The Trophies Are Ready

Adding a longer scoreline this year with the BFI in the 300-foot Lazy E Arena made for possibly the best showcase of head horses since the Chowchilla days of “the Feist.” The two awards are customized and finished now – the most prestigious awards of the annual BFI – and ready to be sent to the Francis and Yates families who owned the best BFI horses this year. This Montana Silversmiths 2020 Head Horse of the BFI award is claimed by Francis for his horse Ima Monte Leo. Francis won the 2018 BFI on “Dude” and placed seventh at the ...Read More

DeSalvo gets raised to a No. 8, makes history

Two weeks after winning her second Charlie 1 Horse All Girls Challenge Team Roping at BFI Week (and almost $30,000) Whitney DeSalvo of Monticello, Arkansas, was informed her new handicap would be an 8 – something no female roper has ever achieved. We sat down with the defending and three-time WPRA world champion heeler to get her thoughts on what it took to get here.  BFI Week:  We are so proud to be the platform on which you became the first female in history to be classified as a No. 8heeler! But we hope you’re not irritated by that. How did it feel to get that ...Read More

BFI Week Rookie Wins $10K, Charlie 1 Horse Breakaway

GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 25, 2020) – Last year, Florida surfer Amanda Coleman moved on her own to Stephenville, Texas, to spend her final year of high school online, living and practicing with female calf ropers renting a home from Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) world champion Jackie Crawford. “My goal is to make a living breakaway roping,” said Coleman, 19. She’s well on her way. At the fourth annual Charlie 1 Horse Breakaway in Guthrie, Oklahoma, the rookie beat the world champs to win the first-place prize of $10,000 cash plus a trophy saddle, buckle and more. The event drew ...Read More

DeSalvo Wins $29K as Charlie 1 Horse Champ

Thompson tops headers for $21K GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 24, 2020) – At the Charlie 1 Horse All-Girl Challenge Team Roping on June 24, Whitney DeSalvo of Springfield, Arkansas, left no doubt about her status as the world’s best female heeler. DeSalvo, just 25, took the top three placings with three different partners to haul a staggering $28,875 in cash back to Arkansas plus a truckload of prizes. The three-time WPRA world champion won the roping with Hope Thompson of Abilene, Texas, who raked in $20,750 total. “I just tried to rope every steer,” said DeSalvo, whose mare bucked on the ...Read More

Cook and Oliver Win Cactus 9.5 For $50,000

GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 23, 2020) – Because Wrangler BFI Week presented by Yeti had to be abruptly moved from Nevada to Oklahoma in order to happen in 2020, organizers decided to let the books stay open. A pair of Texans took full advantage. Ricky Oliver didn’t know Russ Cook was in Guthrie until he happened to bump into him in the Lazy E Arena about an hour before the 9.5 Over 40 roping. They decided to enter the event, now in its second year as part of the BFI Week roster. They were already in Guthrie to rope in the ...Read More

Okies Win First-Ever Cactus #10.5 For $61,500

GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 23, 2020) – Good friends Mark Collins and Max Vincent were moved to tears and long hugs after their $61,500 win in the first-ever 10.5 roping during Wrangler BFI Week presented by Yeti, held at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma. “To be able to drive two hours from the house and win life-changing money is incredible,” said Collins, who owns a lumber yard and hardware store in tiny Leedey. Mark Collins 10.5 Over 40 Champion Header Olie’s Images, LLC. It marked the first time he ever headed a steer for Vincent, 59, instead of the ...Read More

Cactus Kingpins Win 11.5 for $100,000 In Guthrie

GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 23, 2020) – He finally did it. Barry Berg – who has overseen for nearly 30 years the production of millions of Cactus Ropes – has had callbacks three different times to win the coveted six-figure prize in Reno’s original Invitational #11 roping. On June 22, he and Dustin Noblitt, the president of Cactus’ parent company, personally roped their way to the $100,000 win on the 25th anniversary of the Wrangler National Patriot 11.5. “This is the fairest, friendliest place to rope four steers that you can imagine,” said Berg of Pleasanton, Texas. He and Noblitt had ...Read More

Husband-and-wife team wins $100K in #12.5 Showdown

GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 22, 2020) – Coming from the fourth callback position in Guthrie, Oklahoma, on June 22, team roping couple Hannah and Mike White of Dekalb, Texas, notched the biggest tandem win of their 21-year marriage. The duo roped four steers in 34.09 seconds to split the $100,000 first-place paycheck in the #12.5 Showdown of Wrangler BFI Week, presented by Yeti. Last year’s champion heeler, Clay Elkington, placed third this time to earn $25,000, bringing his individual two-year haul in the #12.5 to $61,000. And placing fourth in the roping was 22-year-old Wyatt Hershberger, for $20,500. His win barely ...Read More

Fuller and Ward win $155K at one-of-a-kind BFI in Oklahoma

GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 21, 2020) – By just seven hundredths of a second over six steers, professional team ropers Kal Fuller of Bozeman, Montana, and Reagan Ward of Purcell, Oklahoma, won the richest event of their sport and split a first-place paycheck worth a record $150,000 at the 43rd Annual Bob Feist Invitational. The event is part of Wrangler BFI Week presented by Yeti, held for the first time inside the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, since its usual venue in Reno, Nevada, was shut down due to the pandemic. “Words can’t describe this,” said Ward, who won in ...Read More

Lovins and McGuire win Hooey Junior BFI and $20K

Arizona team wins Jr. 10.5 for $16K GUTHRIE, Okla. (June 20, 2020) – Jordan Lovins of Canadian, Texas, had never been to the Bob Feist Invitational. But when he heard that Wrangler BFI Week, presented by Yeti, moved to his neighboring Oklahoma from Reno, Nevada, he “was all over it.” Lovins, 17, hauled his steers to his local fairgrounds to practice under BFI-like dimensions and found someone with fresh steers so he could practice on a herd similar to the hard-running set of BFI Week. He capitalized by winning first and second – switching ends – for $15,900 in the ...Read More