Richard and Buhler Pick Up Steam with Tucson Win
Rhen Richard and Jeremy Buhler were the third high call team at the La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros Rodeo in Tucson, Arizona, where they roped three steers in 20.5 seconds to take home $5,018 each for winning the average.

Rhen Richard and Jeremy Buhler won the La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros Rodeo in Tucson, Arizona from third callback, roping three steers in 20.5 seconds to take home $5,018 each for the average win. 

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The La Fiesta de los Vaqueros (Celebration of the Cowboys) began in 1925 and has since grown into a nine-day long event centered around the Tucson Rodeo. Richard and Buhler each advanced their PRCA RAM World Standings to 20 and 10, respectively. 

“Rhen did such a good job on all three steers,” Buhler said. “He made all three lay up so they were fast or really good.”

Jeremy Buhler on Pork Chop Hubbell Rodeo Photos

Aboard his brother Kaden’s 9-year-old horse Kit Kat by a Kit Dual stud, Richard met the challenge of the long roping boxes, hitting the barrier just right on all three steers he spun.

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“We got Kit Kat from Jake Barnes a year ago, he is just starting to become a solid horse and scores really good and is easy,” Richard, who qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in both tie down and heading in 2018, said. “The first steer we had he was pretty strong, Jeremy kind of got out there and let the steer see him and so he stepped left. I thought we made a pretty good run, and we were 7.5.”

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Two-time WNFR qualifier Buhler rode his sorrel, registered as MCRNicolena, who he calls Pork Chop, a gelding he bought in 2017. Buhler, who won the average and the gold buckle at his first trip to the WNFR in 2016 and qualified again in 2017, is looking for a comeback appearance with Richard this year.

“I blew to our second steer and Jeremy heeled him on the second hop,” Richard said. “We were 6.4, and that put us 13.9 on two, we came back third high call. The steer we had in the short round was a good steer, he kind of wanted to run a bit lost, so I just ran all the way to him and made sure I didn’t take a dumb shot. Jeremy heeled him pretty fast and we finished good. We were 6.6, the next two teams had a little bit of bad luck and we ended up getting the win.”

Richard and Buhler Hubbell Rodeo Photos

Richard and Buhler roped together Buhler’s first year roping full-time in 2014, which was also Richard’s first full year on the head side. 

“I’ve stayed at his place in the spring, and we’ve gotten to rope together quite a bit over the years,” Buhler said. “Both of us are trying to get the most out of our horses and trying to make the same run very time, whether the steer is fast or slow. We don’t really work on a black-out, throw-as-fast-as-you-can sort of run, though we know we’ll need to do that occasionally. We just want to be smooth.” 

From Tucson, Richard and Buhler are heading to RFD-TV’s The American Semifinals, followed by the LoneStar Shootout and RodeoHouston. They plan to rodeo in California in the spring then head north to the Canadian rodeos until Reno. TRJ

First round:

1. Kolton Schmidt/Hunter Koch, 5.7 seconds, $3,346 each; 2. Clay Tryan/Jake Long, 5.9, $2,909; 3. Delon Parker/Ryan Zurcher, 6.4, $2,473; 4. (tie) Pedro Egurrola/Trevor Nowlin and Matt Sherwood/Trey Yates, 6.7, $1,818 each; 6. (tie) Dustin Bird/Sid Sporer and Austin Crist/T.J. Watts, 6.8, $945 each; 8. (tie) Aaron Macy/Jason Johe and Pace Freed/Austin Rogers, 7.0, $145 each.

Second round:

1. (tie) Clay Ullery/Tyce McLeod and Steven Duby/Jason Duby, 4.9 seconds, $3,127 each; 3. Garrett Rogers/Jake Minor, 5.0, $2,473; 4. Hayes Smith/Evan Arnold, 5.1, $2,036; 5. Trey Blackmore/Kory Bramwell, 5.3, $1,600; 6. Derrick Begay/Cory Petska, 5.5, $1,164; 7. (tie) Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II and Tyler Magnus/Truman Magnus, 5.9, $509 each.

Finals:

1. Clay Ullery/Tyce McLeod, 5.9 seconds, $1,428 each; 2. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 6.3, $1,182; 3. Blake Hirdes/Wyatt Hansen, 6.4, $936; 4. Rhen Richard/Jeremy Buhler, 6.6, $690; 5. Garrett Tonozzi/Dustin Davis, 7.4, $443; 6. Kellan Johnson/Carson Johnson, 7.9, $246.

Average:

1. Rhen Richard/Jeremy Buhler, 20.5 seconds on three head, $5,018 each; 2. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 21.1, $4,364; 3. Blake Hirdes/Wyatt Hansen, 21.2, $3,709; 4. Clay Ullery/Tyce McLeod, 21.3, $3,055; 5. Garrett Tonozzi/Dustin Davis, 21.4, $2,400; 6. Kellan Johnson/Carson Johnson, 22.5, $1,746; 7. Kolton Schmidt/Hunter Koch, 25.5, $1,091; 8. Pace Freed/Austin Rogers, 27.8, $436.

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