Time to shine: Seaton earns INFR women’s all-around world champion title

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Tara Seaton is not your typical roper. She hardly gets entered, but when there is a nice all-around prize on the line, she’s quite willing to pick up her rope.

“I’ve been roping on-and-off for 10 years now,” she said. “Of course, barrel racing is my passion.”

At this year’s Indian National Finals Rodeo, Seaton took a chance and that undertaking paid off handsomely for the Dilkon, Arizona cowgirl.

On Saturday night at the South Point Hotel Casino’s Equestrian Center in Las Vegas, Seaton was crowned the 2023 INFR Women’s All-Around World Champion.

“It’s hard to say,” Seaton said when asked what it meant to win this year’s crown. “You know, it all panned out and it all happened for a reason.”

During the weeklong event, Seaton said she trusted her gut as she placed in both the barrel racing and breakaway roping events. In the opening round, she earned two checks with a fourth-place run of 3.11 seconds in the breakaway and a fifth-place run in the barrels with a 15.755 effort.

In the third round, she topped the barrel racing field with a first-place run of 15.206 seconds. In that run, she used her main mount, Wag Rez Rocket.

“He’s just phenomenal and he’s superfast,” Seaton said of her prized horse. “He’s super athletic and he just went out there and handled it.”

Seaton said they had a good draw position to where she was able to complete her run following a tractor drag of the arena.

“The ground was fresh, and he just moved flawlessly around each barrel,” she said. “We only most hit the second (barrel), but we were able to have it come back up and finish our run.”

Despite dropping two barrels in Saturday’s championship round, Seaton had secured the all-around title the day before.

“I had to keep quiet because they (INFR) wanted to make the announcement,” she said.

The trailer she received was her second one. Last year, she won the Navajo Nation Fair’s all-around prize.

“I’m really happy for it,” Seaton said. “It’s a really nice trailer and it’s definitely going to get used. It’s a three-horse trailer and it’s a bumper pull. I’m gonna use it for short hauls. It has enough room for my gear for a day haul.”

First-timer wins breakaway crown

Janae Todacheenie roped like a veteran even though it was her first time competing in breakaway roping at the INFR.

“I think of myself as a world champion every day,” Todacheenie said, while adding that nerves didn’t play a role in how she performed at the finals rodeo.

“I just knew I had to go catch tonight,” she said.

Todacheenie beat out former INFR world champion Jareth Curley for the breakaway roping title as the two ropers were the only contestants to successfully rope all their draws.

Todacheenie finished the four-round aggregate in 10.49 seconds while Curley recorded a 13.7 aggregate.

“I was trying to rope each calf under three seconds, and I tried to take the best shot every time,” Todacheenie said.

She credited her horse, TJ, for giving her the best chance to compete and to win.

“I’m thankful of my horse,” she said. “He’s the one that did it all for me.”

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