Mustang rider to thrill audiences

The Bobby Kerr Mustang Act will take the stage at Sisters Rodeo on their first journey to the Northwest.

Kerr honors the American mustang by demonstrating through tricks and riding the incredible display of trust and courage he gains with these formerly wild horses. He is renowned for his skills in taking a wild mustang and turning it into a horse that will have an audience on their feet, both gasping and laughing over the skills and antics of these horses.

After training horses for forty years, Kerr attended the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover in Fort Worth, Texas in 2010. This event assigns a wild mustang to a trainer, who has 120 days to get the horse ready for sophisticated competition. The horse and rider then perform a variety of skills, including trails, cow class and reining. The highest scoring horses advance to the Legends division for the finals, performing a freestyle performance for final judging.

Kerr was "blown away," as his wife Susan describes it, by the training accomplished in 120 days and also by the quality of these horses.

"He had always thought mustangs were like ponies," Susan explained, "so he'd never had an interest in them."

In his first competition a year later, Kerr's mustangs, Poncho and Lefty, placed fourth and fifth. Most pleasing to him was being voted Fan Favorite this first time. He has never looked back, turning his interest in mustangs into a new career. His stable of these talented horses grows every year.

In 2012, Kerr won the Champion of Legends division at the Mustang Makeover. For the second time, he won Fan Favorite with his horse Maypop. When the competition ends, the mustangs are sold at auction, ready to be mounted and ridden. Kerr has not been able to resist bidding on his own mounts.

The lucrative annual competition draws fans from across the United States, attracting the best horse trainers in the nation. Kerr has taken his mustangs to a new level in performing at rodeos and horse events nationwide. In January, he won the IPRA Contract Act Showcase-Dress Class during the International Finals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with Poncho.

The Mustang Heritage, sponsor of the Supreme Mustang Makeover, is supported by the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro Program. In this competitive demonstration of the beauty, versatility and trainability of the mustang, over 5,000 horses have been adopted through the Heritage program.

Poncho, Jinglebob and Trigger will be performing at Sisters Rodeo. Kerr will feature one of them in the Saturday-morning parade in Sisters.

"I'm really excited about coming to Sisters," Kerr said. "All I hear about from other performers and rodeo competitors is how much we'll love it and how beautiful the setting is."

Sisters Rodeo begins June 11 with Xtreme Bulls, followed by four rodeo performances June 13-15. For tickets and information, call the ticket hotline at 541-549-0121 or 1-800-827-7522, or visit the ticket office at 220 W. Cascade Ave. in Sisters. For more information visit www.sistersrodeo.com.