Dylan Hammons and his little sorrel mare Zippo Joe Harley snapped up the 2008 youth world championship in breakaway in just 2.481 seconds. Fourteenth in the go, they had Will Howell’s 2.671 to beat. A 16-year-old from Delaware, Oklahoma, Dylan says that Zippo Joe Harley is “probably the best horse I’ve had.” The Journal found out this young man had a lot to overcome this year for his first Ford AQHYA World Championship Show appearance.
Q. How did you get Zippos Joe Harley?
Dylan: We were training horses for a guy, and she just kept bucking with him. So we finally just kept her, and she turned out great. We just kept riding her until she quit.
Q. What’s the hardest thing about riding her?
Dylan: She kind of stops on her front end instead of sliding on her back end. She kind of throws you over the front.
Q. Were you worried about anything in particular coming into tonight’s finals?
Dylan: No, not really, I just knew I needed to make a quick run, that’s about all.
Q. This is your first Ford Youth World – what made you come?
Dylan: This winter we went to Tulsa, and we were looking for a place to rope, and we came to one of the AQHA shows. I won one of them and it qualified me. I ended up coming.
Dylan Hammons of Delaware, Oklahoma, and his mare Zippo Joe Harley won the 2008 youth world championship in breakaway in a speedy 2.481 seconds.
Q. Did you have any hurdles you had to overcome this year to get here?
Dylan: Yeah, I wasn’t mentally ready. I wasn’t able to rope. I got really nervous and started shaking and couldn’t rope very well. I got over that. I just kind of slowed things down in my mind and played it step by step.
Q. Is there anyone you want to thank?
Dylan: My mom and dad (Mark and Stefanie Huntingdon), and my grandma and grandpa for supplying the calves and all the practice. Mom and dad for supplying the horse and the ropes – everything.
Q. Is there anything you want to add about tonight’s finals?
Dylan: The calves were great! Thanks to Lon Chaney for bringing the calves.
BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW Dylan’s parents rodeoed when they were younger and that’s how he got into roping. “I’ve been around rodeo since I was little,” he said. He trains mostly with his dad, Mark.
WINNER STATS
Horse name: Zippo Joe Harley Pedigree: 1999 mare by Reno Zipper and out of Cerros Velvet by Baca Times Exhibitor: Dylan Hammons, Delaware, Oklahoma Owner: Dylan Hammons, Delaware, Oklahoma
Total class entries: 78 Sponsored by the National High School Rodeo Association
