Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009

Butter Milk goes down smooth for Florida cowboy

By Annie Fowler, Herald staff writer

KENNEWICK -- Jared Smith wasn't going to come to the Horse Heaven Round-Up.

The Williston, Fla., cowboy was scheduled to compete in the bareback event in Lynden, but when he arrived at the Seattle airport he couldn't rent a car -- he's not yet 25 and he didn't have a major credit card.

So, Smith turned around, bought a one-way ticket to Pasco, climbed on a horse named Butter Milk and rode his way to an 83-point ride Friday night to move into a four-way tie for second place -- a spot he shares with Will Lowe, who also had an 83.

"Last year I won this rodeo, but I'll take a share of second," said Smith, who will be carpooling to Bremerton to ride today. "I'm 13th, so I need to win quite a bit more to make sure I get there (National Finals Rodeo)."

Barrel racer Hollie Etbauer made her HHRU debut Friday night, and the Oklahoma cowgirl made a good showing with a winning run of 17.31 seconds to move to the top of the event standings.

"I haven't run in a pen this open before," said Etbauer, who maneuvered her way around the cloverleaf pattern on her 11-year-old black gelding named Whistle Bugs. "I was concerned. I'm glad he saw the barrels and worked them. I was excited to hear the time."

Also making his first appearance in Kennewick was bull rider Brady Williams of Snelling, Calif.

Williams drew McNasty out of the Big Bend Flying 5 pen, but the bull took off right as Williams was pulling the rope and dumped his ride just outside of the gate. Williams was awarded a reride.

The bulls don't any nastier than Spotted Fever, who was rolled out for Williams' reride. The white and brown bull gave Williams an 88-point spin to take over the top spot in the event.

"That was one of my better rides in a while," Williams said. "I thought he was pretty good."

It wasn't a very productive night in the steer wrestling, but Clayton Morrison of Penrose, Colo., made the most of his night, laying his white steer down in 4.5 seconds. The run put him fifth in the second go and third on two head with a time of 9.3 seconds.

"Billy Bugenig let me ride his horse and Matt (Reeves) hazed for everyone tonight, which was great," Morrison said. "I'm really grateful to those two. I'm real happy with the run I made."

The same can't be said for the team roping, where eight of the 12 teams failed to lasso their steer. One team that put it all together was Ty Blasingame and Cody Hintz, who had their steer all trussed up in 4.1 seconds. They have the top time in the second go and the top time on two head at 9.3 seconds.

Twenty-time NFR qualifier Billy Etbauer, 46, led the saddle bronc for a brief moment Friday with an 83 on Cat Ballou, but he was soon displaced by Justin Arnold with an 86 on Broken Trail.

"I've had him twice before," Arnold said of his bucking horse. "At the NFR two years ago where he bucked me off, and at Nampa just a bit ago, but I didn't place. I'm ninth right now and if I win something decent here that should get me there (NFR) for sure."

Matt Shiozawa of Chubbuck, Idaho, had a run of 10.7 seconds in the tie-down roping for the top time of the night, but it wasn't enough to move him into the top five in the second go.

* Annie Fowler: 509-582-1574; afowler@tricityherald.com

Horse Heaven Round-Up

Benton Franklin Fairgrounds

Friday night's performance

Bareback

1, (tie) Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, and Jared Smith, Williston, Fla., 83 points. 3, Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas, 80. 4, Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., 78.

Overall -- 1, Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 84. 2, (tie) Lowe, Smith, Jessy Davis, Payson, Utah, and Tim Shirley, Grant, Colo., 83.

Tie-down roping

1, Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho, 10.7 seconds. 2, Ty Holly, Mount Vernon, Ore., 11.2.

Second-go leaders -- 1, Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 7.4. 2, Joseph Parsons, Marana, Ariz., 7.6. 3, Scott Kormos, Teague, Texas, 7.8. 4, Cade Swor, Chico, Texas, 8.0.

Average (2-head) leaders -- 1, Swor, 17.1. 2, Parsons, 18.1. 3, Lockard, 18.2.

Steer wrestling

1, Clayton Morrison, Penrose, Colo., 4.5 seconds. 2, Billy Bugenig, Ferndale, Calif., 4.6.

Second-go leaders -- 1, Brad Johnson, Reva, S.D., 3.7. 2, Alex Robertson, Bend, Ore., 4.0. 3, Seth Brockman, Wheatland, Wyo., 4.3. 4, Stockton Graves, Newkirk, Okla., 4.4.

Average (2-head) leaders -- 1, Graves, 8.6. 2, Casey McMillen, Craig, Colo., 9.1. 3, Morrison, 9.3.

Saddle bronc

1, Justin Arnold, Santa Margarita, Calif., 86 points. 2, Sam Spreadborough, Snyder, Texas, 84. 3, (tie) Billy Etbauer, Edmond, Okla., and Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas, 83.

Overall -- 1, Arnold, 86. 2, Spreadborough, 84. 3, (tie) Etbauer, Harter, Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa, Roy Matthew Johnson, Etna, Calif., and Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, 83.

Team roping

1, Ty Blasingame, Olney Springs, Colo.-Cody Hintz, Spring Creek, Nev., 4.1 seconds. 2, Colby Siddoway, Hooper, Utah-Matt Zancanella, Aurora, S.D., 5.6. 3, Nick Sartain, Alva, Okla.-Kollin VonAhn, Durant, Okla., 5.9.

Second-go leaders -- 1, Blasingame-Hintz, 4.1. 2, Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont.-Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla., 4.7. 3, Jake Stanley, Hermiston-Justin Davis, Cottonwood, Calif., 4.8. 3, Mike Fuller, Clarkston-Shawn Brown, Bend, Ore., 5.4.

Average (2-head) leaders -- 1, Blasingame-Hintz, 9.3. 2, Siddoway-Zancanella, 10.8. 3, Sartain-VonAhn, 11.2. 4, Charly Crawford, Prineville, Ore.-Russell Cardoza, Farmington, Calif., 11.3.

Barrel racing

1, Hollie Etbauer, Edmond, Okla., 17.31 seconds. 2, Magan McLeod, Star, Idaho, 17.62. 3, (tie) Erin Parsons, Marana, Ariz., and Rachael Ross, Murietta, Calif., 17.66.

Overall -- 1, Etbauer, 17.31. 2, Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, 17.34. 3, Sheena Robbins, Fresno, Calif., 17.37. 4, Deb Renger, Okotoks, Alberta, 17.39.

Bull riding

1, Brady Scott Williams, Snelling, Calif., 88 points. 2, Tylee Lanham, Sweet, Idaho, 81. 3, Sean Case, Riverside, Calif., 75.

Overall -- 1, Williams, 88. 2, Corey Navarre, Weatherford, Okla., 85. 3, Jake Wade, Alamo, Nev., 84 points. 4, (tie) Lanham and Tate Stratton, Stanley, N.M., 81.