Rickie Fanning’s two-time NFBR-qualifying gelding Lavaca Sting was laid to rest Monday, May 6, near Spearfish, South Dakota, after struggles with a bowel disease and leaky gut.
“It was pretty unexpected,” Fanning (formerly Engesser) said. “He was doing better, so after I was done roping at Guymon I brought him back up to my parents house in South Dakota. He was there one night, ate all his grain and pretty much died in my dads arms during feeding the next morning.”
Originally purchased in 2018 to be a practice horse, Rolo—who was blind in his left eye—proved himself to be a gamer from the start.
“The mare I had got hurt so I college rodeoed on him [in 2018] and did some ProRodeos,” Fanning said. “I went on to ride him through the rest of college and he pulled most of the weight getting me to my two [NFBR]s. It was a blessing in disguise when my mare got hurt because I didn’t know what animal I had until I start ProRodeoing on him.”
At 22-years-old, “Rolo” was a 2022 NFBR Go-Round winner and the oldest horse to compete at the 2023 NFBR. He competed right up until a few months before his passing, advancing Fanning to the short go at the 2024 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, finishing No. 2 with a 1.9-second run and earning total of $14,500. Fanning’s sister Taylor advanced to the short go at the 2024 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo as well, earning $5,000.
“One of my most memorable runs was at the NFBR in 2022. I went in wanting to win a round, and Round 5 we ended up winning. In the victory lap he ran off with me and it was one of my favorite memories.” – Rickie Fanning
Rolo had shown signs of sickness following Fort Worth, and a decline in body condition led Fanning to make the decision to retire him a short time later. His journey to South Dakota was a trip to the old folks home.
Rolo’s magic
On the ground Rolo was pushy and opinionated, but according to Fanning, he had a heart of gold in the arena that saw him try to get his rider in a good spot no matter the circumstances.
“He made my job so easy,” Fanning said. “He never took away my throw, he never tried to screw me over. He made me enjoy rodeoing and getting to compete and win. He made me who I was in the roping. He taught me to keep pushing. If something didn’t feel right, he was going to do whatever it took to get me in that spot and get that shot. I just needed to find a will and a way to win, and I think that’s what he instilled in me.”
That try led Fanning’s peers to vote Rolo as the “Horse With the Most Heart” at the 2023 NFBR.
“He sat weird in the box because he was blind in that left eye,” Fanning said. “He’d sit with his head to a 45-degree angle to the left. Sometimes he was good in the box, and sometimes he was a pain. But if I got him in the corner… it didn’t really matter where I was sitting, as soon as I dropped my hand he was going to go and fire hard.”
Despite Rolo’s absence in her trailer, Fanning is planning on ProRodeoing for the remainder of 2024 with gray gelding “Copper.”
