like she did for a while. Three or four years ago, I knew she was going to be really good, and she just gets better and better. “I would say she’s probably at the top of her game right now.” Biglow wholeheartedly agrees. “She’s a special horse, and you don’t get very many of

those like her very often,” Biglow said. “Everybody’s been making really good rides on her, and there’s a reason they’re all 90-plus every time they get on her. I don’t really know what more you want to ask out of a horse.” For all the fury she displays in the arena, Stewart says Gun Fire is equally as calm and affectionate away from the action. “She’s very gentle and is easy to be around,” Stewart said. “She’s not one of those wild horses, and she doesn’t get nervous. You can go out in the pasture, and she’s the first one there, just letting you scratch on her and pet her.” Despite her docile nature, when a cowboy nods his head and the chute opens, Gun Fire knows it’s time to go to work. The mare may be a Wrangler NFR “TV pen” type of horse, but if a bareback rider isn’t dialed in, she’s rank enough to make them pay. “When she leaves the bucking chute, she tries her butt off and always gives you a good chance to win,” Biglow said. “She knows her job and knows exactly what is going on. When the whistle blows and you double-grab, she’s looking for the pickup man and you get a feeling she just knows her job at every step. It’s pretty cool. “When she turns back and kicks over her head, she’s a 24- or 25-pointer and you better have the hammer cocked. If you stub a toe, you’re going to get bucked off for sure.” Elite horses like Gun Fire – which take cowboys to the pay window more often than the emergency room – coupled with an improved feeder system and opportunities for young bareback riders to learn the craft, have many in ProRodeo feeling as if the sport is riding a wave of resurgence. “I really feel like bareback riders are starting to come back to life, which is a good thing,” Stewart said. “For a while, it was

Carissa Stewart photo Gun Fire hangs out at the Frontier Rodeo ranch in Freedom, Okla. The 10-year-old mare has evolved into a star bareback horse this season.

ProRodeo Sports News 4/16/2021

ProRodeo.com

41