Austyn Tobey and Design In Red win the Average and Year-End titles at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals in Louisville, Kentucky on November 13-15.
Back-to-back year-end champion Austyn Tobey and her 2016 mare Design In Red (Slick By Design x Rc Back In Black x Ninety Nine Goldmine) kicked off the Great Lakes Circuit finals with a 15.43 to split third place in the round despite a fall at the third barrel.
“My first run in Louisville started off amazing,” Tobey said. “Frosty was working outstanding but lost her hind end coming into the third and we went down pretty bad, she fell again coming out of the turn so we lost a lot of time.”
Tobey and “Frosty” won the year-end title in 2024, but have yet to claim an average title in Louisville. While Tobey rodeos on her other horses during the summer, Frosty is her main mount for the circuit finals and winter building rodeos.
“Getting to run her at circuit finals and possibly some winter rodeos are usually my goals,” Tobey added. “She holds down the fort at home during the summer and enjoys every second of being a horse.”
After a fall in the first round, Tobey knew she might not feel 100% in the next run and questioned if she would fire. Frosty proved her wrong to clock a 15.16 and win the round.
“She did just that again in round three to split that win,” she said. “I held her pretty square and took some extra steps in round three because by her third run sometimes she’ll get too snappy and drag over a barrel, but she listened to me and still clocked! Frosty is simply a unicorn. She has been through a lot in her short 9 years of life, battling different injuries. She is a fighter, every run on her is just a blessing.”
Tobey bought Frosty from Cayla Melby early in her 4-year-old year and later found success at futurities on her.
“Cayla helped me a bunch that year and continued to jump on her when I was gone at the rodeos,” Tobey explained. “She just never stopped trying for me. She likes the buildings a lot so I try to keep her healthy to just run those. She does very well at the summer rodeos as well but I have other horses to run during the summer and her breaks are more important.”
This summer Tobey mostly ran TR Lying Badger (“Bam Bam”) and Frisky Ta Fame (“Frisky”).
“This summer went well, I didn’t go to many circuit rodeos but the girls did well when we went,” she added. “I spent quite a bit of time out west in June and July going to some bigger ones. Bam Bam and Frisky held their own and kept us up there in the world standings.”
Tobey and Bam Bam won the Roughrider Cup in Mandan and finished No. 34 in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association world standings. After running Frosty in Louisville, Tobey added a circuit finals average title to her accomplishments.
First round: 1. Nikki Reynolds, 15.22 seconds, $2,924; 2. Emma Ricke, 15.31, $2,193; 3. (tie) Lucy Ferch and Austyn Tobey, 15.43, $1,096 each.
Second round: 1. Austyn Tobey, 15.16 seconds, $2,924; 2. Riley Youngman, 15.19, $2,193; 3. (tie) Kaydi Anderson and Caitlyn Clair, 15.21, $1,096 each.
Third round: 1. (tie) Austyn Tobey and Riley Youngman, 15.10 seconds, $2,558 each; 3. Kaydi Anderson, 15.15, $1,462; 4. Kari Diedrich, 15.18, $731.
Average: 1. Austyn Tobey, 45.69 seconds on three head, $4,386; 2. Lucy Ferch, 46.12, $3,289; 3. Kari Diedrich, 46.15, $2,193; 4. Nikki Reynolds, 46.41, $1,096.
