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odeohouston continued From Page 1 the average and advanced to the semi-finals because she was clean on three. Due to the extreme length of the rodeo, Fuzz had 14 days off to heal. “I had him x-rayed and ultrasounded and it was all just swelling from that cut,” explained the mother of four grown boys. “Over that time the swelling went down and the leg tightened up, and then he was back on top. I ran him the rest of the time. I gave him one gram of Bute one day and that was it.” On Wednesday, March 13, Hunter and Fuzz made their semifinal’s run and was one hole out of the money, meaning they had to run on Friday in the Wildcard Round. Hunter said it was her most pressure filled run of the entire rodeo. “There were 12 really good horses and you had to be in the Top 2,” she explained. “I loaded all my buckets and everything and told Sunny the secretary that I would see her back in Wickenburg. I was being realistic. I knew the cards really had to line up for me.” Carlee Pierce and Rare Dillion set an arena record with a 14.04 before Hunter ran. She said she was glad she didn’t hear her time before she ran. “I would have probably kicked too hard or something like that,” she laughed. Fuzz turned in a 14.3 to advance to the Finals. Like she had done for all her runs, Hunter and husband got up at 4 a.m. to work the horses in the arena. All she did with Fuzz was walk him through the pattern. “When I looked at the draw,” she said, “I was happy with where I drew, but I thought, ‘this is some of the best talent in the United State here.’ I felt really honored to even be in that crowd. If I didn’t win another dime I was happy. They pay you $1,000 just to be there. This isn’t Fuzz’s kind of deal; he’s usually a big outside pen horse and he’s done great. We were just really happy. I didn’t feel a lot of pressure. I just wanted to go in there and do my best.” The Final 10 were WPRA World Champion Mary Walker, National Circuit Finals Rodeo Champion Tana Renick, three-time Sting It Flit Bar Dr Nick Bar Este Tag Flit N Fizz 2000 Sorrel Gelding Power Train si 101 Ruby Red Fizz si 94 Rider: Nancy Hunter; Owner: Nancy & Fred Hunter; Breeder: Harry & Vivian Blackwell Sugar Bars si 95 St. Bar si 100 Ms Spring Bouquet si 94 Watch Your Step tb Wild About Lil World Champion Sherry Cervi, NFR qualifier and IPRA Champion Jane Melby, two-time World Champion Lindsay Sears, two-time World Champion Brittany Pozzi, NFR qualifier and Calgary Stampede Champion Sydni Blanchard, Reserve WPRA World Champion Carlee Pierce, NFR qualifier Linda Vick and Hunter. Walker, Hunter, Renick and Cervi advanced the Championship Final. Hunter, who didn’t even know she got into the rodeo until Brenda Mays showed her name in the draw on her phone, was “flabbergasted” that she even made the Championship Final. “I wasn’t that nervous going into the Final Four,” she said. rodeo houston continued on Page 5 Barrel Racing Report March 19, 2013 Page 4 Flit si 85 Leo Tag si 95 Little Estileta
odeo houston continued From Page 4 “Mary’s horse—what can you say—he’s been spot on. He’s an amazing animal. Tana Renick’s mare, she had just been firing every run. She was probably one of the most consistent horses there. And Sherry…that’s her pen. Her mare loves that pen. I told Fred, no matter what I’ve got $5000 no matter what.” When Walker hit a barrel first out, Hunter knew a clean run would net her more money. “I knew if I kept the barrels up I was going to win $10,000,” she said. “So that was going through my mind. $10,000 is a lot of money to me. I was probably smiling going down the alleyway thinking just keep the barrels up you’re going to win $10,000!” Making his second run, Fuzz was feeling the effects of his Utah winter coat in unusually hot Texas spring and the many runs in a short time span. “I didn’t have as good of run, kind of missed the first barrel,” she recalled. “I could tell he was little bit tired and just didn’t crank it back, but his other two barrels were good and he ran home really strong. I was tickled pink with him.” Hunter and Fuzz had clocked a 14.40. After her run, Hunter set to tending Fuzz while her husband watched the action on the television in the tunnel for the contestants. Although she could stomach watching, Fred gave her a play-by-play. “Tana went in; I didn’t see her run,” she said. “Fred said ‘Oh wow, she ran a .47’. I said ‘Oh my God, I just won $20,000!’ Sherry was going in and that mare’s like rock solid in there. I heard Fred say ‘Oh man, she’s got ya; that was a beautiful turn.’ As she was running home he said, ‘I don’t know. She kind of bowed off that end turn a little bit.’ He said, ‘Oh my heavens, a hundredth, a hundredth!’” Hunter had won the $50,000 by one one-thousandth of a second, 14.40 to Cervi’s 14.41. “After that I can’t hardly tell you anything I did,” said Hunter, who wanted to thank the Houston Committee and the countless volunteers for their hospitality during her stay. “I can’t remember. I just knew my mouth was so dry I couldn’t even spit and they told me to go do an interview. I didn’t know what to say because I never thought I would be doing that. It just got crazier from there.” With the WPRA dropping their sanctioning of the rodeo due to the committees wish to have the option to pick unranked contestants, earnings do not count towards the WPRA standings. Nevertheless, Hunter is overwhelmed with the thought of that much money in her bank account. “I’m like the miser budget queen from hell,” she laughed. “I had four boys and when they go through four gallons of milk a day you learn how to budget! Fred and I argued all the way home about it. He thinks he should get half of it. I said, ‘No, I’m going to give you a couple $100 and you can buy a new straw hat. He thinks he needs a motorcycle.” Fred wants a Harley and had even gone so far as to put leather streamers on Nancy’s stirrups like they have on motorcycles. “Fred had put them on my stirrups to remind me that I owe him Harley,” she laughed. So what is she really going to do with the money? She said candidly, “I’m going to put it in the savings account and everyday I’m going to go online and look at it!” Even with hauling money in the bank, Hunter doesn’t plan to haul much harder than she usually does. She’ll make the RAM National Circuit Finals and Logandale, Nevada, in April and then probably stay home until the end of May, first of June. “I probably won’t haul Fuzz to any more rodeos than I usually do,” she said. “He usually goes to 25 rodeos a year. But I’ve got that 6-year-old that’s doing good, so we might try to stretch it out and pick some from him too.” Making the National Finals is something that would just have to happen rather than being her mission. “I’m such a realist,” she said. “You want to do things, but you know life has got other things planned for you. Fuzz is 13 this year and his career is winding down. I want to make sure he ends his career sound and happy. I eventually want to let my 6-year-old granddaughter run him—not anytime soon—when she’s big enough to handle him. She’s always said she wanted to ride Fuzz, so I said I’d let her.” Bred and raised by Harry and Vivian Blackwell, Fuzz is by WPRA World Champion sire Dr Nick Bar out of Sting It, by Power Train. The Blackwells met the Hunters when they asked for Fred’s help with Willy Nick Bar, whom their daughter NFR qualifier Amanda Clayman was riding. “Fred had actually rode the mom to Fuzz a few years before,” noted Hunter. “Harry had called and said he was going to send this horse out that wasn’t going to make it in the futurity program. He was a stud, he cribbed and was little underweight and he could buck. He’s not a natural stopper and Fred really worked on that. They wanted to sell him. No one was interested. I called tons of girls and couldn’t get anyone to come look at him.” Hunter was busy working full time and hauling her kids to rodeos, and when she made the decision to start competing again they asked about buying Fuzz. By the time he was 7, Fuzz had seasoned out into a solid rodeo horse. Hunter had qualified for the Wilderness Circuit Finals all six years she ran him, winning the circuit four times and taking second twice. Hunter credits her husband for as much of her success as she does the horse. “I’m really blessed,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without him. It’s all his training. I don’t think he gets enough credit.” rodeohouston February 25-March 16, 2013, houston, TX rodeo houston continued on Page 6 Barrel Racing Report March 19, 2013 Page 5
Page 1 and 2: fast horses, fast news Published We
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Page 9 and 10: odeo houston continued From Page 6
Page 11 and 12: D&D Futurity continued From Page 1
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Page 17 and 18: The coup is back! Snedegar wins D&D
Page 19 and 20: D&D Sweepstakes & Open continued Fr
Page 23 and 24: Dynamite continued From Page 22 Sat
Page 25 and 26: Beck and Teeitupintheshade hot in h
Page 27 and 28: Vroman and haugen Warm Up Golliher
Page 29 and 30: couch & JL Treasured Smash Find ric
Page 31 and 32: Silver Spur continued From Page 30
Page 35 and 36: Sanchez and Peaches hit a Lucky Str
Page 37 and 38: Tc100 - Diamonds and Dirt Futurity
Page 39: Headin’ For Home by Sherry Morris

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