Busby Family Dominating Elizabeth Stampede
The Elizabeth Stampede, June 8-9, takes place just south of Colo.'s capital city. With almost $85,000 in added money, the Stampede attracts full-time rodeo athletes and circuit cowboys and cowgirls.
Busby Quarter Horses extends their talent to both the men's and women's areas of the arena on the rodeo trail. Elizabeth was no exception. Garrett Busby clenched the all-around title, and Andrea Busby tied for third place in the barrel racing.
Bareback rider Cooper Cooke barely missed the NFR in 2023. He won the Wilderness Circuit Finals to start the 2024 season on the right foot. He currently sits third in the world standings. Cooke starts the summer strong with a win in Elizabeth, Colo. and Eagle, Idaho.
The circuit cowboys came out on top in the steer wrestling and team roping. Payden McIntyre from Douglas, Wyo. won the steer wrestling, and Cody Lane (Torrington, Wyo.) and Dusty Taylor (Craig, Colo.) won the team roping.
Cole Elshere is ranked at number 12 in the world standings of the saddle bronc riding currently. Elshere left the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions Xtreme Broncs with both a second place finish in the first round and the finals. This momentum helped him come out on top at the Elizabeth Stampede.
Riley Pruitt's work in the tie-down roping is not only for charity. Pruitt put nearly a two-second gap between him and second place. He continues to inch closer to the million-dollar mark in PRCA career earnings.
Last year's inclement weather caused the committee to cancel the barrel racing. Fortunately, the rain held off for 2024. Taylor Latham on Pure Vanilla and Sports Illustrated writer Alex Odle on Mister Tres tied for the win in the barrel racing.
Colton Kelly from Rhome, Texas sits just inside the top 50 in the world. The current bubble for the coveted 15th ranking in the bull riding is Brody Yeary with $53,369.56. Kelly's 2024 seasonings earnings are $26,937—making an NFR qualification a bit far-fetched but not impossible as professional rodeo enters the busiest time of year.
Nicole Hadley of Goodland, Kan. won the breakaway roping on Countess of Wyoming, affectionately known as Fury. Hadley sits second in the Mountain States breakaway standings.
Elizabeth Stampede Rodeo Results:
All-around cowboy: Garrett Busby, $1,390, tie-down roping and team roping.
Bareback riding: 1. Cooper Cooke, 88 points on Summit Pro Rodeo's Slizzard, $3,376; 2. Donny Proffit, 87, $2,588; 3. Keenan Hayes, 86, $1,913; 4. (tie) Caleb Bennett, Lane McGehee and Cole Reiner, 84, $863 each; 7. (tie) Tilden Hooper and Trevar McAllister, 82, $394 each.
Steer wrestling: 1. Payden McIntyre, 4.1 seconds, $1,730; 2. Logan Kenline, 4.2, $1,504; 3. Tait Kvistad, 5.0, $1,278; 4. Nick Guy, 5.1, $1,053; 5. Clayton Hass, 5.4, $827; 6. Colt Honey, 5.8, $602; 7. (tie) Cody Pratt and Jacob Wang, 5.9, $263 each.
Team roping: 1. Cody Lane/Dusty Taylor, 5.4 seconds, $2,357 each; 2. (tie) Jr. Dees/JC Flake and Cooper White/Tucker White, 5.5, $1,896 each; 4. Jay Tittel/T.J. Watts, 5.8, $1,434; 5. Jake Clay/Trey Yates, 6.2, $1,127; 6. Chet Boren/Josh Frost, 7.3, $820; 7. Casey Adams/Riley Pedro, 8.9, $512; 8. Gary Haynes/Bryton Scheller, 9.1, $205.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Cole Elshere, 88 points on Summit Pro Rodeo's Kangaroo Lou, $3,731; 2. Wyatt Casper, 86, $2,860; 3. Allen Boore, 83.5, $2,114; 4. Walker Rezzonico, 83, $1,368; 5. Gus Gaillard, 82, $871; 6. Cauy Pennington, 81, $622; 7. (tie) Ira Dickinson, Jordan Iker, Joe Priebe, Mitchie Story and Jade Taton, 80, $174 each.
Tie-down roping: 1. Riley Pruitt, 8.5 seconds, $1,881; 2. (tie) Garrett Busby, Jim Mike Hutto and Cason Kingsbury, 10.2, $1,390 each; 5. Ryan Belew, 10.9, $900; 6. Darnell Johnson, 11.9, $654; 7. Ross McAdow, 12.3, $409; 8. J.D. McCuistion, 12.6, $164.
Barrel racing: 1. (tie) Taylour Latham and Alex Odle, 16.16 seconds, $1,909 each; 3. (tie) Andrea Busby and Sami Buum, 16.35, $1,342 each; 5. Kelby Eastman, 16.38, $1,032; 6. Ryley Hasenack, 16.44, $722; 7. CJ Vondette, 16.45, $516; 8. Tessa Arnold, 16.51, $413; 9. (tie) Tammy Barnes and Chandler Camblin, 16.59, $335 each; 11. Mejrusa Rustemovic, 16.61, $258; 12. (tie) Rigby Baker and Chloe Eichinger, 16.62, $103 each.
Bull riding: *1. Colton Kelly, 85 points on Summit Pro Rodeo's No. 904, $5,778; 2. Cooper James, 82.5, $4,767; 3. Jate Frost, 81, $3,900; no other qualified rides. *
Breakaway roping: 1. Nicole Hadley, 2.3 seconds, $2,167; 2. Amber Hutto, 2.8, $1,858; 3. Cara Liggett, 2.9, $1,548; 4. Dana Mildenberger, 3.1, $1,342; 5. Devan McAdow, 3.2, $1,032; 6. (tie) Tammy Barnes and Amanda Terrell, 3.3, $722 each; 8. Madison Richmann, 3.4, $413; 9. (tie) Raegen DeLancey, Charity Hoar, Lacy Holeman and Karly Teller, 3.5, $129 each.
LORALEE WARD
Loralee Ward’s primary place of residency is her Cimarron trailer. When she is not on the road, she calls Fort Lupton, Colorado, home. She attends Colorado State University (online) and rodeos for coach Seth Peterson. She professionally rodeos in the Mountain States Circuit. With the support of her parents (Jim and Cheryl), brother (Kody), and many mentors; Loralee works to develop her passion for training barrel futurity horses. She plans to graduate from CSU and then apply for law school–as long as rodeo/horse training stays at bay. The only thing that Loralee likes more than a good barrel horse is a rare steak. She hopes to bring important coverage to rodeo and western sports from the perspective of an up-and-comer.