Makenzie Mayes and Chicado Moon punched their tickets to the Triple Crown of Rodeo Round at the 2024 WCRA Rodeo Corpus Christi after winning Progressive Round 1 May 9, with a 14.389.
Mayes, of Scroggins, Texas, and the mare she calls “Rousey” picked up $5,000 for the win, which didn’t come easily.
“It was crazy,” said 20-year-old Mayes who came through the Wild Card Round. “We had a really good first and second, but I lost my stirrups and she tripped at the third. So, that was a little wild, but we made it work and I was really happy with that. She worked really good, so I can’t ask for anything better than that.”
Mare with some fight
The road to success wasn’t always paved gold for Mayes and Rousey. Mayes’ aunt bought the now 6-year-old sorrel mare as a 3-year-old who had been started on the pattern by futurity trainer Jolene Montgomery.
After sustaining an injury to her hip, veterinarians and Mayes’ family weren’t sure the mare would ever be able to run again. After months of stall time and the best care, Rousey came back halfway through her 4-year-old year. Named after professional wrestler Ronda Rousey, Chicado Moon has some fight to her that Mayes wasn’t too sure about in the beginning.
“Actually, whenever we first saw her, I always told mom I would never want to ride that horse because she was so bad,” Mayes said with a laugh. “She would try to bite you and kick you whenever we were taking care of her in the stall. She just stood in a stall and could not move for four months, and no one could ride her [when she came back] because she bucked them all off.”
WCRA benefits
Mayes, who currently attends Northeast Texas Community College, has been nominating for WCRA events the last two or three years and has never looked back.
“We love coming to WCRA events,” Mayes said. “They are amazing, and the money just keeps going up. I qualified last year in the barrels and breakaway, and I did better in the breakaway last year. We just love them—they’re so much fun. We come out here and we go parasailing and do fun things.”
Mayes is locked in for the Triple Crown of Rodeo Round Saturday, May 11, which will feature the winners of Rounds 1 and 2, as well as the top five barrel racers in the average. Rousey may get to sit back and watch Mayes crack out a young horse in Round 2 because of this.
“I’m feeling great,” Mayes said. “I’m just so blessed to be able to be here and be able to do this. It’s such a blessing. I’m just so happy that I am already in for Saturday. It gives you a sigh of relief.”
Progressive Round 1 barrel racing results
| Makenzie Mayes | 14.389 | $5,000.00 |
| Bayleigh Choate | 14.45 | $2,500.00 |
| Ryann Pedone | 14.512 | $1,000.00 |
