ProRodeo Sports News - June 23, 2023

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Nightjacket Renowned horse forever enshrined BY TANNER BARTH

Nightjacket’s success inside the arena speaks for itself, but the horse may be more known for his star-studded offspring. Moving from J Bar J to Pickett Pro Rodeo, NFR bucking horses like Fringe Jacket, Straight Jacket, and Night Gazer are direct descendants of Nightjacket. Even with Nightjacket’s passing in 2013, many more of his offspring are lighting up the ProRodeo ranks as we speak, carrying on this once-in-a lifetime horse’s legacy. “That horse had so many offspring that were buckers throughout their lives,” Jim Zinser said. “It seemed like every single one of them were 20 to-22 point horses when you would buck them. Over 50 percent of them turned into fantastic horses from Nightjacket.” Cullen Pickett, who bought Nightjacket in 2009, said the horse’s bloodlines took their bucking stock to the next level. Now, those bloodlines will never be forgotten as an inductee into the Hall of Fame. “It means the world to us for sure. Just to be a part of that elite club is truly an honor,” Pickett said. “The horse was unlike any other as far as that many offspring and colts that have moved on to be great ProRodeo animals. Not to mention he had a great bucking career as well. Nightjacket was truly one of a kind.”

S tock in the sport of rodeo is never undervalued. You could make the argument the roughstock animals and timed-event horses are just as important to the success of rodeo as the athletes that compete on them. There have been 38 animals selected to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame since the first induction class in 1979. That number will rise to 39 in 2023 as the famous “Nightjacket” raised by Jim and Maggie Zinser, who founded J Bar J Rodeo Company, will be inducted into the Hall. “I’m at a loss for words, I really am. I didn’t ever think that would happen in the lifetime that we lived,” Maggie Zinser said. PRCA CEO, Tom Glause, had high praise for the horse’s impact on the sport when informing the family of the induction. “I think Nightjacket has left a legacy that’s really unbelievable with all of the offspring that have been to the Finals and also produced themselves,” Glause said. Nightjacket competed at every Wrangler National Finals Rodeo as a bareback horse from 2000-2007. During that time, the horse helped six different cowboys reach the pay window in Las Vegas.

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