Carman Pozzobon
Carman Pozzobon – Aldergrove, British Columbia ($86,947)
First-time WNFR qualifier
When Carman Pozzobon was a young girl her Aunt Lynn gave her a dream box and told her to write down her dream and put it in the box. Pozzobon, the 2017 Canadian Barrel Racing Champion, started training barrel horses at age 13.
The slip of paper, which still resides in the box, says “make the NFR on a horse I trained myself.” Pozzobon knows her aunt, who died of breast cancer, would be thrilled to see her dream become reality.
She rides a seven-year-old buckskin mare Ripn’ Lady that she calls Ripp. Between now and December she will defend her Canadian championship and will go into the Canadian Finals Rodeo leading the barrel racing. She came from second place to win the 2017 title by less than $200.
Last year the Canadian cowgirl finished 44th in the WPRA standings with a little over $31,000 in winnings. She started 2018 by winning the final round and about $9,000 at Fort Worth. Carman and her horses spend the winter in Arizona, so she can compete at the big winter rodeos. But, she opted to spend most of the summer in Canada with big wins at Strathmore, Alberta, and Williams Lake, British Columbia. In late August she ventured back into the U.S. to finish the season, but left Ripp in Canada and rode a borrowed horse for the final weekend of the season.
The Maple Leaf flag will be flying high during the barrel racing at the Thomas & Mack for the first time in several years. Lindsay Sears, who won the world championship in 2011, was the last Canadian barrel racer to compete at the NFR.
Pozzobon’s cousin Ty was a champion PBR bull rider who died of the effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) after multiple concussions. The Ty Pozzobon Foundation was started to protect and support the heath and well-being of rodeo competitors inside and outside the arena. The foundation has launched a series of educational videos to further its mission.
