When $100,000 is on the line, Merrick Moyer rises to the challenge, and she proved it yet again winning the 2025 Hooey Jr. Patriot 19-&-Under Pole Bending and the Bonus Round.
Moyer, 16, first came out on top of the 19-&-Under Pole Bending with a 20.119-second run on French This Redneck in the finals Sunday, March 16, for $15,000. The Woodward, Oklahoma, native pocketed $15,000 for the win and locked in her spot in the Bonus Round where $100,000 is up for grabs.
“I was just thinking to go as fast as I could until I needed to check her for our end poles because sometimes we have a little bit of trouble with the first end pole,” Moyer said. “So, I wanted to be sure to have a smooth end pole and then get her by the poles. Her second end pole is normally her best one, but we almost hit it. My last hose that I won this on last year, she was more free—Paris doesn’t want to hit the poles, but she gets way closer to them than her.”
A year ago in 2024, Moyer finished third in the finals to move on to the Bonus Round where she split the $100,000 with goat tyer Alli Autrey. While Moyer had a new equine counterpart this year, she proved yet again she can handle the $100,000 pressure. Aftet laying down a 19.932-second run, she split the 2025 bonus four ways, taking home another $25,000.
“It was pretty good,” Moyer said of their Bonus Round run. “She was better through [the poles] and this end (pole) was better. But she got a little bit by the third end, so I didn’t know what the time was going to be. But she was good.”
While a $40,000 week is an indescribable feeling for a pole bender, Moyer’s time in Fort Worth also had its ups and downs. After winning $60,000 at last year’s Hooey Jr. Patriot, Moyer added a new barrel horse to her herd, “Josie.” In the American Contender Tournament Qualifier barrel race, held with this year’s Patriot, Josie cracker her pelvis mid run.
“She’s having to stay the vet for a few weeks now, so we’re hoping for her to be healthy at least,” Moyer said. “We were making a really good run, and she ran real hard to the first and inhaled that. We went to the second and turned the second, and we ran to the third and she turned. Then when she got on the backside, she didn’t take off running again, so I knew something was wrong. Then I heard everybody screaming.”
The Paris effect
The 7-year-old palomino mare she calls “Paris” came from Trent Tobin, who had his fair share of success with her winning the Junior Pole Bending at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in 2022.
“Trent trained her, and he has done a really good job with her,” Moyer said. “And I think it took a lot for him to sell her, but we’re glad he did.”
When looking back at her 2024 win on JR Driftwood Pac, Moyer noted that Paris is a tick stronger.
“She’s stronger,” Moyer said. “Definitely one that likes to get really close to the poles, so you have to be sure to kick up her shoulder when you’re going through them and just keep her off of them.”
As for “Tootsie,” the 2024 champion, she’s at home and breeding.
“She’s just living her best life in the pasture,” Moyer said with a laugh.
Moyer, on the other hand, stays busy between high school rodeo and the WCRA Division Youth. Moyer is the reigning WCRA DY world champion pole bender and is currently third in the Junior standings with 2966 points and first in the barrel racing standings with 5044.5 points.
“The WCRA DY is a big pole event, so we’ve been going to those and trying to keep my horse going,” Moyer said. “I go to the WCJR every year. I think it’s a good opportunity for the pole benders and the goat tyers because most places you don’t see big money like that.”
