03/24/08 Mares rule

Chock another one up for the girls! I'm Jeff Keane and I will be back after the break to tell you how this time a filly sent the boys packing. The cutting horse people appreciate a good mare but in tie down and team roping traditionally most folks favor geldings, Stran Smith's Hickoryote Sue might change all that. When Stan's gelding the famous Topofthe Market or Topper was killed in a freak accident last year, the last thing the tie down roper ever expected was to find a horse to fill his shoes. The 15 year old double Doc Bar bred mare did that and more, here is Susan with the story. At the 2007 Wrangler National Finals this past year in Las Vegas, Hickoryote Sue and Stran Smith were voted top horse and tie down roper of the finals taking home a $5000 check. Like "Dancing with the Stars" the Fort Dodge folks came up with a novel contest letting fans vote for their favorite horse and rider team in the timed events. Stran told his friends at AQHA that he had always heard that a good mare is better than two geldings and Hickoryrote Sue proved this theory giving Stran one of the best finals the cowboy has ever had. You know Susan I bet it was quite a blow when Stran lost Topper last year, some guys would have packed it in, not Stran, he kept competing and ended up with a mare he says fits him even better than old Topper. Now there's a lesson in that. I'm Jeff Keane.