Conrad’s Russell rolling with punches of rodeo

Taylour Russell’s life is all about the barrels and a rodeo area where the goal is to go round and round.

But there are also ups and downs.

“For sure,” said the professional barrel racer from Conrad. “I feel like in this sport you have to pay your dues. I had a lot of success at a young age, and it’s been a slow couple of years that have been really tough. But I need to keep going down the road and I’m excited for what’s to come.

“There are a lot of ups and downs. It’s all part of the deal, I guess.”

Russell is but a few weeks from her 21st birthday. That’s a little young to be on the comeback trail.

But it’s true nonetheless.

Russell this weekend continues the rehabilitation of her rodeo career at the annual Cascade Pro Rodeo, which features 7 p.m. performances both Friday and Saturday at the Chestnut Valley Arena, near the Big Belt mountain range a few miles southeast of Cascade.

Russell was the Northern Rodeo Association year-end champion in barrel racing in 2013, the summer she turned 17. The next year she finished third in the NRA in both women’s all-around and barrel racing.

She was seemingly headed for abundant success in professional rodeo.

But then her horse, a swift back mare called “Gee Gee,” suffered a career-ending injury.

“It was a setback, definitely,” said Russell. “Losing her took the wind out of me for awhile and I lost my drive a little bit.”

Russell had just turned 18 when “Gee Gee was injured.”

“She was fast,” Russell said. “A special mare.”

Now she’s primarily competing aboard “Tiny,” a 12-year-old sorrel gelding.

“We had a good fall on him last year; he was really consistent,” Russell said. “I was just out of qualifying for The American on him.”

The American is the four-year-old rich rodeo in Dallas-Fort Worth that provides invitations and opportunities for lesser-known athletes to qualify for what has been a $2 million purse.

But “Tiny” hasn’t been a big hit ever since.

“This summer, I don’t know, he’s just been off a little bit,” Russell said. “I’m not quite sure what that’s all about, and I haven’t been going too hard this summer because of that.”

She’s been staying at the family place near Conrad a lot of the time, taking care of two young horses she hopes develop into top-notch barrel mounts.

“I think things happen for a reason,” she said. “I’m trying to get my hands on another horse, maybe one that fits me a little better. So we’ll see what happens.”

Russell is going to college in Missoula. She’s majoring in Biology and minoring in Social Science. She’s not on the rodeo team, instead focusing on her studies.

This week, though, she’s focused on barrel racing. Russell was scheduled to make a run Thursday night in Missoula and is slated to ride Friday night in Cascade.

Also slated to compete Friday in Cascade is Tiany Schuster of Texas, the world’s top-ranked barrel racer who had a stunning run last week at the Big Sky Pro Rodeo Roundup in Great Falls.

“It’s really a cool experience to have these big names in Montana,” Russell said. “It’s great to compete alongside these ladies. It’s cool to see how our horses run in comparison to their horses. And it’s also really cool to me when we see Montana girls come in at these rodeos and beat them. Like last week (in Great Falls), Shelby Rasmussen and Tammy Carpenter beat out a few horses that are in the top 15 in the world.

“Even though it makes it a lot tougher, it’s cool to have that competition.”

Texas star Stevi Hillman, who ranks second in the world standings, will ride in the barrel racing slack following Friday night’s performance. Also set to run in the slack are Montana standouts Rasmussen, Carpenter and Carmel Wright, while multiple-time NRA and Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit year-end champion Lindsay Kruse will ride on Saturday night.

The Cascade Rodeo features a unique calling card: a wild bronc riding where six ranch hands aboard six broncs will be released into the arena all at once. It's patterned after what was portrayed on the silver screen in the 1963 John Wayne film "McClintock!"

The “McClintock” has been a major success, and so has an event that returned Cascade to the professional rodeo scene four years ago thanks to a committee led by Debbi Hamann.

Perhaps, just perhaps, this weekend’s Cascade Rodeo will also mark the rebirth in the barrel racing career of a certain Conrad woman.

But no matter what, there is good news. Because “Gee Gee” is doing OK back on the Russell ranch.

“She’s going to have a baby next year,” Russell said. “So we’re hoping she can produce and the talent she had will also be found in her babies.”

That would certainly be an uplifting proposition for Russell. And not a moment too soon.

“It can’t all be good, that’s just not the way it works,” she said. “We all go through our down times. I mean if we didn’t have any tough times I don’t know how you could really appreciate the good times.

“So I’m just trying to get through this summer and hopefully have something else or a little different program going and some of my young ones will step up next year.”

Scott Mansch is Tribune Sports Columnist and can be reached at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_SMansch