Rodeo Horse Power

Luke Brown’s “Rockstar”

- Amy Wilson

Heading is all about the start, from the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to Cheyenne Frontier Days and everywhere in between. For PRCA header Luke Brown, his mount lives up to his name—Rockstar—any time he’s behind a barrier.

“He’s so flat and so easy to score,” Brown said about the 17-year-old palomino gelding he often refers to as “Yella”, but who is registered as Super Gold Baron. “It’s been super easy for me to catch on him. He leaves the box headed toward the cow, and that’s always been my biggest thing—I want my horse headed straight to the cow when he leaves the box. He’s real easy about letting me pull on him in the box and when I nod, turn him loose and he drops and heads right to the cow.”

Brown has ridden Rockstar at the Thomas & Mack the past two years, replacing his aging gelding Slim Shady who excelled in that setup as well. In 2015, Brown and Kollin VonAhn won a round and placed in five others on their way to becoming the WNFR Average Champions. By less than $3,000, Brown finished second in the PRCA world standings that year while VonAhn went on to win his second world title. In 2016, Brown and Jake Long won two rounds and placed in four others, helping Brown to a third place finish in the PRCA world standings.

But Rockstar’s road to WNFR fame with Brown was a long one, to say the least, for the 17-year-old palomino. Minnesota’s Travis Holck bought him in 2001 as a yearling, and he started him and eventually jack potted and amateur rodeoed on him. Holck kept him for seven or eight years and then sold him at the Pitzer Ranch Sale to AQHA trainer Zane Bruce, and lost track of him after that.