Popko wins Camp Pendleton junior rodeo

The California Junior Rodeo Association competition July 14 at Camp Pendleton’s Ace Bowen Rodeo Grounds was close to home for Kerry Popko. It was also a return to the success she had experienced earlier in the year.

Popko, who had been plagued with five-second penalties for knocking down poles in several previous Pole Bending competitions, kept all of her poles up July 14 and won the event with a time of 20.74 seconds.

“I went in there with a completely different mindset,” Popko said.

Popko’s plan was to ride her horse, Banjo, at a slower pace. “I’ve been riding him so hard so much lately,” she said. “I just wanted to go slow, keep the poles up.”

Prior to the July CJRA rodeo, Popko’s previous rodeo was the Silver State competition July 2-8 in Fallon, Nevada. “I did not do good at Silver State. I had a rough week,” Popko said.

Popko knocked down two poles during her first run at Silver State. On her second run a pole became caught in the reins and she had to pull up. Popko had also knocked down a pole in one of her California High School Rodeo Association state finals runs in late June. “My confidence wasn’t all the way up there,” she said.

The conditions at Silver State also caused her to worry about Banjo’s health. “Silver State was an experience. The 117 degree heat at eight at night, that was something to get used to,” she said.

Popko estimated the temperature for the July CJRA rodeo to be about 80 degrees. “It was a very nice day,” she said.

Popko thought she was taking the course at Ace Bowen Rodeo Grounds more cautiously. “It felt like slow motion to me,” she said.

Then she heard her time. “I was just so amazed by the time. I was so grateful,” she said. “It was a good run.”

Popko noted that Banjo maintained quickness despite being relaxed more by his rider. “He wanted to do it for me,” she said.

Popko competes in the Senior Girls division. The second-fastest Pole Bending time was the 21.39-second run of Tyla Treasure. Kayla Douglas was third at 21.60 seconds while former Bonsall resident Destri Devenport placed fourth with a time of 21.93 seconds.

The CJRA point system for the season standings gives the event winner 48 points. Popko increased her point total from 62 to 110, moving her from fifth to third in the standings and only two points behind second-place Carollann Scott. Treasure currently stands in first place with 138 points.

“Now I’m back in it,” Popko said.

The next CJRA competition will be held August 18 at the Lakeside Rodeo Grounds.