Cole Davison and The Notorious Spook Slip Off Rodeo Road for Zesterra Open 6-&-Under Win at Royal Crown

Cole Davison and The Notorious Spook at the ProRodeos across Canada behind Tate Kirchenschlager, but Davison took a break with the 5-year-old to come across the border and win the Royal Crown Open 6-&-Under Heeling with a 488.86, worth $5,846.00.

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Two-time National Finals Rodeo heeler Davison, 33, of Stephenville, Texas, has been on the horse since owner Tallian Thompson bought him as a 3-year-old from Texas’s Alan Chappell. Chappell is also who started out with Darren Johnson’s ARHFA World Champ X My Ich, shown by Dakota Kirchenschlager to the title in 2020.

“We showed him his 3-year-old year at Fort Worth because one of ours didn’t make it,” Davison said. “Tallian just entered him, and he actually did pretty good. Tate and I haven’t done the best for him, but Tallian actually congratulated Tate (Kirchenschlager) on turning four in a row for him and me too for catching for him. But he’s a good horse.”

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They call the sorrel gelding “Gibson”, after the Canadian whiskey, because Thompson bought him north of the border. He’s by Smart Spook and out of the Shining Spark mare Shining Bubbles.

“He’s a real heel horse, and he’s easy,” Davison said. “He’s not a big slider, or a big, violent horse, but he’s really simple. He scores, he can run, he stays round through the turn and he never pulls on ya. Honestly, he’s exactly what I want in a heel horse now. That’s what this deal is going to—not so showy, big, run-in-there slides, but just controlled.”

This is Davison’s third Royal Crown Futurity win of 2022, all on different horses. Davison won the Royal Crown’s heeling maturity aboard CR Deeva in Buckeye in February and followed it up with the 4-year-old Royal Crown Futurity win on Meradas First Diver in Waco.

“They use Mexican steers, and it’s a real setup. I like how much money they’re putting into it, and I know that’s not easy. It requires a bunch of sponsors. and a bunch of stallion owners to do that. But I think that’s where we’re headed, and everybody needs to stand behind that to do it and push it, because that’s how our sport is going to grow more than it has already.”

Davison will take the continue to rodeo on Gibson and haul him to the futurities, but he’ll be Thompsons eventually.

“I think he likes him too much to let me keep rodeoing on him,” Davison laughed. “But we’ll go ahead and say now that he’ll let me take him if I need him.”