Luke Brown’s Fast Time died of colic June 10, 2022, just one day after the Brown family left their Lipan, Texas, home for the summer run of rodeos.
The horse, registered as Sugar Bar Gold Dust, was voted the 2016 Fan-Favorite Horse of the Year by readers of this magazine.
“Heartbroken to post this,” wrote Luke’s wife Lacy on her Facebook page. “This horse was legendary and gave so much to so many. I believe his greatest role was the past few years being Libby’s horse. If you knew him you knew he had the best personality, he was beautiful and always worked good. He did not have bad days. Sadly, the day after we left home he started to colic, he was rushed to the vet and after opening him up they found it was too late, too much damage had been done. We lost another one of the greats. He is going to be missed by so many. Thanks for all of the memories Fast Time. We love you and will never forget you.”
Fast Time Found Fame with Kaleb Driggers
Fast Time first drew the attention of fans as one of Kaleb Driggers’ string when the now-world-champ headed for Patrick Smith in 2014.
Driggers rode the horse at the NFR that year, placing in five rounds and winning $139,243 to finish seventh in the world.
Fast Time Won BIG with Colby Lovell
Driggers swapped ends and heeled for Brandon Webb in 2015, so Colby Lovell borrowed Fast Time for the 2016 NFR with Kory Koontz. Lovell won $109,423 on Fast Time at the Finals alone, so he traded Driggers four head horses—including his former NFR mount Vanilla Ice—for the gelding.
Lovell went on to win $122,245 on Fast Time in 2016, when he too stepped away from heading for a year to heel. That’s when Fast Time went to the Brown family.
Fast Time Found His Person with Libby Brown
Luke rode Fast Time in a variety of setups—including when he won $20,000 at the Broc Cresta Memorial in 2019—but most importantly, Fast Time became Luke and Lacy’s daughter Libby’s horse.
Fast Time appeared on the cover of Spin To Win Rodeo in 2016, then again on the cover of The Team Roping Journal in 2020. That’s got something to do with his dynamic good looks, as Driggers, Lovell and Brown always chose him for this magazine’s photo shoots.
This marks the fourth great equine loss in less than three years for Brown, who always meticulously cares for his mounts. Brown lost an up-and-coming NFR horse in a tragic accident in Wickenburg before the 2019 NFR, then he bid farewell to his great horse Slim Shady at 28-years-young in May 2021. The Brown family also said goodbye to Cowboy, Brown’s Cheyenne, BFI and American Champion mount in November 2021 at 17 to cancer.
The entire team at The Team Roping Journal sends our sincerest condolences to Luke, Libby and Lacy and everyone who loved Fast Time.
