Becky Fuson was experiencing a lope down memory lane watching her daughter Mesa turn barrels at the Conrad Rodeo Grounds.

The nine-year-old Mesa was aboard Shadow, a 21-year gelding that had carried her mother during Northern Rodeo Association Finals presented nuWest Builders in 2014 and 2018.

“It was terrible,” said Becky Fuson with a good laugh about watching her daughter compete in junior barrel racing at the Whoop-Up Trail Days. “She started going pretty fast. I was nervous the whole time.”

Mesa Fuson finished her run. And mom did pretty well that weekend, too.

Becky Fuson won the barrel racing at Conrad, the annual opener for the Mountain Health Co-op Tour.

It was the first time Fuson won her adopted hometown rodeo.

“I’ve pulled checks there before. It was meaningful,” said Fuson.

Fuson and her husband Jesse, along with daughter Mesa and Ava (7), live on some acreage outside of town. Ava is also starting to compete.

Riding her horse Anna, “My daughters named her,” said Fuson, alluding to the character in “Frozen,” the pair won with a time of 17.75 seconds. Pocketing $940, she was the high-money winner at the first Northern Women’s Rodeo Association event of 2025.

The 11-year-old sorrel mare has surprised some family members.

“I was training her for somebody else,” said Fuson. “I bought her as a five-year-old. My husband used her around the ranch and told me, ‘The horse can’t out-run a cow. Let the girls ride her.’

“I was watching her one day and saw Anna out-run one of my other mares. I was thinking my husband might be wrong.”

The two posted the winning time in the first performance of the gusty weekend. “The weather was nice, but it was pretty windy,” Fuson said. “My husband put a rolled up program in my daughter’s hat so it would not fall off.

“Anna, she handles herself well,” continued Fuson. “She’s been consistent. Anna does her job. It’s just a matter of the jockey showing up.”

But the mare does have her favorites.

“She loves affection from my husband,” said Fuson with another laugh. “Friends tried to bring her treats and she tried to bite them. Oh, she’s got some quirks.

“Anna is all business. She is not the most sweet or cuddly horse. You can trust her with the kids all day long, I get on her and it’s a different story.”

Fuson is no stranger to the winner’s circle.

Originally from Stevensville, the teenage Fuson (then Toavs) won the junior barrel racing title in 2007  and followed with back-to-back gold buckles against the adults in 2008 and 2009.

Fuson plans to balance competing in the Mountain Health Co-op Tour with her daughter and the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit this summer.

“Competing with my daughter puts a whole new perspective on it,” she said. “The Northern Rodeo Association provided me with a lot of opportunities. “I didn’t compete in high school rodeos. Being in the NRA earned me a full-ride scholarship (to Northwest College in Wyoming).

“I’m excited to watch my daughter take the same path.”

However, there are rules for Mesa and Ava when running barrels with mom.

“I try to stay pretty positive,” said their mother. “I tell them they have 15 minutes to throw their sucker in the dirt and then find something positive.

“Maybe mom should try that.”

Last week

Up in the far northeast corner of Montana, one event in Poplar offered a microcosm of what could be the Mountain Health Co-op Tour for 2025.

Less than one second, 0.98 to be exact.

We could be seeing a lot more of that the rest of the summer.

Last weekend showcased four rodeos – Culbertson, Poplar, Gardiner and Wilsall – offering competitors plenty of opportunities to get off to a fast start in the standings.

Kelly Murnion of Jordan swept the bareback and bull riding titles at Culbertson and Jordan while Trey Knight of Wibaux won the saddle bronc competition at both rodeos. Knight was also second in steer wrestling and third in team roping with Tryan Knight at Poplar.

Glasgow’s Jack Cornwell on the tie-down roping at the two eastern Montana rodeos.

Ryder Gaasch of Dillon opened defense of his all-around cowboy and steer wrestling titles by winning the bulldogging and placing fourth in tie-down roping at Gardiner.

Helena’s Leighton LaFromboise, fresh off winning his third straight Montana high school bareback title, won at Wilsall and was second at Gardiner.

Culbertson winners: Kelly Murnion, Jordan, bareback; Trey Knight, Wibaux, saddle bronc; Murnion, bull riding; Jack Cornwell, Glasgow, steer wrestling; Kelly Sperry, Trotters, North Dakota and Grady Larson, Sidney, tie-down roping; Trent Panasuk-Michael Manzanares, Williston, North Dakota, team roping; Heather Crowley, Poplar, barrel racing; Kyle Burchard, Havre, breakaway roping; Quincey Langan, Glendive, junior barrel racing; Easton Diegel, Glendive, junior breakaway roping.

Poplar winners: Kelly Murnion, Jordan, bareback; Trey Knight, Wibaux, saddle bronc; Murnion, bull riding; Jack Cornwell, Glasgow, steer wrestling; George Marcenko, Havre and JC Crowley, Poplar, tie-down roping; Jesse Benson-Chris Barthelmess, Malta, teamyd roping; Chalee Harms, Miles City, barrel racing; Shaylee Wahl, Circle, breakaway roping; Quincey Langan, Glendive, junior barrel racing; Lauren Youngquist, Sidney, junior breakaway roping.

Gardiner winners: Trevar McAllister, Ronan, bareback; Brand Morgan, Ronan, saddle bronc; Caden Fitzpatrick, Polson, bull riding; Ryder Gaasch, Dillon, steer wrestling; Jade Gardner, Ballantine, tie-down roping; Miles Kobold-Matt Schieck, Floresville, Texas; Madison Veitch, Manhattan, barrel racing; Mesa Radue, Belgrade, breakaway roping; Chaney Akin, Cody, Wyoming, junior barrel racing; Bentz Bolich, Belgrade, junior breakaway roping.

Wilsall winners: Leighton LaFromboise, Helena, bareback; Bailey Bench, Ennis, saddle bronc; Owen Manfeldt, Cody, Wyoming, bull riding; Casey Collins, Huntley, steer wrestling; Sherrick Sanborn, Wilcox, Arizona, tie-down roping; Sid Sorge-Tanner Sorge, Shepherd, team roping; Molly Salmond, Choteau, barrel racing; Ashlin Spitzer, Telluride, Colorado, breakaway roping; Sophia Neill, Cascade, junior barrel racing; Seth Sinclair, Ronan, junior breakaway roping.

Up next

The Mountain Health Co-op Tour travels to Bozeman, June 19-20, for the Valley View Rodeo. Both performances begin at 7 p.m.