Erica Sinclair of Alamosa holds the mail in her teeth as she races her horse toward home in the trail course competition at the SLV Little Britches Rodeo.

Chase for saddles goes down to wire



By LLOYD ENGEN

SOUTH FORK — With a number of rodeos already under their belts this spring, the young cowboys and cowgirls in last weekend’s 3-day SLV Little Britches Rodeo already were feeling like seasoned veterans.

And many of them were, too — older, taller, stronger, more confident, making one wonder where has the time gone since they were Little Wranglers astride impossibly large horses.

The competition for the coveted all around trophy saddles stayed close in almost all the divisions, most not settled until the rodeo’s final go on Sunday. A lot of jockeying around in the standings took place each day as various participants came through with outstanding days before hitting a few snags on other days.

That, of course, is the nature of the sport of rodeo. One day a horse runs a perfect pattern around the barrels or poles, and the next day the horse, or its rider’s foot, knocks a barrel or pole or both down and receives costly penalties.

To say nothing of the calves, steers, goats, bulls and broncs that on any given day can become as unpredictable as the San Luis Valley wind.

The key to success in the pursuit of all around honors is specialized excellence in certain events and consistency in the rest, piling up points by placing among the top finishers in each event, avoiding the mishaps that can cause a no score or no time when the animals win the pursuit and, as in the game of Monopoly, are home free.

Like their parents and predecessors, these SLV and Southern Colorado Little Britches Rodeo competitors once again showed that they have learned their lessons well — get back in the saddle and try again, because there’s another event coming and who knows what might happen, perhaps even the best time or score of one’s life.

That kind of spirit comes from long hours of training, close work with one’s horses, diligent practices, and competition in as many rodeos as possible.

And whereas student-athletes in other sports simply can shower and wash their uniforms at the end of a competition, rodeo student-athletes still have a lot of hard work ahead before they can hit the sack — loading their horses for the ride home and tending to the care of the animals and other chores before the long day or weekend finally comes to a close.

Before last weekend’s rodeo at Rickel Arena in South Fork, there already had been two Southern Colorado Little Britches Rodeos in Alamosa, both held in May at the Alamosa Fairgrounds, using Honeycutt Rodeo Company’s high quality stock.

The Honeycutt broncs are as tough as they come, and the Honeycutt bulls are downright notorious. That fact, alone, draws cowboys that are looking to ride the toughest of animals for the chance to achieve high scores, as well as get ready for the Little Britches National Finals Rodeo in Pueblo, scheduled this year for July 27 through Aug. 1.

A third Southern Colorado Little Britches Rodeo at the Alamosa Fairgrounds is scheduled for Thursday, July 25, as part of Honeycutt Rodeo’s annual Alamosa Roundup and Demolition Derby Friday through Sunday, June 26-28.

Heath Francis of Monte Vista won the all around trophy saddle in the senior boys’ division, coming on strong the last two days to overtake Kyle Jackson of Garden City, Kan. Among the events over three days, Tyrell Buffalo of Salida had the best bull ride, scoring 68 points, Francis bulldogged his steer to the ground the quickest, 9.48 seconds, Zach Leininger of La Junta led the field in tie-down roping at 11.46 seconds, Jackson was the top saddle bronc rider with 64 points, and Francis and Kalob Lepp were unbeatable in team roping, their best time coming on Saturday — 9.27 seconds.

The senior girls’ all around trophy saddle went to Kaylee Moyer of Simla, putting together her best achievements on Friday and Sunday to hold off a fierce charge the last two days by Raesha Ray of Pagosa Springs.

Samantha Corzine of Center, a 2007 junior division Little Britches National Finals World Champion with a houseful of saddles to her credit, scored 290 points on Friday to take a solid lead, but hit snags on the next two days to fall back a ways.

Madelaine Mills of Castle Rock had the fastest barrel race of the rodeo with a time of 17.567 seconds, just hundredths of a second ahead of Ray. Moyer earned the fastest time in pole bending on the final day, finishing in 21.098 seconds.

When it came to breakaway roping, the calves were more than willing, producing incredibly fast times throughout the three days, led by a time of just 3.33 seconds by Bailey Grasmick of La Junta, 1/10th of a second quicker than Moyer. But Moyer was the quickest to tie up a goat, recording a time of 7.37 seconds. Corzine, however, was unbeatable when it came to the trail course, working her horse across the bridge and back through a gate to get the mail en route to a race to the finish in 19.859 seconds. Helen Smith of Del Norte came the closest to her with an outstanding run of 24.917 seconds that won Saturday’s competition.

