Sammi Bessert , Wilderness Circuit Year-End Champion and Ciruit Finals Average Winner

In dance, trust between partners is essential.

One leads, the other plays off the cues.

Same with the three can tango known as barrel racing.

Their first few years together, Sammi Bessert took the lead with her horse Tommy, officially known as Terrible Tommy Twist.

In 2011, Tommy asserted himself more in the arena, carrying Bessert to a 19th place in the final Women's Professional Rodeo Association world standings.

The role reversal was not easy.

"I had to trust him to take the lead,'' Bessert said of her nine-year-old sorrel gelding. "It's hard when the roles are reversed. It makes an interesting dynamic."

With Tommy taking charge in rounds one and three, Bessert won her first Ram Wilderness Circuit year-end title, Oct. 27-29 at the Golden Spikes Event Center.

Bessert won by a scant $377 over Nancy Hunter. Bessert finished with $22,341 for the year, while Hunter cashed $21,964.

"I just looked at the results the other day. I thought it was actually closer than that,'' said Bessert, who competed at the circuit finals in 2008.

Bessert, who also captured the average title in 2011, will be joined by Hunter in representing the Wilderness Circuit at the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City, Okla., in the spring of 2012.

Bessert and Tommy opened with a time of 14.00 seconds, tied with Tracee Young for the fastest of the three performances, and placed second in the third round with a time of 14.03.

Bessert and Tommy won the average, by .22 over defending champion Hunter. Only .39 seconds separated the top four places.

Ironically, Bessert learned of her first national qualification after the bull riding, the final event.

"I didn't know I won until they announced it after the rodeo was over,'' said the married mother of two sons from Loma, Colo. "They had announced I won the average and I went out, loaded up my horse and came back into the arena.

"I was just really excited. This is a big deal for us."

Bessert came into the Wilderness Circuit Finals trailing Hunter by approximately $1,200.

"To be honest, I was kind of hoping to get second,'' admitted Bessert.

"Nancy 's horse (Fuzz) is just wicked in that building. Usually, when Nancy has a lead, it's over. She's just nasty in there."

Along with 2010, Hunter won the year-end titles in 2008, 2007 and 2006.

"The circuit finals have always been pretty good to us,'' said Hunter, of Neola, Utah. "We have a tough circuit. I knew I would have to have a good finals to win again. It's like a snake pit, there are so many amazing horses in our circuit."

Bessert opened with a slightly bumpy first-round win to cut Hunter's lead in half. "He just laid a run down,'' Besssert said proudly. "It was a little wild. He almost dash-boarded me … took me over the top. When his head came up, I almost went over his head but I was able to jump back underneath him.

"It almost sounds cliché, but he really loves running barrels. He craves it. The more my horse runs, the happier he is."

Bessert took more control in the second round. The two posted a time of 14.44 seconds and finished out of the money. Kelly Larsen, of Riverton, Utah , won in 14.01 seconds, while Hunter placed fourth.

"I tried to take the lead in the second round and screwed him up,'' said Bessert with a good laugh. "I out-thought myself.

"I just had the same plan as always, just one run at a time. I never even looked at the standings. We were focusing on making three solid runs. The committee did a great job of keeping the ground even."

Nancy Hunter, Wilderness Circuit Year-End Reserve Champion

Hunter had her own troubles in the first two rounds. In both, she lost her rein and the ability to control the horse.

"He finished those runs by himself,'' said Hunter of Flit N Fizz, an 11-year-old sorrel. "I've watched the video and still don't know how it happened. Maybe when I was switching hands. It was a fluke thing.

"The worst part was stopping."

Rodeo personnel cleared the alleyway during Hunter's runs and her husband Fred was on another horse to help bring her to a stop.

"That's the great thing about being married to a horse trainer,'' Hunter said. "He trains them and fixes them."

Hunter added that Fuzz was still recovering from a bruised foot, an injury he suffered in July.

"He was a little banged up. He was a little off,'' Hunter said of the horse that carried her to wins at Caldwell, Idaho, Oakley, Utah, Cedar City, Utah and Kingman, Ariz., during the regular season. "I felt like he tried hard.

"You can't take away anything from those girls, they earned it. I was not unhappy at all with my finals."

Bessert and Tommy closed with a second-place finish in 14.03, behind Young's 14.00.
It was enough to give Bessert the average and a total of $3,922 for three runs. Hunter earned $2,263 at the Finals.

"I never thought I would win one,'' said Bessert of a year-end championship. "There are so many tough riders, so many good horses in our circuit. Tommy was just super solid, just awesome all weekend.

"It's definitely a humbling experience."

Norma Wood, of West Jordan, Utah finished third in the average, while Rylee McKenzie was fourth, McKenzie is from St. Paul, Alberta, Canada.

Bessert capped off a year that saw her make her first run at qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

"We learned so much,'' she said. Bessert won Moab, Utah, Salt Lake City and the first round at Hermiston, Ore. "We found out what pens he likes. When I started in the fall last year, I had pretty high hopes to make the WNFR. But I just had a terrible winter. So we came home and re-grouped. We won some during the summer, no big checks. We kept going and just ran out of season.

"We plan to try and make the WNFR again in 2012."

Along with her first Ram Wilderness Circuit Finals title, the victory will give Bessert another first for her barrel racing career.

"I keep forgetting about that part of the deal,'' she said of the national event. "I've never been to a rodeo in Oklahoma. It will be fun."

Ram Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo
Ogden, Utah, Oct. 27-29

First round: 1. Sammi Bessert, 14.00 seconds, $1,207; 2. Rylee McKenzie, 14.13, $905; 3. Nancy Hunter, 14.15, $603; 4. Kelly Larsen, 14.31, $302. Second round: 1. Kelly Larsen, 14.01 seconds, $1,027; 2. Norma Wood, 14.20, $905; 3. Rylee McKenzie, 14.22, $603; 4. Nancy Hunter, 14.25, $302. Third round: 1. Tracee Young, 14.00 seconds, $1,207; 2. Sammi Bessert, 14.03, $905; 3. Sierra Dawn Thomas, 14.16, $603; 4. Norma Wood, 14.18, $302. Average: 1. Sammi Bessert, 42.44 seconds on three runs, $1,810; 2. Nancy Hunter, 42.66, $1,358; 3. Norma Wood, 42.79, $905; 4. Rylee McKenzie, 42.83, $453.