The rodeo-famous Francis family hosted another United Bucking Horse Assoc (UBHA) Futurity at the Clearview Arena near Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., on Aug 28.
“Our Futurity isn’t a sale,” explained Shawn(Shawn-Boy) Francis, one of the organizers. “It’s a competition between breeders and owners of bucking horses.”
The futurity had different classes, and this one featured “dummy” bucking — no human riders, but a device attached to the flank strap that is electronically triggered to release. This contest was open to two and three-year-old horses.
“The horse is judged for six seconds with a dummy,” said Shawn. “There are four judges: each mark from 1–25, for a potential of 100 pts., and the highest scored mark wins.” The futurity had 27 entries.
Many of the horses have been dummied before, but none with a human rider. Usually, rodeo bronc doesn’t carry a rider until they’re four or five years old.
The Francis Bucking Horse Futurity 2-year old class winner was Blair Anton’s brown mare, 914 Midnight Rain, who scored 82.5 pts. In the 3-year-old class, the winner was Shawn Francis’ black mare, 824 (unnamed), who scored 82 pts.
The winners received prize money and a stunning moose antler featuring a relief carving by Stan Sugar of a bucking horse.
For more, visit UBHABucks.com.
