Stephanie Braman took the win in Round 1 and followed with a 3.1-second run in Round 2 to finish with 5.8-seconds on two head and claim the title along with $3,938 at the Resistol Rookie Roundup in Fort Worth, Texas.
Drawing first in the round meant setting the tone early. Braman took advantage of it, putting a fast time on the board and letting the rest of the round play out behind her.
“I was the first one out,” 56-year-old Braman said. “I didn’t know the calves, but it worked out.”
By the second round, the approach shifted.
“I kind of played a little safer on the barrier,” she said. “I dang sure didn’t want to break it and cost myself there.”
The 3.1-seocnd run wasn’t flashy, but it didn’t need to be. Braman made a businessman run and it paid off.
“The average pays too,” Braman said.
Braman might be a rookie in the WPRA, but she’s not new to roping.
She stepped away from breakaway for nearly 15 years, back when there weren’t many places to go. When she came back, it wasn’t automatic.
“It was kind of a struggle coming back,” she said. “There’s just a lot of things I’m working on.”
In the weeks leading up to the Rookie Roundup, Braman had been working on her delivery and focusing on coming across the line aggressive, two adjustments that showed up in Fort Worth.
“I was focusing on that,” she said.
For the win, she rode 8-year-old mare Sparkling CD, whom she calls “Louise”,. The 2017 buckskin by Dual Spark out of CD Olean mare – CD Playgirl, a horse she found after deciding to fully commit to breakaway again. Starting over meant exactly that—no horse, no setup, no guarantees.
“I didn’t have anything,” Braman said.
Louise changed that.
“She’s been a blessing,” Braman said.
Braman said her decision to come back—and the horses she’s found since—are rooted in her faith, something she leans on when things aren’t going right and what she credits for putting her where she is now.
Since then, Braman has built a small group of horses that fit her, including one her traveling partner, Kirby Rawlinson, can ride. The two haul together and have found a rhythm on the road.
“We’re having a blast,” Braman said. “We just work well together.”
That rhythm is what she’ll carry into the summer. Braman is sitting near the top of the rookie standings, and her plan is straightforward—go where she can and keep improving.
“We’re going to hit everything they’ll let us in,” she said.
It’s a different landscape than the one she left years ago. Back then, opportunities were limited. Now, there are more places to go and more chances to win.
