When the National Finals Rodeo unfolds in Las Vegas in two weeks, several Montana cowboys will be riding and roping for riches. And an award-winning Montana horse will be providing big bucks, all right.“Virgil,” a bareback horse owned by Bar C5 Rodeo Company that grew up near East Glacier on the John McNeely ranch, recently was voted PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year. The big grey gelding is the two-time reigning Bareback Horse of the Year in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association. The professional cowboys vote for the honors. That makes horse owners like McNeely proud.“Still part of my family, yep,” said McNeely. “He’s 13 years old now. A big grey horse that weighs probably 15 or 16 hundred pounds.”Virgil was born, bred and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation by McNeely.“I sold him as a 2-year-old to Maury Tate at a bucking horse sale, and Maury sold him to Vern McDonald up there in Lac La Biche, Alberta,” McNeely said. McNeely is a fan of the film “Tombstone,” which recalls the story of the OK Corral. He named Virgil after one of the Earp brothers. And there’s more.Yep,” he laughed. “I’ve got one now named ‘Wyatt Earp.’ And I’ve got a mare I call ‘Big Nose Kate.’ Kate, of course, was the longtime companion of Doc Holliday. McNeely, 53, graduated from Browning High in 1982 and has lived his entire life near East Glacier on the Blackfeet Reservation.
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He said the business of raising bucking horses is not a sure bet.“It’s kind of like a gamble,” he said. “You breed an athlete to an athlete and try to get a good one.”The 14-year old mare has won the PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year four times George Vondracek/Caller-Times. McNeely has never been aboard Virgil. Which is probably a good thing.“Yep,” he laughed. When McNeely watches his bareback horses in action, you understand, he’s not rooting for the cowboy.
“That’s right,” he said. “Either rooting for them to get bucked off or win it.”He said there are several colts he’s got high hopes for. McNeely was asked if it’s a good living.“Kinda depends,” he said. “It’s hit and miss, like you’re playing the lotto. One horse maybe brings 200 bucks and another might bring 60 to 70,000.”McNeely has about 60 or 70 bucking horses now. He recently sold a 2-year-old to Henry Real Bird that’s bucking at the United Bucking Horse Association Finals, which is the same time as the NFR and is also in Las Vegas. McNeely said bucking horses are in his blood.“I’ve broke a lotta horses,” he said. “I’ve been around horses all my life and just decided to breed some bucking horses. It’s an adrenaline rush to watch them buck and sure makes a guy proud to have one go this far in the world.”McNeely still has sisters and a half-brother to Virgil. The sire, named “Big John,” was sold to Sammy Andrews of Texas and also eventually was purchased by McDonald.“He was used in the Calgary Stampede and got a colt out of him in the Binion Sale in Vegas during the NFR,” McNeely said. Benny Binion’s World Famous Bucking Horse Sale and Bull Sale at the South Point Arena in Las Vegas is Dec. 7-8. Jake Vold was 90.75 points on Virgil at Ponoka, Alberta, in July at the Ponoko Stampede. That was the fourth-highest bareback score of 2017. Virgil bucked Vold off just the other day at the Canadian Finals Rodeo. Austin Foss scored 88 on Virgil to win at Lynden, Wash., in August.“He’s a horse that bucks every time,” Foss told the PRCA. “If a guy is doing his job you’re going to win on him every time. That combo makes him obviously the riders’ choice.”When McNeely was young, he yearned to ride bucking horses. In high school he gave it a good try. And how did it go?“I went to raising ‘em instead of trying to ride ‘em,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a little easier.”The National Finals Rodeo is scheduled for Dec. 7-16 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. The Montana contingent includes Ty Erickson of Helena (steer wrestling), Dustin Bird of Cut Bank and Clay Tryan of Billings (team roping), Wolf Point native Lisa Lockhart of Oelrichs, S.D. (barrel racing), and JR Vezain of Wyoming (bareback), whose father is from Great Falls and whose grandparents still live in central Montana.Under the floodlights at the spectator-packed Brandt Centre, competitors at the 2017 Pro Agribition Rodeo showed they weren't holding anything back on the first day. Although Pool A athletes at the Pro Agribition Rodeo will have to wait to learn their fate until Friday, when Pool B competitors take their first-round runs and rides, it's never too early to break down the leaderboard—let's start with today's top bareback rider.The freshly crowned Canadian all-around champion, Ky Marshall, took the lead in bareback riding with 83.5 points on Prairie Rodeo’s "Barcelona City” on the first day at the 2017 Pro Agribition Rodeo. Marshall will look to replicate his win from last year that saw him head home for the winter with more than $5,000 in his pocket.In team roping, Clay Ullery and Riley Wilson took the early lead with a 4.9-second run. After a less-than-perfect 2017 season, the team said they're hoping to make good runs at the “right rodeos” in 2018. With the Canadian Western Agribition having equal money in the team roping, this could be one of the “right rodeos” to win for 2018.
