By Tommy Brannon
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) held each December in Las attracts the top national competitors in Rodeo: human, bovine and equine. This Championship is used to seeing records broken, and 2013 was no exception. Taylor Jacob of Carmine, Texas, who was a rookie at the NFR, broke the arena record in barrel racing with a blistering 13.37 second time in her sixth out of ten runs.
Her horse, Honor Thy Frenchman (Bo) is not a Texas horse, though. The buckskin gelding was bred, born, and trained in the Mid-South. He was foaled in 2005 at Shoemaker Farms in McKenzie, TN where his sire, Frenchman’s Feature, is still standing and his dam, Honey of a Jet, resides. Ronnie and Martha Shoemaker have a reputation for producing some fine horses. Martha Shoemaker said that Bo has two full sisters, one in Texas and one in Oklahoma, who were sold as weanlings.
Much of Bo’s initial training was done by one of his subsequent owners, Tim Morris of Pontotoc, MS. Tim said that when he acquired Bo from Mike and Sherry Couples of Jackson, TN, the horse was still intact and had sired two colts. Tim’s daughter Halle gave Bo his barn name because it seemed to fit him.
Tim’s method of training young colts is to give them a lot exposure to a lot of experiences. He said that if he has an open slot in the trailer, he will take a young horse along to a rodeo or horse show and show them around, ride them, or leave them tied to the trailer, even if they are not competing. That way, when it comes time for competing, the horse is not so bothered by distractions.
Tim said that he does not have any regrets about selling Bo. He said that the horse had so much potential that he needed to move up in the Barrel Racing world. Tim said “I sent him to Marne Loosenort in Hazel, Kentucky for additional training, and he never came home.” Marne put a lot of specialized training into the colt. She sold him to Angela Michaels of Oklahoma, who had him gelded and later sold him to Taylor Jacob.
You can watch Bo’s run at the NFR at the Great American Country website: http://my.gactv.com/wrangler-national-finals-rodeo/
The National Finals Rodeo (NFR) held each December in Las attracts the top national competitors in Rodeo: human, bovine and equine. This Championship is used to seeing records broken, and 2013 was no exception. Taylor Jacob of Carmine, Texas, who was a rookie at the NFR, broke the arena record in barrel racing with a blistering 13.37 second time in her sixth out of ten runs.
Her horse, Honor Thy Frenchman (Bo) is not a Texas horse, though. The buckskin gelding was bred, born, and trained in the Mid-South. He was foaled in 2005 at Shoemaker Farms in McKenzie, TN where his sire, Frenchman’s Feature, is still standing and his dam, Honey of a Jet, resides. Ronnie and Martha Shoemaker have a reputation for producing some fine horses. Martha Shoemaker said that Bo has two full sisters, one in Texas and one in Oklahoma, who were sold as weanlings.
Much of Bo’s initial training was done by one of his subsequent owners, Tim Morris of Pontotoc, MS. Tim said that when he acquired Bo from Mike and Sherry Couples of Jackson, TN, the horse was still intact and had sired two colts. Tim’s daughter Halle gave Bo his barn name because it seemed to fit him.
Tim’s method of training young colts is to give them a lot exposure to a lot of experiences. He said that if he has an open slot in the trailer, he will take a young horse along to a rodeo or horse show and show them around, ride them, or leave them tied to the trailer, even if they are not competing. That way, when it comes time for competing, the horse is not so bothered by distractions.
Tim said that he does not have any regrets about selling Bo. He said that the horse had so much potential that he needed to move up in the Barrel Racing world. Tim said “I sent him to Marne Loosenort in Hazel, Kentucky for additional training, and he never came home.” Marne put a lot of specialized training into the colt. She sold him to Angela Michaels of Oklahoma, who had him gelded and later sold him to Taylor Jacob.
You can watch Bo’s run at the NFR at the Great American Country website: http://my.gactv.com/wrangler-national-finals-rodeo/
