ProRodeo Sports News - October 2, 2020

“He told me, ‘Boy, you better cock your hammer if you think you’re going to bulldog on her. I’ve been watching her, and I don’t know if anybody can crawl off her fast enough to steer wrestle!’” Henry said. SUCCESS ON STEERS Less than six years later, Mabel and Jorgensen were in Las Vegas picking up checks worth $107,026. Jorgensen finished third in the 2019 PRCA | RAMWorld Standings and gave much of the credit to his equine partner. “She just loves her job, she loves to run,” Jorgensen said. “For being a mare, she is very laid back. She’s so easy in the box. Nothing really bothers her.” The calm demeanor was not evident when Mabel first made it home to Henry’s 88 Ranch Performance Horses in Douglas, Wyo. Coming straight off the track, Mabel went into the 88 Ranch’s program beginning with colt-starter Troy Brandemuehl. “I attribute that attitude to Troy,” Henry said. “He rode her all spring that first year to put a handle on her.” Henry was still actively competing in the PRCA at the time. After a couple of years spent working on the ranch, Mabel moved to the rodeo side of the operation, first as a hazing horse. When Henry sold his good bulldogging horse, Mabel made the switch. “She took to it like a duck to water,” Henry said. “She’d seen the other side, working the ranch, dragging bulls, doctoring calves; she’d been a million miles. She liked the arena, thought that was easy.” TIME TO RODEO Henry and Jorgensen had met along the rodeo trail when Jorgensen was on his permit. Living in Blackfoot, Idaho, Jorgensen was looking for a place to practice through the winter without having to travel to Texas and ended up staying with Henry. “He invited me to his place for the winter,” Jorgensen said. “They have an indoor barn so we could practice, and we just became really good friends.” With life priorities and family obligations taking Henry off the road, he made a decision. “Stetson had been helping us in the winter with calving the heifers, and I knew he was at that point where he wanted to go hard and try to make the NFR,” Henry said.

Mabel had made her ProRodeo debut that summer, competing in about six to eight rodeos and Henry didn’t want her to go to waste with him unable to compete. “I told him (Jorgensen), if you’re looking for a horse to take you to the NFR, I think I have her but she’s pretty green,” Henry said. “They got to winning right from the get-go, it really was a Cinderella story.” The pair debuted in Denver in January 2019. By December, they were at the NFR, and Mabel was voted third in the Purina Horse of the Year presented by AQHA balloting by the PRCA’s top steer wrestlers. The success carried into 2020 with Jorgensen headed back to the Wrangler NFR. One of his big wins came where it all started in Denver. With the COVID break in rodeos, Henry was able to flush three embryos from Mabel during the down time, so they’ll soon have mini-Mabels to train. The bond between Jorgensen and Mabel is obvious and thrills her owner. “That’s his baby, and he takes great care of her,” Henry said. “There’s nobody else I would send her with. … Stetson is so unselfish, he comes and helps us out here months at a time and won’t take a paycheck. So, it’s a neat thing to pay him back like this.” “I’m so fortunate to be the guy he picked to take her,” Jorgensen said. “She scores so dead and fires off the corner … even if we’re off the barrier, she can make it up. She’s super simple in the box. You don’t have to worry about anything.” The only worry might be keeping her fit for the road. “She can just look at her feed and stay heavy,” Jorgensen laughed. “She’s not afraid to pack on the pounds so I have to keep her exercised.” After starting on the track, working through being a ranch horse and now a rodeo star, Mabel seems to prefer the low maintenance route. “When I’m brushing on her and combing her mane, it splits in the middle and falls on both sides,” Jorgensen said. “So, I always brush it over onto one side. And as soon as I walk away, she shakes her head and splits it back out. “She doesn’t like to get all prettied up, she’s got that old ranch-horse attitude. Gussied up or not, Henry and his family love seeing her and Jorgensen in the arena. “It makes me happy every time I see them win a rodeo,” Henry said.

Mabel, registered through the AQHA as Patrionic Dash, is pictured at home. “She just loves her job, she loves to run. For being a mare, she is very laid back. She’s so easy in the box. Nothing really bothers her.” – STETSON JORGENSEN

Photo courtesy Stetson Jorgensen

ProRodeo Sports News 10/2/2020

ProRodeo.com

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