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 Casper,
Wyo.-There is no better time in the sport of rodeo,
than the first 10 days of December, to get hot than
the month of July. Brenda Mays and her super horse Jethro
have been smoking all month.
The pair won over $16K over the
lucrative Fourth of July run, third best amongst WPRA
barrel racers, and came right back two weeks later to
bank another $10,349 the week of July 14-18, for a total
July haul of nearly $27K, about half of her earnings
for the year. All the cash has kept the Terrebonne,
Ore., cowgirl securely within the top 10 of the WPRA
NFR standings but Mays is not counting a fourth straight
NFR qualification as in the books just yet.
"There is still a lot left
to go," says Mays, referring to the many rodeos
yet to be counted in the 10 weeks between now and the
end of the 2010 season. "I don't think you can
relax anywhere with so much still to go but [having
this much won] does mean I can change my plans as far
as where I go from here on out."
The bulk of Mays' winnings last
week came from a championship title earned at the Central
Wyoming Fair and Rodeo in Casper. Mays and the amazing
Jethro took second in the opening round with a 16.89
second run that was bested only by Lindsay Karp of Montana.
In the short go, Jethro threw on the afterburners, winning
the round with the rodeo's fastest time, a 16.73 that
was .14 second better than second place Kassie Mowry.
Her two run total of 33.62 topped Mowry and the rest
of the field by three tenths.
Mays has worked hard this season
to get healthier, hiring a personal trainer to help
her with her diet and designing an exercise program
that has helped her shed 40 pounds. Despite the healthier
lifestyle on the road, Mays still gives the credit for
her great run in July to her equine partner.
"He's just working really good,"
says Mays. "I think we are keeping him feeling
good. At Casper, his first run was a nice, consistent
run-he's been running that way since I can remember.
And the same thing in the short go. He is just running
hard and he's real consistent."
Jethro, or Judge Buy Cash, is 11
this year but has made a name for himself amongst the
WPRA's elite because of his consistency. With run after
run looking exactly the same, Jethro has been voted
by Mays' peers as one of the top three horses in the
annual AQHA/WPRA Horse of the Year voting for the past
two seasons.
Jethro has Mays sitting third and
fourth at Nampa from slack on Monday morning and will
be getting a little rest as Mays plans to run her back-up
horse, a seven year old sorrel mare named Dora at Cheyenne
this week.
"Jethro has never placed there,
he doesn't seem to like it," Mays explains. "He
doesn't like St. Paul either but he was running so well
that I ran him anyway and it wasn't good. So, I decided
I should stick to the plan at Cheyenne." Judging
by recent events, there aren't too many places the gutsy
black gelding doesn't like.
"July's been really good. We
had an alright winter but July has been great,"
says Mays. "It's allowed me to change a bit, going
to some circuit rodeos and closer to home instead of
going to Dodge City. August and September, we stick
close to home and all the rodeos are there too."
Mays is sponsored by ProEquine and
Team Equine saddle pads. She also credits her husband
Andy's company, Easterly Fencing, as a sponsor. "He
takes care of everything while I'm gone so I have to
mention them! And my parents." Mays' mother Lynne
knows the rodeo trail; she is a past NFR qualifier herself.
Lynne and Mays' son Kyle have been her traveling companions
for the red hot July run.
For more information on the
Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo, visit them on-line at
www.centralwyomingfair.com.
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