STEER WRESTLING HORSE OF THE YEAR
WILLY
Owned by Greg Cassidy
By Dianne Finstad
There are folks in Donalda, Alta. working on a very special project. They want to put up a life size statue of one of the community’s most famous residents, Willy the steer wrestling horse.
Becky Clement, a former schoolmate of Willy’s owner, Greg Cassidy, is spearheading the project, which will be created by artist John Beaver. Early plans are for a cement sculpture of Willy in action, which also would include a mounted rider and a steer. Fund raising efforts are just kicking off.
But it’s a good thing they don’t have all his accomplishments carved in stone just yet, because the phenomenal animal athlete just keeps adding to the list.
Willy has been named Canada’s steer wrestling horse of the year for a record setting sixth time.
Wes Zieffle’s Twist, and Duce, owned by Lee Phillips and Ron Ostrom, each garnered the title five times. Willy tied that mark in 2007, but this year’s honour adds one more milestone to the well-decorated career of this equine champion.
Greg Cassidy is darn near running out of adjectives to describe the 23-year-old brown gelding, but he never gets tired of accepting another award on the horse’s behalf.
“It’s nice to win again, and really nice for Willy,” commented Cassidy. “Because it really could be his last year.”
But then Cassidy has thought that before.
“As long as he enjoys his job and we know he’s still liking it, we’ll take him,” he confirmed. “He still thinks in his heart that he’s as good as he ever was, and (my son) Cody just won the Tour Finals on him in Calgary, and he worked good.”
Four of this year’s steer wrestling CFR qualifiers won a lot of their season dollars on Willy this year. In addition to the Cassidys and Milans, even Lee Graves jumped on him a time or two.
They’ll all tell you Willy’s consistency is what they count on, like money in the bank.
“He’s trustworthy,” agreed Greg Cassidy. “You know what you’re going to get.”
“It’s hard to find a horse with all the qualities you’re looking for in a steer wrestling horse,” explained Cassidy’s oldest son, Curtis.
“He’s good in the box, he scores good, has above average speed, and runs a good pattern. That’s not just once in a while. He tries his butt off all the time. That’s what separates him from the rest,” Curtis said.
With steer wrestling championships determined by mere tenths of seconds, every move counts, and Willy knows how to make the right ones.
“Wherever the steer runs, he goes and then takes a step to the left to get out of the way. That drops your feet where you want to be, so you can be that much faster,” Curtis nodded. “A lot of horses aren’t athletic enough to do that.”
Willy has really been a special member of the Cassidy clan, with Greg, Curtis and Cody all winning Canadian steer wrestling titles with him. And Greg still fondly remembers 2004 when all three were able to compete on him together at the CFR.
As sharp as ever this year, Willy helped Cody notch back-to-back victories at the Ponoka Stampede.
“Usually Willy, where the big crowds are, for some reason, he seems to do good,” Cody commented.
“What can you say about the horse? He’s unbelievable. There’s superstars and there’s superheroes, and he’s almost a superhero.”
Willy’s runs are mainly limited to the bigger rodeos, where he seems to excel the most. This year that included Curtis’ wins at Houston and Denver, Jason Miller’s win at Fort Worth, Luke Branquinho’s win at the Dodge Circuit Finals, and Cody’s Ponoka and Canadian Wrangler Professional Rodeo Tour Championship wins.
With three riders at Edmonton, and Curtis and Luke Branquinho riding him in Las Vegas, there’s a very real possibility Willy’s earnings tally will surpass the three million dollar mark this year.
All of his riders claim that Willy is the go-to guy they want underneath them when the chips are down, and the biggest dollars are at stake. They rely on the master to help them succeed in the steer wrestling game. |
