Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Getting sleep pays off for Nowlin
FORT SMITH – Tracy Nowlin had to sleep on Dolly Jo but then knew that she was the horse.
“I bought her off one of those Facebook pages that you can’t buy a horse off anymore,” Nowlin said. “I went to look at her for a calf-roping horse for my son. She’s really not a calf horse. I was going to send her home because I needed a barrel horse, but he needed a calf horse and the momma in me said he needed a horse first.”
Her son, Ty, is a calf roper, and Nowlin had seen a horse for sale for $1,850 by a man named Shawn Howell.
“She was becoming a 9-year-old,” Nowlin said. “I rode her all night, and I really liked her. My mom said if I like her then I might want to buy her, but I told her Ty really needed a calf horse. I went to bed that night but couldn’t sleep. I sat up at 4 o’clock in the morning and said if would just let me get some sleep I’ll ride her again in the morning. God was telling me not to screw up and send her home. When I rode her the next morning I knew.”
That was eight years ago, and Nowlin and Dolly Jo have become a formidable barrel-racing combination.
“You’re not supposed to buy one as old as she was and make her a barrel horse,” Nowlin said. “She’s a fairy tale. God gave her to me.”
Nowlin, from Nowata, Okla., also received a little extra encouragement from her grandmother.
“My grandmother had been in and out of the hospital, and it was her time,” Nowlin said. “I took the stuff to the hospital and showed her what I had won. After I left, she told my dad that I’m not to sell that mare no matter what, that her dreams are about to come true. She knew.”
That year, she won the first round of barrel racing at the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Flo., and Dolly Jo has earned way more than the original investment back.
Nowlin and Dolly Jo had the best ride on Saturday night, on the final night of the Old Fort Days Rodeo at Harper Stadium and finished second overall to earn $3,460.
Nowlin didn’t know what her ride because she couldn’t hear inside the arena.
“It was so loud, I couldn’t hear anything, but the horses feed off the energy, we all feed off the energy,” Nowlin said. “It’s like basketball or anything else, it’s all about the energy.”
Nowlin was part of a final night to the Old Fort Days Rodeo that featured two champions for the entire week.
Riggin Smith of Winterset, Iowa, won the Saddle Bronc Riding with a score of 88-1/2 points to win $3,155.
Tanner Tomlinson of Angleton, Texas, and Patrick Smith of Lipan, Texas, won the Team Roping with a time of 3.7 seconds for $3,022.
Tim Pharr of Resaca, Ga., was named the All-Around Cowboy for Tie-Down Roping and Team Roping.
The total payout for the six days was $166,580, which is the most in the 90 years of the Old Fort Days Rodeo.
“In my opinion, rodeoing is getting more popular all the time,” Denny Flynn said. “With the PBR, the Professional Bull Riders, being on TV with the Cowboy Channel putting rodeo all over, and with the Cowgirl Channel we’re getting more exposure for the western event of rodeo. More kids growing up are wanting to participate in the sport. There’s barrel racing and team roping jackpots and all kinds of standalone events. Everyone is getting into it.”
Flynn, from Charleston, a former champion bull rider who is a member of five Halls of Fame, including the only cowboy in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame when he was elected in 2019.
“The money is better,” Flynn said. “It’s all adding up. People just want to get out and participate in it. There are more people involved in rodeo. Back when I was rodeoing all the time in the 70s and 80s, there were big crowds and lots of rodeo, but it seems like there are more of these young kids now wearing hats, and boots and wanting to ride bulls and ride horses.”
Crowds packed Harper Stadium each of the six nights even after heavy rains drenched Fort Smith on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s overwhelming,” Flynn said. “We have good crowds all week. I don’t know if it was the rain early that brought them out, but word is out. It’s generated more and more people coming. It was packed, it was a really good crowd.”
Flynn’s daughter, Ari-Anna, participates in Barrel Racing and Breakaway Roping.
“She graduated from college and wanted to get her pro card,” Flynn said. “Her mother went to the National Finals Rodeo three times, and I went 10 times so it’s a dream of hers to go the NFR. You’ve got to hit the road and go to a lot of rodeos. The most money goes to the finals.”