Before he ever carried Marty Yates into the Thomas & Mack, Barshoe Brute—“Rock,” a 16-year-old gelding by Halreycious out of Hickorys Pepolena—was a head-horse prospect Lane Livingston picked up at the Western Bloodstock NCHA sale.
Livingston didn’t buy Rock because he was polished. He bought him because he was big, affordable and looked like he’d last. Turns out, he was buying a horse with feel, grit and just enough quirk to keep things interesting.
Head-Horse Prospect Who Picked His Own Job
Rock went home with Livingston as a 2-year-old with head-horse intentions, but he didn’t have him long before the horse made the call.
“I tracked a calf around in the arena on him, doctored cattle, gave him something to do,” Livingston said. “He took to the roping easy, just natural. When something hit the end of the rope, he loved it.”
By the time Rock started stopping the way he did, the head-horse plan was out the window.
“He wanted to pull,” Livingston said. “He wanted to take a hold of one. He kind of showed us where he needed to be.”
Wet Saddle Pads
Rock wasn’t a push-button project for Livingston.
“He was a little bit tough,” Livingston said. “A pet on the ground, but once you got on him, he watched everything. Quirky. It just took a while for him to mature.”
The majority of Rocks younger years were spent outside of the arena, with a job other than roping calves.
“We buy ’em, doctor cattle, give ’em a job,” Livingston said. “They learn where to put their feet. They learn how to use their bodies. Rock, he understands timing and pull. He just understands how to make your run better and I think a lot of that has to do with using them.”
Those long days turned a sale find into an NFR mount.
“He was a little bit tough,” Livingston said. “A pet on the ground, but once you got on him, he watched everything. Quirky. It just took a while for him to mature.”
The turning point came in 2019, when Lane rode him at every rodeo he entered.
“That was my only horse,” Livingston said. “By the end of the year you could tell it finally clicked. He was comfortable everywhere, and I was comfortable anywhere on him.”
That same year, Rock was voted Reserve AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year.
“Tyler Milligan had Big Time that year and he was by far the best horse,” Livingston said. “Really, 2019 was only the second year that I’d rodeoed. For Rock to have that kind of success and be close to getting us to the Finals, it’s pretty neat. It’s cool that everyone recognized him and to see things pay off a little.”
Built for Big Arenas
Early on, Rock was Livingston’s go-to in big setups.
“In his younger days he was really good, and still is today in those bigger pens,” Livingston said. “He’s so fast and smart about a cow that the shorter setups, I couldn’t get him to leave off my hand like I wanted him to.”
Age flipped the script.
“With a little age, he’s turned into the one you want in the quicker setups,” Livingston said. “He’s the one you really want to be riding in those quicker setups.”
If Livingston could draw the perfect calf for Rock?
“Something that tries and is pretty fast handling,” Livingston said. “He does well on something that’s got some steam because he’s the most physical thing I’ve ever swung a leg over. He just understands how to take ahold of one.”
Why Yates Brought Rock to the Thomas & Mack
Rock may be a first-timer at the NFR, but Yates knows him as well as Livingston.
“I’ve been fortunate to ride him at some very big rodeos and win a lot of money on him,” Yates said. “He’s a phenomenal horse.”
Inside the Thomas & Mack, Rock’s strengths show up fast.
“He wants to get dead still in the corner, and they’ve got to be a hair trigger off your hand,” Yates said. “Boy, he gets zero to a hundred fast.”
The duo made it clear they click right off the bat with a fifth-place finish in Round 1 for $5,914, then a 7.8 to split the Round 2 win for another $29,177.
“He’s freer than a lot of horses I’ve ridden, a little more forgiving,” Yates said. “He’s great pulling calves to you, then he’ll stop and not drag them. He lets you finish your run. It’s going to be a fun rest of the week out here riding him. I think he’s just going to get better and better.”