Clyde Bolejack and his longtime girlfriend, Sierra Branson, run BB Performance Horses out of Lipan, Texas. After winning less than $30,000 at the rope-horse futurities and surviving unthinkable personal tragedy in 2024, 24-year-old Clyde won over $200,000 in 2025.
Q: How long have you been training rope horses full time, and what were you doing before?
A: I grew up in Elbert, Colorado. My dad (Diamond Bolejack) had a ranch. I helped him there, riding horses and ranching. I’ve been training horses full time down here in Texas the last six years.
Q: Talk about the growth of the rope horse futurity industry in recent times.
A: I started going to the futurities about four years ago, and when I look back on horses we thought were pretty good at the time, they wouldn’t hold a candle to these horses now. The industry’s grown, and there are more people getting into it and better horses all the time. People can buy nice prospects, and in three years they can either sell them or use them for themselves. There’s way more money in it now, and I only see it getting bigger and better every year.
Q: What services does BB Performance Horses offer?
A: Training is the main thing. We sell a few, but it’s mostly about making good horses and the futurities for us.
Q: What makes you and Sierra a great team, and who does what?
A: We share the same goals, and obviously both want to win and make good horses for our customers. We work really well together. We have other people who work for us, but we don’t make decisions without each other. Everything we do is 50-50. This is our job, and I couldn’t do it without her. Sierra manages the barn and general care of the horses, and handles the office work. I stay in the arena all day long.
Q: What are your goals for your horse training program?
A: My goal for 2025 was to win the (American Rope Horse Futurity Association) intermediate trailer (the levels include non-pro, limited, intermediate and open), and we got that done (he’s an intermediate based on his World Series numbers, which are a 6 header and 7.5 heeler).
Q: What kind of horses are you trying to make?
A: Most of them are going to go back to their owners when they’re done at the futurities, and they’re going to want to jackpot or rodeo on them. Either way, they’ve got to be easy. You’ve got to make horses people want to buy, own and ride.
Q: Describe your training style.
A: My style with horses is quiet. When we get to the futurity, they’ve got to walk in the box and stand like a statue on both sides, or they’ll dock you points. From start to finish, they need to be quiet and relaxed, so I’m quiet with them while still getting my point across.
Q: Do you ever just go jackpot?
A: Yes, sometimes in our off-season, from about November to the middle of February, I’ll take my 3-year-olds to some jackpots around the house, and haul them a little bit before we start showing them at 4. If I’m at a jackpot, I’m most likely showing young horses some new sights.
Q: What’s a typical day at home look like?
A: I feed, and Sierra cleans the stalls. Then our help shows up, and we start saddling. I either start with the head horses or the heel horses, and get everything ridden. I rope all day, every day.
Q: Which rope horse trainers do you look up to most?
A: I really couldn’t pick one, because I’ve pretty much gone to all the guys’ places and picked their brains. I’ll take advice from anybody. You can take 10 different pieces of advice from 10 different people, and translate some of it in a way that makes sense for you.
Q: Talk about the difference between rodeo and jackpot roping, and rope-horse futurity roping.
A: At the futurities, you’re not trying to be super fast. Your time does count toward your score, but how your horse works means the most. The steers and setups are always good, and all the horses are good. At most of the futurities, there are way more catches than at any jackpot I’ve ever been to.
Q: Do jackpot and rodeo guys look for different traits in partners than futurity trainers look for in helpers?
A: At the futurities, I look for somebody who has a lot of good help horses, and doesn’t overload himself with trying to help too many people. I’m basically just looking for someone with good horses who understands the game—how to get out of the barrier and catch. If you’re trying to show a heel horse and your header breaks the barrier, that goes against you. That helper has to set the run up, so you can show your horse. That goes for both ends.
Q: Do you consider yourself equally strong as a header and a heeler when it comes to showing?
A: I’ve heeled since I was little, and have more heel horses now. It’s probably my strong suit, just because I’m so comfortable heeling. But I also show head horses, and really enjoy that, too.
Q: What do you consider the highlight of your roping career so far?
A: 2025. I’m proud of how we overcame a huge challenge in 2024, and made 2025 into something special instead of throwing in the towel.
Q: On October 23, 2024, you and Sierra suffered the unimaginable when you lost your year-old son, Grayson Colt, in a house fire. Has surviving such unthinkable heartbreak made you stronger?
A: It most definitely has. We had two options: Give up, or try to make something good out of something really bad. You can’t let something like that defeat you, and we didn’t want to quit working for what the three of us were building. If we’d quit, we’d have thrown the whole plan out the door. It still tests us, but it made our faith stronger and we didn’t give up. We had a great year in 2025, and it just makes me want to do better, because I don’t want to give up on our plan and our dream.
Q: After having a record year in 2025, what are your hopes and dreams for 2026?
A: To build off of 2025. We can do this. We proved that to ourselves. We just want to build off of a great year, and see where it takes us. I would like to win more this year than I did last year. So I guess you’d say that’s the new goal.
—TRJ—
