WPRA NEWS

Co-World Champs Crowned in the WPRA Futurity 2D Category

By Brittany Gunn

The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) crowned not one, but two 2D Futurity World Champions in Waco, Texas Nov. 7-10. Bailey Webb-Olson from Hugo, Minn. and Kalie Anderson of Carrington, North Dakota. Both cowgirls walked away with an unexpected 2024 Futurity Champion title with 100-points each, both now a two-time futurity world champion.

For Olson, riding Cudas Fury, barn name Elvira, a now 6-year-old paint mare by Barracuda and Twist of Fury by Fury of the Wind, a 2024 world championship title seemed fairly unlikely as she spent a majority of the year leading up to finals being bedridden.

            “This year was a little bit more challenging as I got pregnant and had a baby”, shared Olson. “I didn’t really get to season this futurity horse the way I would have hoped to because I was on bed rest most of my pregnancy, so she didn’t get hauled much. I’ve obviously felt very lucky to even get to accomplish this because her seasoning process was me just entering her.

            “I saw Elvira’s sale ad on Facebook and fell in love with her the moment I saw her and told my husband I had to have this filly.”

            She recalled it took a little bit of time for her to figure her out, as her husband Kyle typically starts them under saddle, and she gets to put the finishing touches on them and pattern them, but she bought her already trained.

            “Having her already trained was a little bit different for me and it took me a little while to figure her out,” she said. “I feel very grateful for winning this championship title and to share it with Kalie Anderson is really cool. She is a good friend, and we barrel race almost every weekend together all summer long. She is a really great person and trainer.”

            Webb-Olson is excited for the future with this horse.

            “I’m really looking forward to running in the Northern Region Futurity Tour as I plan to derby her this year and hopefully go to the WPRA Derby Finals,” she said. “The horse I won the futurity finals with in 2020, VR JoJo Wood Pay, I also plan to go to a few pro rodeos with her.”

            It is always great to add a WPRA World Title to one’s resume and Webb-Olson doesn’t take it for granted.

            “Being crowned a two-time Futurity champion has been some of my proudest accomplishments,” mentioned Webb-Olson. “It’s been really cool to be able to do it twice, especially this second time around because I didn’t think it would happen. My horse made me really proud.”

            In closing, Olson said, “if you want something, work for it, anything is possible and if you have a dream do whatever you need to do to make that dream happen. Make sure you have a good support system and never stop learning and pushing to be the best you can be.”

For Anderson, as a North Dakota native, she has been no stranger to the world of agriculture and ranching. When Anderson isn’t busy working at the North Dakota State University Carrington Research Extension Center, managing a 100-head Angus cattle ranch with her husband and raising and training horses, she is chasing cans.

            “I purchased a sorrel weanling by Hasta Be Fast x Frosted Frenchgirl off of a Facebook post from my friend Kami Ireland,” said Anderson. “I’ve ridden several horses sired by this stallion – probably 10 or so horses, and in 2018, I won the WPRA Derby championship on a Hasta Be Fast mare named Whatcha Lookin At.”

            She added, “it was a bloodline I knew I liked and knew I got along with. At the time, I wasn’t really looking to purchase a new horse, but horses have their way of finding me and the price was right and she turned out to be an awesome filly.”

            Anderson explained the mare’s registered name is Vite, which is French for fast, but the mare is also known as lunchbox.

            “Her thing was she thought she was always hungry and loved food. If she thought she heard a feed bag ruffle from across the ranch, she would be running over to see if you were going to feed her again, so she got lovingly nicknamed lunchbox,” said Anderson.

            She noted the mare has several Sun Frost tendencies with a bold personality but was really easy to start under saddle and train.

            “Every time I rode her she was so easy and since I was riding and training a lot of horses, she got kind of put on the back burner, and all of a sudden I realized my futurity year is coming up and I barely have this horse patterned,” she said. “I didn’t pattern her until March, but she picked it up really fast. She has kind of a gelding personality, so for a while I kind of questioned how fast she was going to be, but it turns out the only two things she really doesn’t do slowly is eat and run barrels.”

            In May, Vite sustained a back leg suspensory injury that sidelined her for a majority of the season. Mid-July, Anderson was able to enter her in the 5-State Breeders Futurity in Rapid City, S.D.

            “That was her first run back since May and she clocked a little too slow to win 2D money, but she ended up winning the Target Time award and I knew she was a consistent horse, so I took her to a few late fall futurities, and she was clocking pretty good. I got to thinking I was taking my derby horse to WPRA Finals and with the way this horse is coming along, if I can get down there and make two solid runs I bet she could clock towards the top of the 2D and if she did I figured I could get enough points to be near the top,” Anderson explained.

            Despite a shortened futurity season, Anderson was sitting 8th going into the world finals. In the first go she placed third and sixth place in the second, rounding out the world standings fourth in the 2D average and tying for first in the world.

            In the upcoming year, Anderson plans to haul a trailer full of futurity and derby horses, in addition to running Vite in the Derby WPRA Finals in November.

            “I feel if she got a full futurity year, she could have really shined, so I’m looking forward to getting to derby her this year,” shared Anderson. “The other thing about her is she is so talented, and nothing bothers her so I want to start taking her to a few amateur rodeos as well.”

            In closing, Anderson offered advice to others and said, “you don’t know unless you try. When you go out there, remember everyone started where you are now. For other young barrel racers looking to compete you’re not going to get the experience and learning opportunities if you sit at home and wonder what could have been. As hard as it can be sometimes, leave the driveway and go make a run because you will either win something or you will learn something.”

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