BryAnna Haluptzok is no stranger to rodeo, but aboard Cat Mai Flash aka “Flash,” she is finding a new level of success.
Interview by Kate Bradley Byars
There is a feeling that comes over a rider when they’re sitting on something special. BryAnna Haluptzok felt it when she first rode Cat Mai Flash two years ago, but the two didn’t instantly find success. It took Haluptzok shifting from rodeo to derby events, and several runs, for the two to find their groove outside the rodeo pen.
Growing up in Minnesota, Haluptzok showed Western pleasure horses and also ran barrels. At 16, she made the decision to pursue barrel racing, and since then has made it her career. Today she lives in Ardmore, Oklahoma, breeding, raising, training and competing in the industry. Though Haluptzok and Cat Mai Flash, called “Flash,” are making a name for themselves at this year’s summer rodeos, it’s neither’s first time atop a leaderboard.
In 2022, Haluptzok claimed the Great Lakes Circuit Finals win riding Mr Fast Eddie and sat atop the 2022 Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Standings. In 2023, aboard Flash, Haluptzok consistently ran a 16.6 on a standard pattern earning wins at the Ruby Buckle and multiple other derby-aged events. After consistently running the gelding, Haluptzok looked back toward the rodeo arena. Barrel Horse News caught up with the 24-year-old to talk about her year so far, and how running at barrel racing’s aged events differs from rodeoing.
Barrel Horse News: Tell us how you got into barrel racing while growing up in Minnesota.
Haluptzok: I got into barrel racing with 4-H and the Western Saddle Clubs Association (WSCA) when I was younger. I showed Western pleasure horses for a long time, and I credit that with my ability to get a horse broke, engage their body and get them to move their body in barrel racing.
Jane Melby lived in Minnesota when I was younger, and I took lessons from her starting when I was 9. None of my family had any background in barrel racing. My cousins, Amy Tobey and Austyn Tobey, are who introduced me to Jane, who helped me get the horse I rode in WSCA and 4-H. She is also who I got my first true barrel horse from, and she is who I have gotten most of my true barrel horses from throughout the years.
At 16, I had to decide if I wanted to keep going with the pleasure horses or barrel horses, and I decided to do barrels. I enjoyed Western pleasure and loved my trainer; we are still really good friends. There was something about barrel racing that made my heart happy. It’s taken off from there!
BHN: You’ve won two rodeos this summer, both over the Fourth of July. Tell us about the horses in your trailer.
Haluptzok: My main mount is “Flash,” Cat Mai Flash by Tres Seis out of a Stoli mare, Lulus Stoli. I got him two years ago now from a girl in New Jersey. I found him through Danyelle Campbell, who was running him for Rhianna. He is 9 this year and when I got him, he had no rodeo experience at all.
I also have a mare, “Remi,” out of PYC Paint Your Wagon out of RC Back In Black, though Chuck and Lisa Nelson own her I have the opportunity to have her on my trainer and it’s been really cool. I’ve had a couple opportunities to ride RC Back In Black’s before and I’ve gotten along with them very good. I have another young one, JL Dash To Heaven out of a Valiant Hero mare, and she is at home with an injury, but she should be legged back up when I get home. I am excited to get her back on the barrel racing road.
BHN: What drew you to Flash and how have you two clicked?
Haluptzok: I was 10th in the world when I bought Flash two years ago and people said I was crazy to buy a horse with no rodeo experience at all. But, when I got on him, I knew he was by far the best horse I’d sat on in my life.
We did not win at the rodeos right away, not even close. When I first got Flash he’d only ever run at barrel races. He hated mud, he struggled with ground, and if there weren’t fences I struggled getting him to turn. I didn’t win at rodeos at all with him, which got me going to barrel races like the Ardmore Futurity Derby in September 2023. Flash ended up winning the Derby. I have been going to big barrel races for the last year and a half, including derbiesFlash rand the fastest time at the Ruby Buckle and winning everywhere he went. He won me $75,000 at the Texan and ran another 16.6 at the Pink Buckle. I stayed close to home this last year and won more money than I won at rodeos the last two years.
In the last year, he’s made close to $200,000 at the barrel races. He came off the racetrack and is fast. I hadn’t rodeoed at all, but I decided to give them a try because there is not really any big money to be won [in the summer]. It paid off; he decided he liked the rodeos! Flash won at Prescott and that got us going.
BHN: What makes a good rodeo horse, and how has Flash adapted?
Haluptzok: I got the concept of rodeo versus barrel races but I never had a horse that was [geared] one way or the other. They are completely different atmospheres. I never had a horse that was a ‘rodeo’ horse. At the time I got Flash, I had Mr Fast Eddie, who I just sold but I won circuit finals on him. “Eddie” was a true rodeo horse—run in mud, walls or no walls, anywhere—he would make the same run every time.
I enjoy rodeo; I love the rodeo atmosphere. My ultimate dream is to make the National Finals Rodeo. Flash had been running great and I decided that I could win good money over the Fourth of July and see if Flash could handle the rodeos. Prescott was our first rodeo back and he ran a 16.7 on a standard pattern, and the third barrel wasn’t on the wall, and he turned it. I was shocked; I think he matured! I entered up the whole month of July, even though I only planned to do the Fourth of July. He did so good, I stayed out here. I want to try and get around the top 50 of the world to get into some of those big rodeos next year.
BHN: You have more than Flash in your trailer, how do you decide what horse gets the call at what rodeo?
Haluptzok: That’s one of the hardest things about rodeo, especially if you have multiple nice ones, is to pick who runs where. Right now what I am doing is running Flash at the larger, added-money rodeos, and Remi at the smaller ones because I haven’t had her as long to know her as well. And, if there is any mud, Remi runs. Flash doesn’t turn great when the barrel is off the wall, so with the exception of running him at Cheyenne, where the third barrel is in the middle of nowhere, I will run Remi. They all excel at different kinds of things—Remi is outdoor with no walls, Flash is indoor. Flash doesn’t handle shallow ground, Remi stands up really well. Having both seasoned horses on the trailer has them really complimenting each other.
BHN: What are you looking forward to the rest of this year?
Haluptzok: I am pretty excited about running at Cheyenne; I’ve only ever run here once. I am also really excited to go to Nampa, Idaho, because it is a tiny indoor and a barrel racing atmosphere. Flash loves indoors, so I am really excited to run him there. The rest of the year, Caldwell and some of the big ones in Washington are on my list. I am trying to decide if I want to go to Pendleton or not, because the pen looks fun but kind of scary. As of right now, barrel racing is my career and I love every minute of it.
