For a guy leading the PRCA world standings, Ty Blasingame was awfully afoot. He’d just won RodeoHouston, but the best horse he had in his rig was his 19-year-old gelding Blackie—a horse he’s had most of his life, but who didn’t fit every set up and might not last for the grueling summer run.
[LISTEN: Ty Blasingame on The Score Podcast]
[READ MORE: Blasingame and Lockett Win Rodeo Houston]
“I had this horse I’d ridden on the first three at Rodeo Houston,” Blasingame said. “It’s one I was trying, who was owned by Laurie Mills in Casper, and Justin and Jaden Johnson had been riding him a lot. I had intentions of buying him, but then I made myself think I might not get along with him. So I got back on the black at Houston, and ended up winning it.”
But a few days later, Blasingame got back on the yellow—an 8-year-old registered as Walts So Hollywood—to see if his own nerves at Houston got the better of him.
“Something changed and I got along with him really good after that,” Blasingame said.
He had a cool $55,500 in his pocket after winning Houston with one-time partner Kyle Lockett, so he ponied up some cash for the prolifically named Walt.
“He scores good,” Blasingame, who now resides in Casper, Wyoming, said. “There’s a few things I’ve been working on, and I haven’t really been going anywhere. We’ve been working at a bunch of box stuff and making sure he runs all the way to the cow, instead of me having to reach as much. He’s one of those horses if a guy goes to reaching, he’ll get away from you.”
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Blasingame, originally from Colorado, has $73,228.67 won on the year already, roping with Brandon Bates and Trevor Schnaufer, as well as Lockett. He last made the Finals in 2010 with Cody Hintz, and he finished 66th in the world last year, mostly circuit rodeoing, with $20,079 won.
Blasingame plans to rodeo with Bates for most of 2019, and he’s got his two old faithfuls—his black and his roan—to send in different rigs as the summer season picks up. But his hard-running, good scoring Walt will headline his horse team for the summer at Reno, the BFI, Greeley and Prescott. TRJ
