In only her second futurity appearance, 23-year-old Beau Peterson won first, second and third in the Royal Crown Rock Springs’ 6&Under Breakaway Futurity, netting $19,696 for the owners, breeders and stallion owners she rode for.
Peterson won first on CR Pepto Tuff Lena, a 2019 gelding by Woody Be Tuff out of CR Catalena Cat by High Brow Cat owned by Kaleb Driggers and trained in the breakaway by Gary Wells. A heel horse, CR Pepto Tuff Lena has $4,812 in two outings with Dakota Kirchenschlager at the helm, too.
“This is the first day I’ve ever rode that horse,” Peterson said. “It attests for how nice of a horse and how easy he is. He’s got a really cool style about him. You just gotta push him into the calf and let him work, and he does the rest.”
Peterson saw one video of the horse before backing into the corner, and she took Wells’ coaching complete the course. For their efforts, Peterson and CR Pepto Tuff Lena won $10,288 for a score of 324.10 on three.
“You had to sit there and see a little bit,” Peterson said. “There were a few that were running, but for the most part they weren’t just breaking and running. That shows how good of a mind that horse has sitting there and letting me see about halfway out, then running to them and stopping like he did.”
Peterson roped on four different horses in the 6&Under, winning second on Walter Johnson’s Rollin On The River by Smooth As A Cat out of Creedence Clearwater by Peptoboonsmal, worth $5,600 for an average of 317.25 on three.
She also rode Driggers’ Metallic Payday to an average score of 304.74 to win third and $3,808 for the owner, stallion owner and breeder.
“I roped at the Royal Crown in Oklahoma City, and that was my breakout I guess,” Peterson said. “I showcased myself decent there. It’s cool for people to ask for me to ride some. I train a few horses of my own, and I’ve rode quite a few young horses of my own. I feel like I have decent handle on them. I’ve ridden a lot of different horses over the years, and jumping around really helps.”
The Council Grove, Kansas cowgirl sits 16th in the WPRA ProRodeo Breakaway World Standings with $49,024.59 won in 75 rodeos as of August 15, 2023.
“I really enjoy the showing,” Peterson said. “It’s not as much pressure on me as the rodeoing. Because you can be a little off the barrier and run in the middle of the calf and show your horse off. This is a lot more fun and more relaxing.” BRJ