Few breakaway ropers can say they won more than $70,000 in two days, but that’s exactly what Taylor Munsell did at the 2024 Roping Futurities of America in Waco, Texas, on Rey O Grand Cat.
Winning $68,000 in the futurity slot roping and an additional $5,000 in the winner-takes-all invitational shootout, Munsell put the first QData earnings on gelding “Miles.”
The pair stopped the clock in 2.77 and 3.54 seconds to best No. 2 Erin Johnson by a slim 0.13-of-a-second in the slot average—which was only open to 4-year-olds and paid a total of $199,000.
“The futurities and horse training are a great deal. It’s bringing such a light to the talent of these horses, and while it’s crazy what we expect of these babies, so many of them step up to the plate and do it. Futurities are going to give a lot of people another place to go and make a living in the breakaway industry even if they’re not a rodeoing. It’s letting everybody find their niche.” – Taylor Munsell
About Rey O Grand Cat
The 4-year-old bay is owned and trained by Lex Christie of Anson, Texas. Christie bought the horse as a two-year-old and according to Munsell, he showed his propensity for breakaway roping early on.
“He felt really close to being finished,” Munsell said. “He was super good in the box, and easy to get a start on. He’s a very good-minded horse. When he hit the corner, he knew his job. He didn’t mess around in there and there was no question on if he was going to leave when I dropped my hand.”
Munsell had only gotten to ride Miles once in a jackpot following Rodeo Austin, placing just out of the money in the average. Their time to get to know each other was brief—but the jackpot coupled with the slew of videos Christie had been sending her since he first asked her to ride the gelding in December was all Munsell needed.
“He was good about spotting the cattle out there in front of me as good as one can do, especially from that age,” Munsell said. “I feel like Lex trained [Miles] so he has the qualities and head start he needs to [rodeo] someday. Their family was ecstatic to see me ride him, and I think they have high hopes I can ride him again in the future. Lex said, ‘I don’t think he’ll help you win a World Championship this year or next year, but hopefully in the future he can.’”
Taylor Munsell’s Futurity
With a field littered with names including Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Cheyanne McCartney, Jackie Crawford and more, Munsell’s slot victory wasn’t a cakewalk.
A pen of dairy-bred calves with some different speeds mixed in meant knowing the calf she’d drawn played in her favor, and Munsell put the accelerator on the floor in Round 1.
“I drew a sharper calf I knew I could take a good start on,” Munsell said.
Round 2’s draw was a slower calf, so with her twelfth-from-last vantage point, she mostly knew what it would take to clinch the average title.
“I just wanted to miss the barrier and keep the calf out in front of me to give the horse an honest chance to work,” Munsell said.
Work he did, and the bay gelding sealed the eye-popping payday at the 2024 RFA in Waco.
