BRONC RIDING NATION
When work is your favorite game , you get there as fast as you can . Special
Time of J Bar J Pro Rodeo on her way to work during NFR 2017 .
SPECIAL TIME IS HER NAME
In this year that Triple Crown winner , Justify , captured the collective hearts of horsemen and horse lovers , his jockey Mike Smith said , “ He has the It Factor ’.
J Bar J Rodeo company ’ s Sparky Dreesen understands exactly what he meant . When he looks over his remuda of outstanding bucking horses , Special Time always stops his eye and does something catchy to his breath .
Special Time is a 17-year-old mare who ’ s been making the trip to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas every December since she was 8 . She knows the sights , sounds and smells of Thomas & Mack and it sets her soul on fire . The daughter of Night Jacket out of a double-bred Mr . T mare knows what to do when she hits the runway , she vogues .
Bucking horses come in all shapes and sizes . Their pool of proven genetics is deep and generations old . The genetics of the Jim Zinser family , founders of the J Bar J breeding program , has proven to be not just prolific but outstanding . This year alone , J Bar J horses have made appearances at RFD TV ’ s The American and the first World Champion Cowboys Association in Las Vegas . They ’ re known in bronc riding nation as Michigan Monsters ; big , deep , honest and talented buckers . Special Time has a younger , full brother named just that .
“ Special Time isn ’ t a big horse . She ’ ll stand 15.2 hands and weigh about 1300 pounds ,” Dreesen said . “ She just bucks big ! When we first started her , she was pretty wild to handle . Now , she ’ s come gentle . She ’ s not the kind you can walk out in the pasture to pet , but she likes people .” Just likes her personal space .
Photo by Phil Doyle Photo / Courtesy of PRCA
By Lori O ’ Harver