The reality of rodeo is often better than any fiction that could be written. When Julie Plourde finished the 2025 professional rodeo season in the dreaded No. 16 position in the barrel racing, the defeat and frustration were heartbreaking.
Despite an injury to her main horse (KF Epic Ta Fame) in Salinas, Calif., early in the summer, Plourde’s backup horse (Wateverock RC) stepped up to keep her in the fight. Unfortunately, Plourde narrowly missed making the final round of the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, S.D., and fell a few thousand dollars short of qualifying for her first National Finals Rodeo (NFR).
Plourde told Rodeo On SI, “After I ended up 16th, I went to Quebec for almost 5 weeks hunting with my husband.”…