‘Changing My Life Daily’: Taci Bettis On Her Horse And Winning The American

Select Footage Courtesy of RFD-TV EVENTS, LLC.

With its large purse, RFD-TV’s The American, presented by Dish, offers the opportunity to change lives, but in the barrel racing, it also takes a life-changing horse to get there. To be a top barrel racer in today’s game, you have to find that a special horse that is willing to give you its all, no matter the situation.

Round Top, Texas’ Taci Bettis thinks she found that horse in “Bogie Is A Smash."

“Man, this one is just changing my life daily,” she said shortly after winning The American with their time if 14.848 in AT&T Stadium. 

Bettis had owned “Smash” for years, but had only taken him to jackpots. Along the way the horse was injured and needed to undergo surgery, but when he returned, something told Bettis she needed to take the next step and get her Women’s Professional Rodeo Association card to test the waters in the pro rodeo game.

“Smash had other plans,” Bettis said. “He took the reins and said, 'Hang on, cowgirl.'”

Bettis hung on all the way to the 2017 WPRA Rookie Of The Year title, and while her first WNFR experience wasn’t picture perfect, the win at the 2018 edition of The American was. Bettis couldn’t find the words to communicate how she was feeling while onstage to accept her $100,000 check, but as she said in the press conference after, “that was a dirty tough barrel race."