Beau Peterson and rodeo mount Rey Ahead Of Time came out on top in the Royal Crown All Ages Breakaway Roping in Buckeye, Arizona, with an aggregate of 10.54 seconds on three head, earning a total of $12,640.
It was the only one of the three breakaway divisions based on time—and Peterson knew exactly how to capitalize on the 8-year-old gelding she calls “Marty.”
“He felt good today,” Peterson said. “I’ve been tuning on him at home and he felt great on the first two. My third calf was a little stronger and we weren’t as sharp as I would have liked to be, but he was good.”
According to Peterson, Marty had been a little tight on calves one and two, so she makes sure to ride hard and net her third in the short go. Her times of 3.3, 3.21 and 4.03 meant she was out of the money in the rounds—only to win the big bucks in the average.
At 8 years old, Marty is still on the young side for a rodeo horse. But his skills from the futurity pen have been serving him well thus far, with 2024 ProRodeo wins including Lakeside, California, Filer, Idaho and a Reserve Championship in Reno, Nevada.
“Showing on them helps them transition to rodeo because they’ve seen the sights and had a little bit of pressure, but then you take them home and put them back together,” Peterson said. “So once you take them to rodeos, it’s more familiar to them.”
Peterson bought Marty in the spring of 2024 from Shane Hanchey. She’d been riding the horse at Hanchey’s, knew he was getting close to finished rodeo horse status and thought their styles would mesh.
“He’e been super solid and always done his job, so it was a no-brainer,” Peterson said.
For Peterson, the win was a little redemption on the day, too. She missed her calf in the short go on another horse and went into the All Ages short go with “a chip on my shoulder.”
“Winning this doesn’t make it feel better that I missed in that short round—because that’s somebody’s horse that they own—that’s hard for me to accept,” Peterson said. “But I hope I can keep riding that horse and redeem that for them in the future.”
For now, Peterson is balancing the ProRodeo and futurity game, still riding horses for Hanchey and taking other opportunities as they come.
