Brooke Eddy caught the ProRodeo world by surprise when she won the first-ever San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo breakaway with an aggregate of 7.0 seconds on three head, gathering a total of $9,908.
Hailing from Rockwall, Texas, the former Texas A&M University rodeo team member hung up her spurs for several years following graduation to pursue her career in sales. Now 30 years old, Eddy is back on the ProRodeo trail hitting weekend events and gunning for the Texas Circuit Finals.
The Breakaway Roping Journal caught up to Eddy to hear her story and put a name to the face that won San Angelo.
BRJ: Tell us about how San Angelo came together.
Brooke Eddy: “I was super focused and drew two faster calves in the slack and roped in 2.4 and 2.5 seconds. I knew I was a half-a-second behind Allie [Masters] coming into the short go, but I told myself ‘No matter if everyone ahead of you misses, I am going at it to win it.’ After I roped, I thought I may have gotten the barrier. I was so nervous I didn’t get out and when they said I was clean I was so excited. I teared up in my interview afterward—it was a great rodeo. It’s definitely my biggest ProRodeo win by far.”
What horse did you ride there?
When I decided to get back into ProRodeo in 2020, the mare I was riding tore her Deep Flexor Tendon. A friend I ride with Stephen McLauchlin had this mare he called ‘Miss Kitty’ that was coming back from having a foal.
I started riding her and when I tell you this mare is the most athletic animal I’ve ever been on… she can move 10 different directions at once. She’s so talented, so fast, and nobody likes riding her because she’s so hard to ride. I bought her in January 2022.
I had only ever ridden horses that were soft and smooth before her. At first, we killed it together but then we got into some bad habits and she took advantage of me. You have to ride her a certain way [in the box] because she’s not going to just stand there. That’s something we’ve really overcome together, and she’s gotten a lot better.”
You’ve mentioned your mindset, can you tell us about it in one sentence?
I’d say some of the biggest things are to never doubt yourself and always look at every opportunity as a possibility.
Tell us a little more about your background.
I grew up rodeoing. I was put on a horse as a newborn and started riding on my own at 2. We were hardcore junior rodeo-ers and played select sports growing up. We had an RV and bumper pull setup—go to a junior rodeo, volleyball tournament and back to a rodeo. For college, I rodeoed for Texas A&M and graduated in 2015. Then, I focused on my career for the next couple of years and sold all my breakaway horses except one mare.
So, you came back to ProRodeo 2020 and built up to this win. How does this payday change things?
Going forward, I’ve got to sit down and look at my goals for the year. I plan on trying to make the Texas Circuit Finals this year.
