ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 20, 2024

NFR TOP STOCK BAREBACK HORSES 1. C5 Rodeo’s Virgil 2. (tie), Calgary Stampede’s Disco Party Frontier Rodeo’s Frontier Coffee’s Gun Fire SADDLE BRONC HORSES 1. (tie) Andrews Rodeo’s All or Nothin; Championship Pro Rodeo’s Tickled Pink; 3. Beutler & Son’s Gucci Equine’s Foul Motion BULLS 1. Powder River Rodeo’s Ricky Vaughn 2. (tie), Corey & Lange Rodeo’s Speed Dial; Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Bill Fick Surprised QUALIFYING STATUS To be eligible for the 2024 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge top stock award, all bareback horses, saddle bronc horses and bulls had to perform twice during the Finals, Dec. 5-14. The top three animals in each event were determined on total animal judges’ scores on two outs. “Getting to tie with the (Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year) is very special for us,” Championship Pro Rodeo’s Will O’Connell said. “The horse is around 17 or 18 years old this year and he’s like fine wine; he keeps getting better with age. Every time somebody rode him this year, they either finished first or got bucked off. That horse is just very special.” The top bull – Ricky Vaughn – competes under the Powder River Rodeo umbrella and is owned by H.D. Page of D&H Cattle. The bull, which finished third in the 2024 Pendleton Whisky’s Let ‘er Bull of the Year voting has traveled an incredible journey full of adversity to capture the Top Bull of the 2024 NFR. Ricky Vaughn was diagnosed with a life-threatening abscess in his pituitary gland in August of 2022. The rare condition had caused fluid to fill his head cavity, gradually blinding him. If the leakage wasn’t stopped, Ricky Vaughn had no chance of survival. With the proper care from the doctors at the Boren Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Vaughn miraculously survived and now is thriving. At the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, he bucked off Jeter Lawrence (Round 5) and Chase Dougherty (Round 10). He was chosen the Bull of the Night in Round 5 and Round 10. “They take a lot of good bulls out there (to the NFR) and it is pretty special to have the high-marked one out of all of them,” Page said. “That’s what he does in his every day clothes. He’s just a special bull. That’s his bag, up, down and right there to the right. He’s by Magic Maker and he’s out of Bruiser’s daughter. He’s bred to do it, and that cross seems to work pretty good. We have had a lot of success out of those Magic Maker, Bruiser crosses.” SweetPro’s Bruiser was the 2017 PRCA Bull of the Year and was second in 2018. Bruiser also was top bull of the NFR in 2015 and 2017, and 2019. He retired in October of 2021 and passed away in 2022.

Andrews Rodeo’s All or Nothin, the 2024 Pendleton Whisky Let ‘er Buck Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year, added another accolade in Las Vegas, being named the Top Saddle Bronc Horse of the NFR. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Roseanna Sales

Championship Pro Rodeo’s Tickled Pink shined in Las Vegas. The horse led Ryder Wright and Lefty Holman to two round wins. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Roseanna Sales

ProRodeo Sports News 12/20/2024

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