The 2024 Pendleton Round-Up Breakaway Championship went to Kelsie Domer and Coti Fuller—two talented ladies from different walks of rodeo life.
Fuller is a full-time chiropractor circuit rodeoing in the barrels and breakaway while Domer is full-time ProRodeo cowgirl heading for her third NFBR Qualification with more than $96K earned throughout the season.
Despite their starkly different seasons, the ladies’ Pendleton experience still paid dividends. Domer brought home $11,585 while Fuller rounded up $9,795.
Coti Fuller cracks into first-ever Pendleton short go
Fuller hails from Touchet, WA, and squeezes rodeo practice in-between her full-time gig as a chiropractor in Walla Walla.
“I’ve circuit rodeoed in the last few years, mostly in the barrels,” Fuller, 36, said. “I enter the breakaway pretty sparingly. Last summer I swore off breakaway because I was mad at it. This summer I entered a few rodeos and got the bug again, so I’ve been entering more towards the end of the season.”
Fuller’s been roping at the Pendleton Round-Up since 2021 on 11-year-old gelding “Slick.”
“I started roping on him as a head horse, and one day I breakaway roped a few calves on him. He really seemed to like it,” Fuller said. “So, he’s been my breakaway horse for the last few years. I also heel on him, and he’s a really easygoing guy. And when he stops, he uses all four feet really well. I feel safe on him at Pendleton.”
Fuller posted a 2.7-second time in the slack and advanced to her first Pendleton short go ever.
“[At Pendleton] you have to read your calf and see how it goes,” Fuller explained. “Slick was more nervous than I thought he’d be—he didn’t want to stand at first. In the short go I really just wanted to go rope one and place in the average. I told myself, ‘It’s just another calf at Pendleton.'”
Fuller and Slick captured their short go calf in 3.7 seconds—the fastest run of the day. Paired with her 2.7-second time, Fuller’s aggregate was 6.4 seconds, good for a Co-Championship with one of the toughest ropers in the ProRodeo game.
Kelsie Domer banks more than $14.5K in a weekend
Domer topped Pendleton slack on heel-horse-gone-breakaway pony “Paint” with a 2.4-second run. For Dublin, Texas’ Domer, it was the first time ever she’d gotten a time at the rodeo.
“This is my third year roping at Pendleton,” Domer, 33, said. “I told myself I wasn’t going to back off this year. I feel like I maybe backed off a little last year. I always second-guess myself [in setups like that], so I focused being aggressive.”
Her aggressive mindset had her sitting high call in the short go, watching her peers run calf after calf down the long, Pendleton lane. When it was her turn, Domer knocked her calf down with a 4.0-second run.
“This short round was the first performance I’d ever been to at Pendleton,” Domer said. “Coming back high call, I got to watch everyone go and knew exactly what I needed to do. Unfortunately, I didn’t even get to stay for the whole performance because I had to fly to Albuquerque.”
Although Domer missed out on the Pendleton Indian relay races, queen crowning and the “green mile” barrel racing, she managed to garner $2,937 with a tie for No. 2 with Shelby Boisjoli-Meged in Albuquerque, bringing her weekend total to $14,522.
“This weekend [of winning] takes a little weight off my back,” Domer said. “I’m not saying I’m safe [in the World Standings], I’m not going to back off, but now I can keep doing my job these next couple of weeks.”
Domer’s mount for Pendleton was “Paint,” a colorful departure from her usual partner “Little Man.” The 8-year-old grade gelding was added to her families’ herd as a 3-year-old and had been heeled on until Domer began breakaway roping on him in the spring.
“I took him to three or four rodeos in Texas before we hit the summer trail,” Domer said. “I made the short round with him at Cheyenne, but he was mostly a backup horse and Little Man’s support animal. He handled himself great on the grass.”
Little Man will be back in the corner with Domer as she looks to finish out the regular ProRodeo season. Her Pendleton and Albuquerque checks have bumped her to No. 7 in the world with $96,695 won.
