The Butterfly Effect of Bozo, Jordon Briggs, and the 2025 National Finals Rodeo

If you are wondering what these three things have in common, life has brought a special story full-circle at the 2025 NFR.

Katelyn Scott | PRCA Photo By Click Thompson

"The butterfly effect is the idea that small, seemingly trivial events may ultimately result in something with much larger consequences." - How Stuff Works

A concept in chaos theory, the butterfly effect has been a trending topic on social media this year, as users found applications for the idea in their daily lives. We found one of those stories and felt it was too good not to share.

Bozo's Legacy

When Kristie Peterson showed up on the professional rodeo scene with a blaze-faced gelding she called "Bozo," there is no way anyone could have known what the future would hold. Registered as French Flash Hawk, Bozo was by Sun Frost and out of Caseys Charm by Tiny Circus and out of Caseys Ladylove.

Peterson paid $400 for the colt and his riding career began with a reputation as an outlaw. Not dissuaded by his difficult start, she developed a bond with the gelding and trained him for barrel racing. Peterson took him to futurities and derbies in the early 1990s, winning six figures in their first two years of competition.

In 1993, the duo took on professional rodeo. They finished as the Reserve World Champion that year and returned to the NFR every year through 1998. Peterson and Bozo won three Reserve Championships, four World Championships, and five NFR Average titles throughout the 1990s.

"Domination" is an understatement for their career and Quarter Horse breeders began to wonder how to replicate the traits Bozo possessed.

Along Came a Frenchman

Emily Beisel and Tessin Dat Guy, far right | Emily Beisel posing with her team outside of the Thomas and Mack/ Kenneth Springer Photography

Myers Performance Horses is now synonymous with success in the barrel racing world, but like many great stories, their rise was not calculated. When Bill and Deb Myers were shopping for prospects nearly four decades ago, Bozo was a major factor in their decision to purchase a certain colt, but they did not plan on keeping him a stallion.

Frenchmans Guy shares Bozo's sire - Sun Frost - and is out of a similarly bred mare. Frenchmans Lady is out of Caseys Ladylove and by Laughing Boy. An injury that cost Frenchmans Guy his right eye as a yearling could be another case of the butterfly effect, as it has altered the course of countless lives.

In a roundabout turn of events, the loss of an eye allowed "Guy" to bypass his scheduled gelding appointment. Within a few years, the beautiful stallion was catching attention in the barrel racing with Deb. Myers' began breeding him and that was when the real magic happened.

The Sun Frost/Caseys Ladylove cross brought something to barrel racing that it had never seen before: an ability to pull with the front end and drive with the hind end around a barrel. It was the dawn of a new chapter in the sport.

2025 NFR Bloodlines

A full brother to Bozo, "Dinero" (PC Frenchmans Hayday) competed at the NFR with Sherry Cervi and has sired countless winners. His biggest winner is a contender in the 2025 World Championship race, DM Sissy Hayday, ridden by Hailey Kinsel.

A first-time qualifier in 2025, Hayle Gibson-Stillwell earned her first NFR check in Round 3 aboard Buncha Dinero, a Dinero daughter.

Frenchmans Guy is keeping his influence strong in the field. Emily Beisel earned a second-place check on her third run of the 2025 NFR aboard Teasin Dat Guy, sired by the famous palomino. Tricia Aldridge's Adios Pantalones is out of a top-producing Frenchmans Guy daughter, French Bar Belle.

Frenchmans Guy sired another of Myers' top performers and producers, A Smooth Guy. Although they lost him to a tragic accident at a young age, A Smooth Guy has been incredibly influential.

Carlee Otero's main mount AM Regina George and Halyn Lide's jump ride of the week, Smooth As Rico Suave, are both sired by A Smooth Guy. Otero earned four round wins, and Lide ended up with two checks aboard "Pancakes".

Katelyn Scott has been incredibly consistent with JustA DTF Frenchman, winning six checks in ten rounds. Sired by Aint Seen Nothin Yet, this palomino gelding is a grandson of Frenchmans Guy.

Perhaps the most interesting factor as we studied pedigrees for this article is the wide variety of mares behind these top horses. The dams do not possess what you may consider "designer barrel racing pedigrees." From Buncha Dinero, who is out of a full thoroughbred mare to JustA DTF Frenchman, who is out of a Smart Little Lena/Peppy San Badger/Freckles Playboy mare, Sun Frost has successfully crossed on both ends of a wide spectrum.

The Butterfly Effect

Oh, and back to that butterfly effect we were talking about - Jordon Briggs has commentated the barrel racing for the 2025 NFR. Briggs was the 2021 World Champion Barrel Racer, but before that, she garnered a lot of attention as a futurity trainer, just like her mom.

Briggs trained Frenchmans Jester (sired by Frenchmans Guy) when she was still in high school, making waves and setting records in the futurity world. She and "Jester" later qualfied for the 2009 NFR. Briggs has built an incredible career, training countless aged event and rodeo champions.

Who is Briggs' mom? Kristie Peterson, of course. Without Peterson and a sorrel gelding named Bozo leading breeders to pursue those bloodlines, we have to wonder - would barrel racing be what it is today?

We suppose we will never know, but perhaps that is the beauty of "the butterfly effect."

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