The best and brightest of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association showed up and showed out at the 2023 WPRA World Finals and Elite Barrel Racing open races.
Elite Barrel Racing and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Finals drew competitors from open to youth, aged-event to WPRA cardholders and Permit members to the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas, from November 9–12. More than $120,000 was up for grabs in added money.
WPRA Card Holder Champion Skyla Peters and Pistol Whistle
“It’s surreal,” Sublette, Kansas, cowgirl Skyla Peters said.
She continued her hot streak with her equine partner Pistol Whistle by placing fourth, first and second in the respective rounds of the WPRA Card Holder race, earning the average title with a time of 47.363. Including Open carryovers, the pair went home with over $16,500 — $12,000 of which will count toward the 2024 WPRA world standings. The win also granted Peters entry to Rodeo Houston, which will be a first-time experience for her.
A 15.849 in Round One got the duo off to a good start, placing fourth.
“Round One, it’s just a first-run deal with ‘Pistol’ and I. He’s not a barrel hitter, but if anything I can get in my head and make him a little more shoulder-y,” Peters said. “But he’s so good, he doesn’t really make mistakes. He’s just easy for me. I say that, and he’s not actually easy, but I’ve made enough runs on him now that I know what to expect. After we placed fourth, I thought, ‘OK, I can do this.’ I had Houston in the back of my mind.”
And do it they did, as the pair came out firing and clocked a blistering 15.708, winning the second round and posting the fastest time of the weekend.
“Honestly, it was picture perfect for me,” Peters said. “It was just Pistol, in and out and easy. I knew coming out of the arena he was going to clock good. If you do your job right, he’ll do his. I think that was my first time ever to fist pump.”
Going into the short round, Peters certainly had Rodeo Houston on her mind.
“It’s fun for me to come into the short go leading [the average], because I know there’s a bit of cushion and I just have to go in there and turn three barrels,” Peters said. “I knew God had a plan; I knew there was a reason we had done good in the other rounds. If I was supposed to go to Houston and supposed to rodeo next year, He would show me — and He definitely did.”
A smooth 15.806 placed second in the short round and kept Peters on top of the average leaderboard.
“On the first and third, he definitely tried me a little. We came into the first a little tight. When I got done and called my husband (who was watching the webcast from the parking lot of their home church), I said ‘God was really with me on that run,’” Peters said. “I wasn’t going for a round win, but Pistol is the kind of horse you either go for first, or you’re going to hit a barrel. There’s no in-between. I can’t safety up on him. If we do hit a barrel, it’s usually my overthinking that caused it.”
Since purchasing Pistol from Billie, Hollie, and Jacie Etbauer in May, the pair has been setting arena records and proving tough to beat at races and rodeos all over the Midwest. Even with their successes, Peters did make one change in Waco.
“I’ve always warmed him up in a Petska and then changed to my running bit (a Flaharty Duke),” she shared. “I talked to Hollie on Friday and told her I felt like he’s getting over-bridled and behind the bit. We decided to just warm him up in the running bit to keep him from getting too soft. Hollie and Jacie are a God-send; they are just amazing people who really want to see us succeed.”
WPRA Permit Champion Emily Ward and Frenchmansnvousangel
Texas native Emily Ward has her friend Sophie Dunn to thank for talking her into buying her WPRA Permit a mere two weeks before the finals. Running for the first time in Waco, 18-year-old Ward and her 11-year-old mare Frenchmansnvousangel got faster each round, and a 48.627 on three runs earned the first-timers the WPRA Permit championship.
Ward is a freshman student-athlete on the rodeo team at Cisco College, majoring in business. Her partnership with “NV” began in May — after losing her good horse to a freak accident in January, Ward spent the next few months searching to find just the right replacement.
“They tell you everything happens for a reason,” Ward said. “The horse we had to put down was really special to me, and NV has been the perfect replacement. Everyone said the right horse would come along, and the Lord did that for a reason.”
The pair placed eighth in Round One with a 16.461.
“The first round of the Permit race, she wasn’t as snappy as normal,” Ward shared. “I told my mom I thought she was sore, and we had Lisa Hall, who is like family, chiropractor and Magnawave her. I think that’s why she got faster, because she was starting to feel like herself again.”
A 16.264 in Round Two earned $560 for third place, and the pair shaved off even more in the short go to clock a 15.902, earning $628 for the round win and $1,082 for first place in the Permit average.
“She loves it, truly. We call her the Barbie Dream Horse, especially when I put bright pink boots on her,” Ward said. “Everyone compliments her; she’s gorgeous. She has an attitude, but she’s just so special. I don’t know how we got so lucky to find her; she is just truly amazing.”
Ward thanks her parents Brant and Renee, her sister Catlyn, her grandparents, and Lisa Hall.
