2024 Nutrena Head Horse of the Year, Presented by AQHA

By Lane Karney and Kendra Santos for The American Quarter Horse Journal

    
The journey of “Spur,” registered as Espuela Bro and owned by 2023 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world champion header Tyler Wade and his wife, Jessi, was a bit of an unlikely one to ever headline the balloting for the 2024 Nutrena Horse of the Year, presented by AQHA. 

Spur is a 2007 bay gelding by Blue Light Ike out of the Thoroughbred mare Brio Victress. He was bred by Joseph Jr. and Cathy Murray of Oakdale, California. 

His journey with the cowboy they call “TWade” began on a fate-fueled day in 2019 in Deadwood, South Dakota. At the time, Tyler was extra low on horsepower. 

“That was a hell of a journey. I was in Deadwood, eighth in the world and afoot. I asked a guy if he knew any head horses for sale, and he said there’s an older guy in the stands that has a decent one. I just walked up into the stands and introduced myself. I told him, ‘I’m up in the slack tomorrow, and I’d like to try your horse,’” says Tyler, who this year qualified for his seventh Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “It was the worst shape I’ve ever been in horse-wise, and he was the first one I tried. So I bought him.”

From the eight steers they ran in the practice pen that day, Spur and TWade have exceeded even their own great expectations together. It seems something like divine intervention. 

“The conditions and arena were very hard when I tried him. There wasn’t a tractor, there was grass growing in the arena, and there were six fresh, fast Longhorn steers. He really didn’t feel good at all, but I didn’t have a horse at all. The conditions were so tough, I knew he could score, and I knew he could run. But nine times out of 10, I wouldn’t have bought him based on how it went,” he says. “If I tried him today the same way, I 100 percent wouldn’t have bought him. It was all in God’s hands that I bought this horse that day.”

The next leap of faith for TWade and Spur came on the eve of that year’s NFR.

“Right after I bought him, we entered Steamboat Springs (Colorado) for an unofficial rodeo (that doesn’t count toward the world standings). I was going to ride Spur there, but he was limping and turned out he had a chip in his ankle. So from August 1 ’til the first of November, I didn’t get to ride him. I had sent him to Danita Walker to rehab, and he’d just gotten sound. When I bought him, he hadn’t been to very many rodeos, and the night before the Finals I had two options of what to ride,” Tyler says. “It was like his sixth rodeo, but I chose Spur, and I spun every steer at the Finals in 2019 on him. I was, like, ‘Man, he’s better than I thought.’ Looking back, I can’t believe I almost didn’t ride him.”

Fast forward to today, and it just keeps getting better. TWade’s versatility has blossomed aboard the 17-year-old bay gelding, who actually packs the brand of California’s Joe Murray, who headed at the NFR from 1976 to 1978. 

“I want to be a guy that is versatile, who can go fast when you need to or just catch when it calls for that. Having a horse that can fit that style and not be one-dimensional is a big deal. Whatever you need to do, he’ll do it. He’ll work as good as you ride him, and he’s so tough and takes the hauling so good,” says TWade, who also loaned some rides on Spur to the NFR average record-holding header, Tanner Tomlinson, this summer. “It’s kind of a balancing act now, because Spur’s 17. So you want to save runs, but he’s better when he’s tired. The downside of him is you can’t give him a week off and send him to Reno (Nevada). But the upside is when he steps off the trailer from 48 hours of hauling, you might have the best horse there. I had an even better horse at Sioux Falls (Iowa) at the end of the year (in September) than I did at Reno (in June) with him.”

Now, as they say, the rest is history. 

“We didn’t just go buy the very best one we could find and roll on. This didn’t end up how you’d have thought when it started. From where I started, to have a Horse of the Year is a big deal. From growing up heeling on ponies at jackpots, this is special. I think I’m most proud of now knowing what a good horse is, and knowing how to keep him that way,” says Tyler, who calls Terrell, Texas, home with Jessi; their son, Weston, 6; and daughter, WynnLee, who was born in March. “We had decent horses along the way, but I was never known for having a good horse. I got this horse at a good time, where I have more faith in keeping my horses together and not blowing them up.”

Of course, TWade will ride into the bright lights of Las Vegas aboard his Head Horse of the Year on opening night of Rodeo’s Super Bowl. 

“I’ve got the best heeler (Wesley Thorp), who is going to ride the Heel Horse of the Year (Kadabra King, aka “Turbo,” who’s owned by fellow two-time world champion heeler Patrick Smith) and I’ve got the Head Horse of the Year, so I guess it’s all up to me to see how it goes,” Tyler says. 

Andrew Ward’s Cole E Man, aka “Biscuit,” was voted this year’s reserve Head Horse of the Year.  Biscuit is a 2011 brown gelding by Okey Dokey Dale and out of the Streakin La Jolla mare Streakin Polly Bee. Biscuit was bred by Shelley Coldwell Goodnight of Park Hill, Oklahoma. A former racehorse, Biscuit traces to Dash For Cash on his sire’s side and Easy Jet on his dam’s side.

Clint and Darren Summers’ 2023 Head Horse of the Year Mr Joes Shadow Bar, aka “Joe,” finished third in the voting.Joe is a 2011 bay gelding by Mr Joes Bar Song and out of Princess Hailstone by Nick Eyed Cody. He was bred by Randy and Treva Smyser of Sheridan, Missouri.