'round three and headin' home

Jordon Briggs of Texas rounds the third barrel in the fifth annual "Roper Apparel & Footwear Barrel Futurity" Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- for the first time at the Kiplinger Arena on the Red Willow County fairgrounds in McCook, Nebraska. Jordon and "Frenchman's Cheyann" stopped the clock in 16.017 seconds Saturday morning. The event brought 350 horses and 350 contestants and their families and friends to McCook. Lynn Kohr of Kohr Quarter Horses, Gillette, Wyoming, said she brought her barrel racing futurity and derby to McCook because of the Kiplinger Arena and the Nebraska weather. Kohr has sponsored the futurity in Gillette for the past four years, but, she said, "We couldn't get away from November scheduling and blizzardy winter weather." Kohr said she was at the Kiplinger in 2005, and has fond memories of the barn and the grounds and the support of the community.