Forrest Fisher and Daniel Braman IV made the most of a Texas Circuit weekend, winning Weatherford and Mesquite to put themselves in position for a trip to the Texas Circuit Finals.
The longtime friends won the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Frontier Days and PRCA Rodeo in Weatherford, Texas, with a 4.7-second run worth $3,595 each. In the same 24 hours, Fisher and Braman won Mesquite, Texas, June 13 with a 5.3-second run worth another $1,056 a man.
The $4,651 weekend moved Fisher, 30, of Anderson, Texas, to No. 6 in the Texas Circuit header standings with $20,929.73 won, while Braman, 29, of Refugio, Texas, sits No. 5 in the heeling with $19,660.73.
At Weatherford, Fisher knew the steer had been stronger the week before at Big Spring, so he left nothing to chance.
“They ran him at Big Spring, and he was pretty low headed and strong, so I just went at him with everything I had,” Fisher said. “Daniel kind of stuffed it to him. Worked pretty good.”
Braman gave Fisher most of the credit for the 4.7-second run, but he still did his part on the back end.
“The steer was supposed to be stronger,” Braman said. “Forrest did a really good job. He did 99% of it. I just caught him by two feet.”
In Mesquite, Fisher and Braman were first team out and had watched a video of their steer ahead of time. Fisher thought the steer looked good, but Braman wasn’t so sure.
“Forrest sent me a video of our steer,” Braman said. “Forrest said he was good, but I’ll be honest, I kind of thought he was fast—and he was. Forrest was off the barrier, and he did a really good job. He threw it a long way, got a half in, turned him and I just caught him. It was a good run.”
Fisher was a little less generous with himself when it came to the Mesquite run.
“I almost jerked his steer down at Mesquite as he was throwing, and he heeled him somehow,” Fisher said. “He was way stronger than we thought.”
Fisher headed on Pacman, the gray gelding owned by his NFR-qualifying step dad Todd Arthur. Fisher said Arthur got the horse as a 4-year-old out of California, and Fisher started riding him at the end of 2022.
“I’ve had him ever since,” Fisher said. “I bet he’s 14.”
Recently, Pacman has been promoted to play day a-string for Ford, Fisher and wife Whitley’s 2-year-old son.
Braman was on his gray horse 8 Ball—registered as Leo Dual Pep—whom he got from Clint Johnson when the horse was 6 and still green. Braman has had him for about four years.
“I think Clint had just maybe started taking him to some ropings,” Braman said. “He’s got old foundation-bred stuff.”
Fisher and Braman have known each other since they were kids, jackpotting and going to youth rodeos together. They had never really hit the rodeo trail as a team until this season, though.
“We’ve been tight for a long time,” Fisher said. “We never really rodeoed together, but we always jackpotted and went to the youth rodeos together.”
The pair plans to stay close to home through the summer, mixing Texas Circuit rodeos with amateur rodeos. Braman said they’ll likely hit Pecos, Abilene, Stamford and the Fourth of July run in Texas, while Fisher said they’ll play the rest of the season by ear.
With both ropers now inside the top six of the Texas Circuit standings, the circuit finals are well within reach. For Fisher, that would mark a first.
“I think we got the circuit finals made,” Fisher said. “It’d be the first time I ever made them.”
Braman isn’t calling it done just yet, but he knows the weekend helped.
“I think we should make them,” Braman said. “I really don’t know. There’s not a ton of circuit rodeos left, but I guess we’ll just have to see.”