Horse Heaven Round-Up fills saddlebags with prestigious honors

The Horse Heaven Round-Up lassoed a pair of prestigious awards this fall, being named the large rodeo of the year for the Columbia River Circuit, and winning the PRCA’s Remuda Award for the best and most consistent pen of bucking horses.

“The Remuda Award is special to our committee because it is a national award given to only one rodeo out of the more than 620 hundred rodeos sanctioned by the PRCA,” HHRU rodeo committee co-chair Scott English said in a news release. “It recognizes that the committee has made the most outstanding effort to secure the best rodeo livestock for the contestants to compete on.”

The Remuda Award is presented to the stock contracting company and rodeo committee that provide the best, most consistent pen of bucking horses, creating the best opportunity for contestants to earn top scores.

Keith Marrington from the Calgary Stampede was the primary stock contractor this year for the Horse Heaven Round-Up.

This is the first honor for the Horse Heaven Round-Up. The Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston won the award in 2009 and 2014, while the Pendleton Round-Up won in 2015.

The HHRU committee accepted the award earlier this month at the PRCA convention in Las Vegas.

The CRC awards are based on the amount of money earned per event at a rodeo, and are voted on by the event directors, said CRC president Rowdy Barry.

The Elgin Stampede was named the small rodeo (up to $5,000) of the year for the CRC, while Chief Joseph Days earned the mid-sized award ($5,001-$10,000). The Horse Heaven Round-Up’s prize money was more than $10,001 per event.

Other top-paying large rodeos available for voting were Ellensburg, Hermiston and Pendleton.

“That’s good company to be in,” Barry said.

This story was originally published December 21, 2017 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Horse Heaven Round-Up fills saddlebags with prestigious honors."