Feild on Pace to Win Fifth Bareback Riding Title in Fort Worth

By: Susan Kanode

FORT WORTH, Texas — Rodeo fans would be hard pressed to find anyone that has had more success at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo (FWSSR) than bareback rider Kaycee Field from Genola, Utah.

He won championships in Will Rogers Coliseum in 2010, 2012 and 2013. When the rodeo moved into Dickies Arena in 2020, he failed to get a check. The next year, the rodeo was postponed because of the pandemic.

In 2021 Field won his sixth world title making him the greatest bareback rider in the history of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association that December. He entered the 2022 FWSSR ProRodeo Tournament with that new gold buckle and got to add his fourth championship from the legendary event.

This year, Feild is on pace to add another FWSSR title to his rodeo resume. He won both rounds of Bracket 2 with scores of 88 and 93 to advance to the semifinals. Then he competed in Semifinals B and won that with an 89-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s horse named Disco Party. That added $4,000 to the $3,520 that he has won here already and qualified him for the Championship Finals where another $20,000 is at stake.

A year ago, Feild won $26,360 here and if he repeats his championship he will have won $27,520 which will give him a big boost in the world standings and put him on pace to qualify for his 14th Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

The reigning steer wrestling champion in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association finished at the top of the leaderboard. Walt Arnold, from Coleman, Texas, stopped the clock in 3.8 seconds for the win and $4,000. He finished outside the top 15 that qualify for the NFR in 2022 and is working to be there this coming December. If he finishes in first place Saturday night, this will be the biggest win of his career.

The FWSSR ProRodeo Tournament is one of breakaway roper Erin Johnson’s favorites. She won $13,760 here a year ago and will be vying for the championship after winning Semifinals B with a 2.3-second run.

Canada dominated the saddle bronc riding. Reigning and three-time world champion Zeke Thurston from Big Valley, Alberta, rode the horse named Wild Cherry from the Calgary Stampede stock contracting firm for 90.5 points. Thurston has won rodeos across North America, but the Fort Worth title has eluded him so far.

In the tie-down roping it was Ellensburg, Washington’s Jake Pratt that got the win on Friday. Pratt stopped the clock in 8.3 seconds for $4,000 and a spot in the Championship Finals.

Team roping brothers-in-law Andrew Ward and Buddy Hawkins stopped the clock in 4.8 seconds to win Semifinals B. Hawkins won this rodeo in the Will Rogers Coliseum in 2014 with a different partner and would love to add another championship to his resume.

The first barrel racer out had the fastest time and it held through the night. Sissy Winn from Corpus Christi stopped the clock in 16.24 seconds and is hoping for a championship buckle from the rodeo.

Stetson Wright of Milford, Utah, won the bull riding on Friday with a 91-point ride. Because of his success Thursday night in Semifinals A in the saddle bronc riding has a chance to win two buckles on Saturday night. Wright’s success on Friday was aboard Rafter G Rodeo’s bull named Megalomaniac.

A highlight of Friday’s rodeo was honoring long-time rodeo journalist Kendra Santos with the Lane Frost Award. Santos, of Creston, California, was in Cheyenne, Wyoming when Frost tragically lost his life bull riding. She has told his story and kept his memory alive for years and will continue to promote all of the goodness that Frost brought in and out of the arena.

Saturday’s championship round will begin in Dickies Arena at 7:30 p.m. In appreciation of the support the Fort Worth Stock Show has received from the community, grounds admission will be free all day with lots of activities to enjoy on the final day of the 126th edition of the show.

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The following are unofficial results from the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo’s Pro Rodeo Tournament after the Semi-Final round, February 3, 2023.

Bareback riding: 1, Kaycee Feild, Genola, Utah, 89 points on Calgary Stampede’s Disco Party, $4,000. 2, Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La., 87.5, $3,000. 3, Kade Sonnier, Carencro, La., 87, $2,000. 4, R.C. Landingham, Hat Creek, Calif., 86, $1,000.

Finals qualifiers: Feild, Broussard, Sonnier and Landingham

Steer wrestling: 1, Walt Arnold, Coleman, Texas, 3.8 seconds, $4,000. 2, Tucker Allen, Oak View, Calif., 4.2, $3,000. 3, Cade Goodman, Waelder, Texas, 5.7, $2,000. 4, Stockton Graves, Alva, Okla., 5.8, $1,000.

Finals qualifiers: Arnold, Allen, Goodman and Graves

Breakaway roping: 1, Erin Johnson, Fowler, Colo., 2.3 seconds, $4,000. 2, Josey Murphy, Keachi, La., 2.5, $3,00. 3, (tie) Hali Williams, Comanche, Texas; Danielle Lowman, Gilbert, Ariz.; and Ashley Goforth, Azle, Texas, 2.6, $1,000 each.

Finals qualifiers: Johnson, Murphy, Williams, Lowman and Goforth

Saddle bronc riding: 1, Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, Canada, 90.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Wild Cherry, $4,000. 2, Ryder Wright, Beaver, Utah, 87.5, $3,000. 3, Tanner Butner, Daniel, Wyo., 85.5, $2,000. 4, Leon Fountain, Socorro, N.M., 84.5, $1,000.

Finals qualifiers: Thurston, Wright, Butner and Fountain

Tie-down roping: 1, Jake Pratt, Ellensburg, Wash., 8.3 seconds, $4,000. 2, Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Texas, 8.9, $3,000. 3, Marcos Costa, Iretama, Brazil, 9.4, $2,000. 4, Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 9.6, $1,000.

Finals qualifiers: Pratt, Hughes, Costa and Cooper

Team Roping: 1, Andrew Ward, Edmond, Okla., and Buddy Hawkins II, Stephenville, Texas, 4.8 seconds, $4,000 each. 2, Cody Snow, Los Olivos, Calif., and Wesley Thorp, Throckmorton, Texas, 5.0, $3,000 each. 3, Reno Stoebner, Bastrop, Texas, and Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas, 7.0, $2,000 each. 4, Coy Rahlmann, Ellsinore, Mo., and Jonathan Torres, Ocala, Fla., 8.5, $1,000 each.

Semi-finals qualifiers: Ward and Hawkins; Snow and Thorp; Stoebner and Motes; and Rahlmann and Torres

Barrel Racing: 1, Sissy Winn, Corpus Christi, Texas, 16.24, $4,000. 2, Wenda Johnson Pawhuska, Okla., 16.33, $3,000. 3, Hailey Kinsel, Cotulla, Texas, 16.43, $3,000. 4, Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas, 16.50, $1,000.

Finals qualifiers: Winn, Johnson, Kinsel and Morgan

Bull Riding: 1, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 91 points on Rafter G Rodeo’s Megalomanic, $4,000. 2, Trey Benton III, Richards, Texas, 86.5, $3,000. 3, Tristen Hutchings, Monteview, Idaho, 86, $2,000. 4, Josh Frost, Randlett, Utah, 85, $1000.

Finals qualifiers: Wright, Benton, Hutchings, Frost and Jack Gilmore, Ironton, Mo.