Katelyn Scott made a major move up the WPRA World Standings from No. 21 to No. 16 after winning the Caldwell Night Rodeo and placing at multiple other rodeos during the week of ProRodeo barrel racing.
Rain fell across the Caldwell Night Rodeo arena as Katelyn Scott swung a leg over Justa DTF Frenchman, the yellow gelding she calls “Peanut Seed.” Between bouts of hiding out from the weather, Scott chose to focus on what she could control when she hit the alleyway. They entered the performance No. 11 in the short round field of 12 after clocking a 17.07, and needed to pull out a quick trip to secure a strong aggregate placing on two.
“I wasn’t nervous,” Scott said. “I just told myself, ‘You’ve got to ride your horse. It doesn’t matter what the weather’s doing.’ I had to remind myself this was just another run.”
The clock read 16.76 seconds, and would prove worth both the $2,003 finals win, and clinch the $4,507 aggregate with a —but Scott had no clue at the time.
“When I came out of the alley, I thought I heard them say a 16 something, but I couldn’t hear my time of what they said,” Scott admitted. “I was walking (Peanut Seed) around and Haley Kinsel looked at me, and said ‘Katelyn, you have to get in there, you won. Give me your horse!’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Rodeo Road
After her slack round in Caldwell, Scott hauled to Canby, Oregon, aboard her mare Baby Cakes, where she placed solidly and gave her main mount a break. “She made a great run there,” Scott said. “I just can’t put all the miles on one horse.”
Next came Gooding, Idaho, where Peanut Seed once again answered the call with a placing run. Then Burley, Idaho, where Scott finished second.
By the time the dust (and rain) settled, Scott had tallied more than $10,887 on the week, unofficially vaulting her to 16th in the WPRA World Standings.
Peanut Seed
Peanut Seed belongs to Scott’s sister, Larissa Jo Merritt, who shipped him out just before the Fourth of July. Originally futuritied by Crystal McIntyre and later campaigned by Jessica Anderson, the gelding has quickly adapted to life on the ProRodeo road.
“I haven’t had him long, but he’s stepped up in ways I didn’t even imagine,” Scott said. “Every horse I’m running right now, my sister has a hand in. She knows what fits me. There are two of them I never even got on before we bought them, and she was right.”
The name “Peanut Seed” carries special meaning for the sisters.
Katelyn Scott
“My sister said, ‘This may not take the faith of a mustard seed—it may be the size of a peanut seed.’ So that’s what we call him. Peanut is his name, but Peanut Seed stuck.”
A Road Back to Rodeo
Scott last rodeoed full time in 2019, and the years that followed brougth a slew of life changes alongside shifts inside the arena.
“Every year I thought I was going to get back out, but it just wasn’t meant to be,” she said. “I entered Cheyenne four years in a row and turned out of all of them.”
In 2024, a trip to Calgary with another gelding reignited her rodeo career. This year, with Streakin Liza sidelined at the vet, Merritt’s yellow gelding filled the gap.
The gamble paid off in Caldwell.
Looking Ahead
Scott’s schedule doesn’t slow down as the last two months of the ProRodeo regular season come to a close.
“I’ve been entered in a lot of the big rodeos, but just placing here and there,” Scott said. “I’ve tried not to obsess over the standings. After a week like this, you never know.”
For Scott, the Caldwell win wasn’t just a check. It was validation.
“Every time I show up, it feels new and exciting. I’m so grateful for these horses. We’re nothing without them.”
Katelyn Scott