by Terry Lidral
Powder River Rodeo has high expectations of its stud, Big Easy. He’s a product of their great breeding program that has produced such great broncs as Big Easy’s mother Miss Congeniality.
Fan favorite and multi-champion saddle bronc horse Miss Congeniality was bred, born and raised on the Wyoming ranch. She is a daughter of #83 Red Bird, a horse they bought from Johnny Morris of Ridge, Montana in 1993. Miss Congeniality’s sire is the Franzen’s 3-time NFR stud, Cut the Cards out of Harry Vold’s Custer mare Crazy Blaze and Little Baldy. With a number of PRCA championship titles to her name that came with some outstanding 90 point ride scores, Miss Congeniality has a load of great genetics she’s passed on to her son.
On the sire’s side, the genetics are just as strong and deep. His father, Big Medicine is the sire to World Champion Medicine Woman.
“Big Easy is an embryo out of our world champion saddle bronc mare, Miss Congeniality. This young stud is foundation Tooke bloodline genetics…a double-bred “Custer,” said Lori Franzen of the stallion she and her husband Hank look to as a part of the future of their Powder River Rodeo breeding program.
“He’s coming 6 years old,” continued Franzen. “He’s a very big bay at approximately 1400 pounds with 4 white socks and a blaze. He is built just like his mother and has a super nice disposition.”
The Franzens use Big Easy strictly for breeding and he is not bucked. They believe in the genetics in the bloodline.
“We breed for genetics. We feed for performance,” Franzen explained about having the confidence to breed to a horse that hasn’t been bucked.
“We will buck a few of his colts this spring and we are very excited,” continued Franzen. “They are beautiful, big boned, athletic bay colts!”
“We have incorporated Big Easy as a major stud along with our older stud named Dealers Choice, Franzen went on to say. “Dealers Choice is a son of Cut The Cards and Show Me.”
Cut the Cards served as stud for the Powder River breeding program for 30 years. As grandson of the great Custer, he was a proven sire with an outstanding number of 40 NFR horses to his credit including Big Easy’s mother Miss Congeniality and World Champion Craig at Midnight.
Show Me was the mother and grandmother to 8 NFR offspring.
Powder River Rodeo has some young studs with impressive genetics that give their breeding program a very bright future.
“We have a colt out of World Champion saddle bronc Chuckulator in our breeding program. We also have a young stud whose mother is our many time NFR mare Rainmaker and whose sire is Big Medicine.”
Author: Terry Lidral
Terry Lidral is a western writer/journalist who lives in Idaho. She is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Bucking Stock Talk and the online magazine Western Living Journal. Her publishing credits include Storyteller for Real American Cowboy Magazine, writing feature articles for Humps N Horns Magazine as well as a wide variety of national and international web sites, historical magazines and news publications. She is known for her "up close and personal" profiles of celebrities and industry moguls such as NPR's Tom Bodett; PBR's Wiley Petersen and D.H. Page, PRCA's Sammy Andrews, Cindy Rosser and Julio Moreno to name a few. She has been applauded for her way of making a personal connection between her readers and her subjects. She indulges in her love of rodeo by serving as an associate board member for the Caldwell Night Rodeo. She is also an accomplished trainer and handler in dog agility. Her shelties Amelie and Milo are titled in NADAC, USDAA and AKC.
