Consistency paid off for Marysville, California’s Ann McGilchrist, who closed out the California Circuit Finals Rodeo, held Dec. 29-21 in Red Bluff, by winning the third round and the average with a 40.91-second total on three head, good for $3,838.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” McGilchrist said. “I was sixth in the average after two rounds, and it was rainy and cold, so my plan was to run, load up and head home. My daughter came running out to the trailer saying, ‘You’ve got to come back — they’re giving  you a buckle,’ and we ended up staying. It was really fun.”

McGilchrist, 43, put together her average-winning effort aboard Kid, her home-raised gelding registered as Fling Ta California, edging out Maren Powers by less than two-tenths of a second in a tight California Circuit Finals field.

Run-by-Run: Building to the Run that Mattered

McGilchrist opened the finals with a solid first-round run. While it didn’t land her a check, it set the tone for the weekend.

“I thought it was a nice, decent run,” she said. “It’s a real little bitty pen, and I felt like I came off the first barrel a little wide and had to get over for the second. It wasn’t bad — just not perfect.”

That approach continued into Round 2, where McGilchrist stopped the clock in 13.73 seconds, tying for third and earning $640. The run moved her into striking distance but still left her well outside the top of the average standings heading into the last round.

“It was just a little bit better,” she said. “I made sure he did it correctly, and I felt like we were getting closer.”

Sitting sixth on the average entering the third and final round, McGilchrist knew she had little to lose — and that mindset proved to be the turning point.

“By the third run, I was like, ‘Just let it rip,’” she said. “You have nothing to lose. Turn him loose, trust him and try to go as straight as you can.”

That decision paid off in a big way. McGilchrist clocked a 13.32-second run — the fastest of the round — to win Round 3 outright for $2,559 and take her and Kid to the top of the average standings.

“I think early on I was helping him a little too much,” she said. “I’d been riding my colt that weekend too, and sometimes it’s hard to switch from training mode to finished rodeo horse. By the third round, I just trusted him. He knows what he’s doing.”

Home-Raised

For McGilchrist, the California Circuit Finals average buckle carries extra weight because it came aboard a horse she raised and trained herself.

Kid is the 2017-model gelding out of McGilchrist’s Dash Ta Fame mare California Fame and by A Streak Of Fling, and part of a family of horses that has carried her to success for more than a decade. McGilchrist said winning on horses she has produced herself has been a common thread throughout her career — and one she takes a lot of pride in.

“They’re all extremely ratey, and they’re all very kind,” she said. “But they’re racehorses. I joke with my husband that these are not pleasure horses or trail horses. They like to go fast.”

Kid’s road to the circuit finals winner’s circle wasn’t a straight one. As a younger horse, he battled pigeon fever for months, derailing his futurity season before it ever really began. More recently, a fractured hock sidelined him entirely last year, forcing McGilchrist to watch the circuit finals from the sidelines.

“He had surgery, and they put a screw in his hock,” she said. “Last spring was our first time really getting back to rodeoing on him.”

“This is the third year I’ve made the circuit finals on him,” she continued. “Last year we didn’t even get to compete, so to come back and win the average this year is pretty special.”

McGilchrist noted that while she may prefer outdoor setups where mistakes can be made up for between the barrels, Kid handled the tight indoor pen in Red Bluff just fine.

“In the little arenas, I just make sure I don’t sit down too early,” she said. “He’ll sit down and turn one, so I have to let him do his job.”

Between barrel racing, selling horse insurance and working as a stuntwoman for film and television, McGilchrist stays busy — but moments like a circuit finals average win make the juggling act worthwhile.

“He showed up when it counted,” she said. “That’s all you can ask for.”