WPRA Derby Champion Abby Phillips and VF Expensive Taste
For Abby Phillips, the fourth time was the charm at the WPRA World Finals. After going home without a check her first three tries, the Texas cowgirl banked over $17,200 this year en route to winning the WPRA Derby and placing second in the Card Holder average, and punching her ticket to Rodeo Houston.
Similar to Peters and Ward, Phillips has been coming on strong in the latter part of 2023 with an equine partner that is helping to heal her heart. After tragically losing her main rodeo mount Crown Ta Fame in July, Phillips was on the verge of heading home from the rodeo road. But she still had 6-year-old mare VF Expensive Taste on her trailer, and she decided to give the youngster a two-week chance before going home.
“They step up at certain times, and she has definitely done that for my family,” Phillips said. “Her second rodeo performance ever at Nephi, (Utah), she won a check. Then at Preston, (Idaho), she ran her first 17.0 on a standard, and we eventually qualified for the Wilderness Circuit Finals. I’m so thankful for her, because when I lost my gelding, I didn’t know what the future held because I have all colts. For her to step up was pretty amazing.”
These days, the pretty mare doesn’t require much tuning, and Phillips mostly focuses on keeping her conditioned. But that has not always been the case.
“I got her when she was just coming 2, and we all laugh about it because they said she had 90 days but I rode her maybe a week and she was throwing me off,” Phillips said with a laugh. “I named her Andi Anderson, because she’s like that blonde from the movie ‘How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days.’ Just perfect; blonde and beautiful. Then you get to know her behind closed doors, and she’s got that spicy side. She’s a typical mare; she wants you to respect her. She’s probably tested me the most of any colt I’ve trained, because of her attitude and everything that goes along with it.”
Ryann Pedone helped Phillips bring the mare along by taking her to a handful of futurities and derbies while her owner was gone rodeoing.
“We knew the talent was there, but she wasn’t real consistent. She just didn’t have a lot of miles on her,” Phillips said. “The past three to four months with her, she has gotten consistent. From the first to third run at the WPRA World Finals, the videos all looked the same. She was incredible, super confident, and we couldn’t have asked much more from her.”
Phillips and her mount ran a 15.818 to win the first round of the Derby and placed second in the Card Holder and Open races. Round Two, the pair clocked a speedy 15.774 for second in the Derby and fourth in the Card Holder and Open. The Derby Championship was sealed, but another solid showing of 15.956 in the short go of the Card Holder race earned the pair second in that average as well.
Phillips thanks her family for their support and credits Ryann Pedone for helping her to where she’s at today.
WPRA Futurity Champion Wenda Johnson and Inspired Drifter
Wenda Johnson of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, had a monster weekend in Waco, pocketing over $14,400 total.
The four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier was the picture of consistency in becoming the Futurity average champion on Inspired Drifter, owned by Charlie Cole and Jason Martin of Highpoint Performance Horses. A 16.083 in Round One placed the duo second, worth $948. Another smooth run of 16.068 in Round Two placed third, earning $853. The total of 32.151 on two earned the pair $1,580 and the futurity title.
“Together, ‘Chrome’ and I made two solid, consistent runs,” Johnson said. “He felt good and seemed happy after each run, which is always important and a goal.”
Trained and patterned by Dude and Bill Overton in Arizona, the gelding was recently purchased by Highpoint Performance Horses.
“He is big, with a kind and willing personality,” Johnson shared. “The overall goal was to build confidence running around barrels closer to the walls and help him utilize his hindquarters and power on the back side of the turns. The next step for him is to provide experience in smaller indoor pens and work toward transitioning him to the rodeo setting. We placed seventh at the Lubbock Rodeo prior to the futurity, and he handled all things well.”
Johnson’s winning ways didn’t end with the futurity — she also had a standout weekend on 7-year-old gelding Steal Money, placing third in both the Derby and Card Holder averages and banking over $11,000.
“It is always fun to ride and run ‘Mo,’” Johnson said. “Together we made three solid, smooth, fast runs, getting a little better and faster each time. In the runs, I worked on staying soft in the turns, straight lines, and letting him fly.”
Since the 2023 rodeo season has wrapped up, Mo has been back at home and in his normal routine of exercise with his trainer Luis Hernandez.
“It is nice to get back to the original routine that has worked so well for our team,” Johnson said. “The weekend was fun, and I enjoy spending time with the horses and meeting and visiting with so many barrel racers.”
Johnson thanks her husband and family for their support, Luis Hernandez, and her sponsors: Kimes Ranch Jeans, Purina Feeds, Mid-South Equine Sports Medicine & Surgery, Highpoint Performance Horses, OE Nutraceuticals, Silver Horse Care, Ultimate PMF Sales and Equilytes.
This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
