Christi Braudrick won the Year-End and Aggregate Championships at the Prairie Circuit Finals in Duncan, Oklahoma, Oct. 14, 2023, with an aggregate time of 9.3 seconds on three head and $20,490 in year-end winnings.

For Braudrick, the victory is taking her to the NFR Open for the second time and giving her some closure on a broken barrier from more than 30 years ago.

“I went to High School Nationals in 1990 and broke out to win the championship in Shawnee, Oklahoma,” Braudrick, 51, recalled. “And that always stayed with me. I’ve done that throughout my life—push it too hard and break the barrier to win big things. Winning this was redemption. Throughout the Circuit Finals I thought, ‘This is your chance NOT to do that.’ I was just proud to get out of the barrier and catch.”

How she did it

On her way to the aggregate championship, Braudrick roped in 3.2, 2.4 and 3.7 seconds, respectively. She won round two for $2,149 and caught a $537 check in round three as well. Her first-place aggregate payday of $3,223 was what gave her the edge over leader Taylor Munsell, who finished $797 behind her with $19,693 won.

“Coming into the final round I knew there were four of us that had caught two calves,” Braudrick said. “I roped late in the round and, the way it came together, I had a 1-second buffer to play with to win. It was very surreal that it happened how it did. I knew it would have to play out a very specific way for me to have a chance to win and, ironically, it did.”

One of Braudrick’s top circuit wins this year was the co-sanctioned Santa Rosa Roundup in Vernon, Texas, in May. She tied for the win with Martha Angelone and fellow Prairie Circuit roper Kamie Landolfi, winning $3,439 with a 2.4-second time. 

Braudrick did it on 7-year-old mare SC Cats Zina Lena, known as “Mighty Mouse.” Standing at about 14 hands tall, Mighty Mouse was originally on track to be a heel horse before her owner decided she didn’t have the size they were looking for.

“Mighty Mouse has been a game changer for me. I bought her through Robson Palermon—the PBR guy. He had her in training for heeling and had been tracking steers on her. Within six months I was competing on her. She is so quick across the line and fits me well.”

The Christi Braudrick story

While many in the roping community may know Braudrick as the WPRA’s Eastern Roping Director or the rodeo coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, she’s someone who has prioritized her family both in and outside the arena. She is a mother of two—Jayci, 26; and Zane, 23—and grandmother to 2-year-old Kashton Barlow.

“I grew up roping with my dad, Gunter Gulager, who is a left-handed calf roper,” Braudrick said. “He amateur rodeoed a lot because he had three kids. I grew up with two younger brothers—one is Suart Gulager the steer wrestler. When I was growing up, there was not girl’s breakaway. I roped with the boys, and I think competing against them made me tougher.”

Braudrick wanted to attend Southeastern Oklahoma University and rodeo under Betty Gayle Cooper-Ratliff, but was offered a scholarship to Murray State College down the road from Southeastern instead. She bided her time and eventually transferred to Southeastern, growing close to Cooper. Her senior year of college, Braudrick and the Southeastern team finished Reserve Champions at the CNFR.

“I wear Betty Gayle Cooper’s spurs. She won them in 1975. She never got to see where breakaway is today because she passed away in 1999 from breast cancer. I credit her and those trailblazers for keeping breakaway roping alive when the added money wasn’t there. I’m not sure she could believe those spurs have roped for $50,000 at Houston, $45,000 at Fort Worth, $84,000 at the NFR Open and many more. Now, they got a Prairie Circuit Breakaway Championship.”

– Christi Braudrick

“Then I got married, had children and stepped away from the competitive side of roping for years,” Braudrick said. “I became involved with my kids’ junior rodeos and didn’t want to rodeo without them.”

Getting back in the game

Braudrick returned to Southeastern to coach rodeo in 2013 and was challenged by a student to compete a few years later.

“A kid at Southeastern has said, ‘Hey, I bet you can’t really rope,’” Braudrick said. “Because none of them had ever seen me compete. He had a good practice horse, so I got on it and did really well. Then the kids asked, ‘Why don’t you compete?’ And he really pushed me to get back in it.”

So, riding the practice horse, Braudrick began entering rodeos in 2018. Unbeknownst to her, she was poised to ride the breakaway tidal wave that was around the corner.

“I think I’d roped for about a year when Fort Worth came in and added all that money,” Braudrick said. “I was in the top 40 at that point, so I got to go.”

Since then, she’s competed at RodeoHouston and the NFR Open all while coaching and loving on her grandchild.

 Taylor Munsell will advance to the NFR Open

With Braudrick’s sweep of both spots that qualify ropers for the NFR Open in Colorado Springs, No. 2 finisher in the year-end standings Munsell will be joining Braudrick for the event.

“After attending the NFR Open the past two years I can say that it is one of the best rodeos of the summer,” Munsell said. “A big shoutout goes to Christi Braudrick for coming in clutch at the Circuit Finals to not only take home the year-end title but also the average. I am really looking forward to making another trip to the NFR Open to run at their big payouts.”

Prairie Circuit Finals Breakaway Results

First round: 1. Taylor Munsell, 2.7 seconds, $2,149; 2. (tie) Ari-Anna Flynn and Cheyanne McCartney, 2.9, $1,343 each; 4. Sierra Heinert, 3.0, $537.

Second round: 1. Christi Braudrick, 2.4 seconds, $2,149; 2. Paige Wiseman, 2.7, $1,612; 3. Beau Peterson, 2.8, $1,074; 4. Ari-Anna Flynn, 3.0, $537.

Third round: 1. Sierra Heinert, 2.8 seconds, $2,149; 2. Emma Charleston, 2.9, $1,612; 3. Cheyanne McCartney, 3.0, $1,074; 4. Christi Braudrick, 3.7, $537.

Average: 1. Christi Braudrick, 9.3 seconds on three head, $3,223; 2. Cheyanne McCartney, 9.6, $2,417; 3. Sierra Heinert, 5.8 on two head, $1,612; 4. (tie) Ari-Anna Flynn and Beau Peterson, 5.9, $403 each.

Prairie Circuit Breakaway Year-End Standings

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