Call Marr and C5 Rodeo’s “WD40” were a winning combination in the saddle bronc riding, scoring 82 points to take the lead. Marr rolled up from 32nd spot in the 2017 CPRA standings, so a win here could help him raise the bar for next year’s rodeo season. Looking ahead to Pool B, Marr will need to face eight more competitors, including a Canadian champion and National Finals Rodeo qualifier, before he can relax. After leaving the professional rodeo game in in 2013, Melissa Thiessen returned to the CPRA this year and earned an Agribition qualification. She wasted no time this evening with a 14.309-second run to take the lead. When we spoke after she exited the arena, Thiessen had yet to realize she was in the No. 1 spot, and laughed because she’d nearly fallen off her horse, “Fly,” during the whirlwind run.Veteran tie-down roper Al Bouchard competed at the Agribition more than a decade ago—before the event took a hiatus from the pro circuit—and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down between then and now. His rapid 8.8-second run to take the lead provided further proof of that. Before this year, Bouchard was also the last Canadian champion tie-down roper (2009) to actually reside in Canada. For seven years, the tie-down title has been claimed by residents south of the border, but Bouchard said he’s proud that fellow tie-down roper and Canadian, Logan Bird, returned the title to Canada in 2017. To cap off the night, Marcos Gloria scored 84 points while riding on Prairie Rodeo’s “Big Deal.” The Brazilian bull rider has become a familiar face on the Canadian professional rodeo scene this year, and made a name for himself by winning the average at his first Canadian Finals Rodeo. We’ve only completed night one of rodeo action at the Pro Agribition Rodeo! Pool A will take their second-round rides and runs tomorrow evening, while Pool B will take their shot on Friday and Saturday night!
When Sam Bird charged forward on his horse Friday to rope a calf at the Indian National Finals Rodeo, he had around 40 relatives in the stands rooting him on. Bird, one of 10 children, isn’t the only member of his family participating in the 42nd annual rodeo held at the South Point Arena. His two daughters, two stepgrandchildren and a cousin will be vying for awards as well. The pudgy 60-year old says this low-key rodeo — the Native America version of the bigger National Finals Rodeo held every December in Las Vegas — is as much about bringing family together as it is about roping. Here, everyone knows everyone else and family from nearby states make the trip in. Bird, who also serves as one of rodeo’s seven commissioners, says as many as 20,000 native Americans may make there way to Las Vegas this week.“They come to see family and have a good time in Las Vegas, said Bird, sporting a black cowboy hat and blue jeans, as his daughters stood by his side. ”This event is special because grandfathers can participate alongside their children and grandchildren.” More than 400 participants representing 65 tribes are taking part in the five-day rodeo which ends Saturday. Participants come from 40 states and Canada and vie for $950,000 in cash and prizes. They compete in more than 180 Indian rodeos held throughout the year in the U.S. and Canada to qualifying for the finals. The number of participants has grown since the event moved to Las Vegas 10 years ago, say organizers.“Moving to Las Vegas has been the best decision we have made. Everyone wants to come here, so it helps us attract more people. The National Rodeo is held here so it adds some prestige,” said Donna Hoyt, the rodeo’s general manager and Bird’s sister-in-law.The rodeo helps pack the South Point for the week, generating about 7,000 room nights, said Steve Stallworth, the arena’s general manager. With so many Native Americans coming to Las Vegas, the tribes organize meetings around the rodeo to discuss various issues such as water conservation, said Bird.
Raised on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, Bird was taught by his elder brothers Beaver and Dick how to rope by the age of 12. Five of Bird’s six brothers would actively compete in Rodeo competitions through the years.
Bird qualified for for the first Indian National Finals Rodeo in 1976, winning the team roping competition. He has gone on to qualify for 39 of the 42 Indian National Finals Rodeo to date, winning three of them. Bird passed on his love of rodeo to his daughters Brittany and Sammy Jo, teaching them to ride by the age of three and later showing them how to rope. Bird’s wife Terry is also an accomplished rider and has competed in women’s rodeo events. Brittany won the women’s all-around at the Indian National Finals Rodeo in 2013. Sammy Jo won it last year.I have grown up on the back of a horse,” said Sammy Jo, 25. ”They are all I have ever known.”