Barrel racer Jodelle Bitloy wins Eastern Navajo Fair

CROWNPOINT

It’s a start.

Navajo, New Mexico, cowgirl Jodelle Bitloy was looking to jumpstart her summer rodeo with a much-needed win.

On Sunday afternoon, she achieved that by winning the Eastern Navajo Fair barrel racing average crown at the Crownpoint Parks and Rodeo Fairgrounds.

Bitloy placed second in the long go with a 15.891 run behind go round winner Jannon Long, who posted a 15.612.

In Sunday’s short round, Bitloy added a first place run of 15.549, which gave her the average title. Her two-run total added to 31.440 seconds.

“We came back with a faster run today,” said Bitloy, who noted that she’s been working with her buckskin mare for six years.

“She’s coming up to 16 years old and she’s actually at the best of her performance,” Bitloy said of Harley Dunn. “We’re going to hit some INFR rodeo, and hopefully we can make a run at those rodeos.

“This is a big booster for us,” she added. “We’re definitely looking forward to seeing what we can do up north.”

Bitloy is planning to compete at Rocky Boy, Montana and Fort Hall, Idaho for a pair of INFR rodeos.

Of her two runs at the Crownpoint rodeo, Bitloy says her horse was on point during the short round.

“She was turning and burning,” she said. “I mean, she came back today, and she was at her best. She’s feeling really good and healthy, so I love it.”

Bitloy said she’s run Harley Dunn inside the Crownpoint arena before and the first time they competed, they weren’t on the same page.

“We just didn’t do too well,” she said. “I mean, there were some adjustments that we had to make but to win this great fair here at Eastern Navajo Fair.

“This fair kicks off the other fairs, and we look forward to hitting more fairs on the Navajo Nation,” she added.

In the breakaway event, Cassidy Begay emerged as the average winner, which included a first-place win in the long go with a 2.53 effort.

On Sunday, she safety up and made a clean run of 4.85 seconds for an aggregate of 7.38. She finished ahead of Chinle’s Erin Jones (8.09) and Crownpoint’s Kenya Tsosie (10.33) to win the average.

“I kind of pushed it a little longer, just to be safe in the average,” Begay said of short round run.

As for Saturday’s long go round, the Crownpoint cowgirl didn’t hold back as she beat out Coyote Canyon’s Faith Jesus and Erin Jones’ runs of 3.82 seconds.

“I knew I had to push the barrier,” she said.

The win on Sunday wasn’t what Begay had expected, but she was elated that she was able to win the rodeo on her horse, Honey.

“My horse is getting a little bit older so it’s always good to win,” she said. “It’s our first win of the year, and now we have some extra hardware.”

Begay is planning to stay local as she is looking to get entered at the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial next week.

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