As Macy (Fuller) Young backed in the box Sunday, April 23, 2023, in Red Bluff, California, before taking the average win with 6.3 seconds on two heads, she was accompanied by her husband, Chris, who was holding their 1-year-old daughter Hadley.

Hadley watched her mom, a 2020 NFBR qualifier and the 2014 CNFR breakaway champion, rope her calf in 3.5 seconds to secure the aggregate win. But Hadley’s watched her mom win on big stages before, like when she split the win at the Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2022. 

“The best part about having a family is you can’t be mad when you go and miss,” said Young, 30, from Wittmann, Arizona. “When you look at your little kid, they don’t know any different. They’re just happy. We have a lot of fun traveling and doing fun things outside of Rodeo.”

Young’s husband Chris, a PRCA heeler, helps Young every chance he can.

“My husband does a lot for me and my little girl,” Young said. “He sits back there, watches the score, lets me know what I need to see, he’s there making sure my ropes are good, that my horse is cinched up just perfect. I really couldn’t do it without him.”

Red Bluff Breakdown

Young drew a solid calf and took the first-round win with a 2.8-second run, bringing $1,659 to her pockets. 

“They told me he was really good, and I was real close on the barrier—too close for comfort,” Young said. “But it was just a good calf. Right after I roped—I was like seventh out—we went back to the trailer because our little girl needed a nap. We didn’t even get to watch.”

Before roping her second calf on Sunday, husband and wife worked up a game plan that was simple yet proven. 

“Chris asked me if was going for first before I even walked up there,” Young said. “I said, ‘No, I’m just going to see the start. I know I have a really good calf, and I’m just going to catch him, place in the average and get some more money.’ I wasn’t even paying attention to what anybody else was doing. I just roped the calf.”

Keeping to herself worked for Young as she was 3.5 seconds to win $685 and bring her the $2,488 average check, a feat achieved while riding 9-year-old “Boomer”—a bay gelding they raised that almost surprised them when he became her main mount. 

Mister Judge Boomer—his mother was a Judge Cash-bred barrel horse of Young’s and his sire goes back to Dual Pep—started his life as a barrel horse. Boomer was proven at the futurities, but, when illness hit, it changed his game. That’s when Young brought him to the roping pen.

“When he came back after that, he never really wanted to turn the first barrel,” Young explained. “And I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just give him about a year off and I’ll just rope on him.’ Well, he doesn’t like team roping, but he’s head-horse size, and I just went to breakaway roping on him. We haven’t ran a barrel since his 5-year-old year at the futurities.”

That barrel racing blood that runs through Boomer certainly helps Young on faster cattle. Young’s track record shows she thrives on longer scores, like Cheyenne and Red Bluff, where fast horses are vital.

“My horse that I have is just so fast,” Young said. “So, on those long scores, it makes me excited to go to the rodeo because I know I can back off of it and I’m going to be to the calf quicker than most would. That horse makes it easy for the long setups.”

Looking Ahead

Young is currently competing in California’s Clovis Rodeo, where she roped her first calf Monday, April 24, in 3.4 seconds. After this week, she will return home until Reno Rodeo in June. The Youngs each have a lot of young horses but, unsurprisingly for the woman who values family as much as she does, working for her family’s Downtown Arena in Wickenburg, Arizona, takes priority once September hits and the jackpots are back in swing.

“Come September, we get all of our jackpot steers back in, and it’s full blast working at the arena,” Young said. “We just don’t have time to ride those young ones. This is our little window to get them a little further along and then turn them out.”

Red Bluff Round-Up Results

First Round: 1. Macy Young, 2.8 seconds, $1,659; 2. Martha Angelone, 3.1, $1,442; 3. (tie) Makayla Boisjoli and Aspen Miller, 3.3, $1,118 each; 5. (tie) Kate Branco, Peggy Garman, Bradi Good, Malin Marino and Taylor Munsell, 3.4, $375 each

Second Round: 1. (tie) Samantha Fulton and Kendal Pierson, 2.8 seconds, $1,550 each; 3. Aspen Miller, 3.1, $1,226; 4. Josie Conner, 3.2, $1,010; 5. (tie) Peggy Garman and Macy Young, 3.5, $685 each; 7. (tie) Makayla Boisjoli and Shelby Boisjoli, 4.0, $252 each

Average: 1. Macy Young, 6.3 seconds on two head, $2,488; 2. Aspen Miller, 6.4, $2,163; 3. (tie) Peggy Garman and Kendal Pierson, 6.9, $1,677 each; 5. Makayla Boisjoli, 7.3, $1,190; 6. (tie) Samantha Fulton and Shelby Boisjoli, 7.8, $703 each; 8. Bradi Good, 7.9, $216