12/09/05 Topper 2005

Topper 2005 Some stories just have to be updated. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to add something new to an older story. Almost two years ago I told you about a rodeo calf-roping horse called Top of the Market aka "Topper." That story related how Topper had gone from unbroken ranch horse to winning the American Quarter Horse Association Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association horse of the year for tie-down calf roping at age twenty-one. Well at age 23, Topper has won the award again. An action picture of Topper at work shows the professional concentration he gives to every calf-roping run, you can just see the look in his eye that he's enjoying what he is doing. Owner Stran Smith says he owes much of his success this year to Topper's talent and says the award is a great acknowledgment to one of the finest rodeo horse in history - all credit goes to Topper. Like all professionals, the horse knows when he is needed most and that's when he works his best. Topper has been a full-time rodeo horse for 15 years, but shows no signs of slowing down. Maybe it's the peppermint candies Topper has acquired a taste for that gives him the extra little effort he puts into each performance. I can just imagine how Stran feels when he steps on Topper and heads for the roping box, how many of us have been lucky enough to saddle that solid mature ranch horse thinking, today I've got the horse I need to finish the job and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. I'm Jeff Keane. America's Horse Nov./Dec. 2005