Barrel Racer DeAnn Morgan Making the Most of Every Opportunity

By: Darci Miller

PUEBLO, Colo. – April 16th is always a good day for DeAnn Morgan.

The barrel racer is also a full-time CPA and financial planner, and a highlight of her year is always the day after the tax deadline.

This year, she says, the tax deadline has been extended to May 17th, so she’ll have to wait a little bit longer to celebrate.

“But typically April 16th is a really good day,” Morgan said with a laugh.

Splitting time between tax season and the rodeo trail might sound like an unconventional decision, but for Morgan, it just meant following what she loves to do.

“From the CPA side, I just enjoy it, and the reason I became a certified financial planner as well is that I feel like I can just really help people,” Morgan said. “It’s all-encompassing as far as not just doing their tax returns, but I can also help them with their life decisions and make recommendations and so forth. So I really enjoy doing that, but my passion also lies with the horses and the rodeo.”

Morgan was born into a rodeo family in Hewlett, Wyoming – her parents rodeoed growing up, and she and her brother began rodeoing when they were very young. She recalls winning her first buckle in the all-around at the Broadus Little Levi Rodeo when she was 7 years old, and even back then had the mindset of a champion.

“I don’t really get nervous, I guess, as long as I’m prepared going in,” Morgan said. “And my family was always, ‘If you’re going to do this, you’ve got to work hard at it.’ So they always helped my brother and I, always helped us at home, so we practiced a lot so we would be prepared when we actually went to town.”

Morgan would go on to college rodeo at the University of Wyoming. Her mother and stepdad still rodeo, as do her brother’s children.

“It’s just kind of really a family affair,” she said.

In October, Morgan moved from Wyoming to Stephenville, Texas, to take advantage of the milder winters down south. With the warmer weather, there are more winter rodeos, allowing her to compete locally while still working her full-time job during tax season.

Another big motivator for Morgan to get to more events is her horse, Pistol.

“He’s just been a blessing, because futurity year, he won quite a bit, and his derby year,” Morgan said. “And then he colicked and had surgery and I almost lost him, and he’s had some injuries. But when he does run – he’s my unicorn. One of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of horses for somebody like me. He’s just pretty special.”

Morgan bought Pistol when he was 2 years old, and he’s now 10. With her career, she doesn’t have time to be on the road very much.

“The WCRA has been wonderful for somebody like me because I can nominate events that I have time to go to,” Morgan said. “This horse that’s pretty special to me, I can give him a chance to run on the bigger stage without having to do it for a living.

“I love that association. I do. It wasn’t like it was made for me, but it kind of was. It fits my situation so well, and I know that there’s a lot of other people also, because not everybody rodeos full-time. I think for women, adding the breakaway and the team roping and stuff, and making it just an all-women’s event, is a huge opportunity.”

And Morgan has taken advantage of the opportunity. She’s currently ranked No. 3 in the WCRA’s barrel racing leaderboard and will next be in action at the Rodeo Corpus Christi, the first 2021 WCRA Major and the first stop of the 2021 Triple Crown of Rodeo, on May 3-9.

She also finished ninth overall at the inaugural Women’s Rodeo World Championship last November in Arlington, Texas.

 
While she was thrilled with her own accomplishment and coming so close to riding inside AT&T Stadium, her favorite memory from the event was watching Hallie Hanssen, a close friend of hers, win the whole thing.

The two spent years running their horses at the same futurity and derby events, and now they were on their sport’s biggest stage together.

“We both got into that last round, and we were just cheering each other on,” Morgan said. “And it was so exciting, and she made it to AT&T, and then she won it. It brings tears to my eyes. I mean, it was really, really, really special.

“The best part about (rodeo) is the people. The people, and the friends that you make, and the camaraderie, and everybody really supports each other and cheers each other on. It’s a fun atmosphere.”

Being 45 years old, Morgan has witnessed the growth of women’s rodeo firsthand. While barrel racing is her primary event, she also does breakaway roping on the side with some of her younger horses, and she’s thrilled to have seen the sport come so far.

“There’s been a huge progression,” Morgan said. “After college, really, there was just barrel racing. And really, it didn’t keep you motivated to keep breakaway roping. And now, this is incredible, with the breakaway roping and with the team roping as well in the WCRA, for women. It’s just exploded.

“It’s just a huge opportunity for women, and you see that. You see old cronies like myself cracking our ropes back out and getting excited about it again for that reason. And then you have the young kids coming up – junior high, high school – it just motivates them even more because they know they’re going to be able to just keep roping.

“I just feel like we’re getting more and more opportunities.”

JOIN PBR FOR EMPOWERING WOMEN TOGETHER PANEL ON 3/30

Fans can tune in for the PBR’s Empowering Women Together Panel featuring CBS sideline reporter Kate Harrison, stock contractor Tiffany Davis, barrel racer Michelle Darling and more, on March 30 through the PBR’s Virtual Experiences program. Click here to register.

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