In 2017, when Ullman-Peterson Events added the breakaway competition and all-around bonus to the annual Charlie 1 Horse All-Girl Challenge team roping at Wrangler BFI Week, they also incorporated an Incentive for lady team ropers with lower classifications.
This year too, producers tweaked the team-roping format to “pick one/draw one.” One such drawn team won the #9 Incentive on three, worth $7,500.
“I love this incentive,” said Chelsea Bushnell. “You have a chance to draw some good ropers, and it makes it fun because you get to meet new girls and get to rope more times.”
The college graduate from Red Bluff, California, didn’t know her partner – Keely Kirkman of Livermore – and they’re actually a #8 team, since both are classified as #4 ropers. Kirkman, 38, is a mom of one daughter, while Bushnell, 23, is an assistant rodeo coach at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo.
They were clean on all three steers to nail the fifth call-back position in the main roping. Then, their 10-second run in the finals secured third place in the main aggregate, too, for $8,000. Each woman took home $7,750.
“BFI Week in Reno is a great place to have an all-girl roping,” said Mary Jane Carpenter, marketing director for Charlie 1 Horse’s parent company, Hatco. “Girls’ breakaway and team roping just keeps growing. We love being part of it. The hats have become so fashionable outside the arena, with celebrities like Runaway June being fans, that it’s fun to see them worn in the arena, too.”
For more information, visit www.bfiweek.com.
Results from the 2019 Charlie 1 Horse Team Roping #9 Incentive:
Aggregate: 1. Keely Kirkman and Chelsey Bushnell, 29.46 seconds on three, $7,500; 2. Reba Gonzales and Maddee Doerr, 31.74, $3,000; 3. Brandy Joseph and Wendy Frazier, 31.84, $1,500; 4. Kati Rice and Danielle Lowman, 32.47, $900; 5. Cati Stanko and Lacy Bourdet, 35.94, $900.
By BFI