Nancy Syfert, Charlie Hirons, and Joe Graham worked together to earn the 2007 Bayer Select World Championship Show team penning title.
Joe said the run was smoother than he imagined it.
“The first calf I took halfway down there and the calf was very agreeable. Then halfway down there, he acted like he wanted to come back.” Joe said, “As we got all three of them … I was just kind of nervous about the disposition of the cattle at that time and thought they might try following us to the pen.”
But the cattle didn’t follow, which left Nancy, Charlie, and Joe on top of the competition thanks to their quick mounts.
Joe said his horse, San Jack Wimpy, is “just a good old cow horse” who works for a living. Nancy’s mare, Hickory In Command is 19.
“She’s given me a lot of good years riding,” Nancy said.
Miss Nifty Quixote is 25 years old, the oldest horse being shown at Bayer Select World. She helped earn Charlie his first world championship title.
“It’s very exciting,” Charlie said about his first win.
“ We practice the most at the show,” Charlie said with a smile.
Nancy said we’ve all got cattle at home but we don’t get much team penning practice.
While competing at the AQHA World Championship Show in Oklahoma City, Nancy won 1996 open team penning and Joe was amateur reserve world champion in team penning in 1994 and 1999. In 1996, Joe won the amateur team penning title at the World Show.
“Charlie and I got fourth in 1996, and we’ve been riding together quite a few years,” Nancy said.
“Sometimes it’s longer than we’d care to remember,” Joe said laughing.
The team said they plan returning to Bayer Select World next year to defend their title.
