“Just to do our best and not push them too hard, and just do whatever comes to us,” Pierce said of her plan that helped secure both the win with Lesh and a second-place finish with Logan Wolfe in the class.
Lesh, of Stillwater, Oklahoma, was aboard his 2020 mare Hot Baloo (Lil Catbaloo x Hotstuff An Then Sum), known as “Kahlua.” The mare has become one of Lesh’s top mounts in the sorting pen and has already helped him claim major wins, including the Championship at the recent Cowtown Showdown benefit, both alongside partner Tanner Keith.
With a solid mount beneath him and a good eye for cattle, Lesh was poised to succeed.
“The cows kind of give you what they had and they just were soft, so we just kind of went to them,” Lesh said. “I knew going first, as long as nothing was really shooting out with them being run the first day, they’d be a little calm to start and then they livened up after about team three, which is normal.”
Lesh also credited his young partner—Pierce turned 12 a few weeks before the event—for staying composed throughout the class.
“She’s a good little rider. She’s won the Shootout before. She sticks to her game plan, she doesn’t get too worked up in it watching her ride, and she’s just paying attention to her stuff.”
To Pierce’s further credit, she also finished the event as the show’s high-money earner, winning $10,325 across the weekend. Happy 12th, indeed.