As close as that competition was, the junior boys’ division was a runaway for Taten Koenig of Sanford. Engaged in a struggle with Orrin Honeycutt of Alamosa for the all around trophy saddle, Koenig pulled away on Sunday to finish with a whopping 713 points.

Beau Garrett Hall of Pueblo had the top score in bull riding with a 67, but Koenig and Honeycutt dominated everything else. Koenig had the fastest time in breakaway roping at 4.42 seconds, while Honeycutt led the way in goat tying at 10 seconds flat. Koenig then led the flag race competition with a time of 8.23 seconds while Honeycutt had a best time of 8.52 seconds.

Adding to his terrific rodeo, Koenig teamed with Nate Henry of Alamosa to achieve the quickest time in the dally ribbon roping at 15.96 seconds, and then teamed with Honeycutt for an unbeatable time in team roping — 9.84 seconds.

Skylar Eagles of Center almost duplicated Koenig’s feat as she won the junior girls’ all around trophy saddle. Eagles built an insurmountable lead on the first two days by scoring 690 points, and held off a challenge from Tacie Canfield of McClave on the final day.

Eagles had the best times in every event except one. She led the barrel racing with a time of 17.712 seconds, the pole bending at 21.070 seconds, the trail course at 20.531 seconds, and the goat tying at 8.72 seconds.

Canfield topped the field in breakaway roping with a remarkable time of 3.25 seconds, pushed hard by Katie Lepp of Alamosa at 4.98 seconds. JJ Garcia of Manassa finished just 2/100th of a second behind Eagles in pole bending at 21.072 seconds. Garcia and Lepp also has an excellent time of 15.02 seconds in team roping, while Lepp, Angel Maez of Center and Erica Sinclair of Alamosa had exceptional times in goat tying.

The final division was the Little Wranglers — the youngest boys and girls in the rodeo, all competing against each other.

An exciting competition developed for the all around trophy saddle between Marisela Sandoval of Bosque Farms, NM, and Jared Sinclair of Alamosa. Sandoval took a big lead on the first day, then survived a great run by Sinclair over the final two days to take home the saddle with a total of 666 points.

Sandoval and Sinclair each had the fastest times in two of the four events. Sandoval recorded a remarkable time of 18.065 seconds in barrel racing, and was equally strong in pole bending with a best time of 23.365 seconds.

Sinclair was unbeatable in the flag race on Saturday and Sunday, recording times of 10.609 seconds and 10.969 seconds. He also nipped Sandoval in goat tail untying by 3/10th of a second on Saturday, 8.94 to 8.97, and a bit more on Sunday — 8.21 to 8.66. Victoria Ford of Center was next at 10.50 seconds.

A lot of volunteers make the SLV Little Britches Rodeo in South Fork possible. Ed Anderson is president of the organization and the secretaries are Wendi and Kaye Maez. The hard-working committee is composed of Pee Wee and Brenda Anderson, Clay and Kristy Corzine, DeLana and Paul Henry, Arlin and Tammy Lepp, Travis and Maureen Smith, and Darrel, Dusty, Randy and Kyle Maez.

The donors for the rodeo included James McCormick and Keenan Anderson for the hay, Brown’s Septic Service, Land Properties for the water for the truck, Farm Service Center for grain for the stock, South Fork RV Hookup for the showers, Ponderosa Partnership for the tractor and equipment, Rainbow Lodge and Blue Creek Lodge for rooms for the announcers and bull fighters, Wolf Creek Ski Lodge for rooms for the stock contractor, Allington Inn & Suites for rooms for the judges, the Town of South Fork for use of the nearby baseball field, Dustin Maez for his fantastic 4-wheeler, and the South Fork Fire Dept. and Ambulance Service.

Sponsors of the trophy saddles were the Ski Hi Stampede, Shirley Anderson Memorial, Sunny Valley Farms, Eagle Ag, the Kiwanis Club of South Fork, Saguache Town Market, and Dr. Brian Roberts DDS.

The daily all around and event average prizes were sponsored by Automotive Concepts, Sanford Processing, Circle K of Alamosa, Mountain Valley Meat Works, Cooley & Sons Excavating, TLS Bridal of Alamosa, Rodeo Road Tack, L&M Auto, Source 1 LLC-JNK Art Supplies, Dog Mountain Ranch, Rio Grande Savings & Loan, TC Pipeline, NAPA-Del Norte Auto Supply, Del Norte Federal Bank, South Fork Chamber of Commerce, Southern Colorado Livestock, Jack’s Market of Del Norte, SLV Federal Bank, Poole Chemical, Center Tire Store, Center Kiwanis Club and Monte Vista Tractor.