| |
About Tana Poppino
 Raised on a ranch in southeast Colorado, Tana Poppino has spent her entire life around horses. That love and a competitive nature drew her to the world of rodeo at an early age. She began her career in Little Britches Rodeo and other youth rodeo associations. She came up through high school, college, and the amateur rodeo ranks.
In 2000, God gave her an awesome mount that she named Amigo. Amigo showed great athletic ability, a big heart and shared Tans’s love of rodeo. After winning at the local and regional levels of barrel racing competition, the pair stepped up to professional rodeo in 2003. They entered the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver that January. The pair won the second go round and made the finals of the prestigious rodeo vaulting them into the world standings. With the 50-rodeo limit in effect that year, Tana felt that she could compete and keep her full-time job at GRDA in their media and communications department. A tipped barrel in the finals of the ProTour Finale that year was all that kept them from qualifying for their first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Although they won their share in 2004, the pair finished only in the top thirty in the world. An injury cut the 2005 year short, but the pair kept their championship standing by finishing in the top 100. Undaunted, the duo started 2006 with a bang, winning Denver and jumped to the top of the world standings. By summer, it was clear that to compete with the elite, Tana would have to quit her job of twenty years and focus her entire attention on the rodeo road. Her husband, Marty, and son Brodie encouraged her to go for it.
 Tana Poppino & Amigo
After thousands of miles to rodeos across the country, finally, a life-long dream came true for Tana Poppino and her horse, Amigo, as they qualified for their first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in 2006. Placing in four rounds and the average at the WNFR completed an awesome year. In July 2007, Tana was invited to compete at the world-renowned Calgary Stampede. Outrunning a two-time world Champion, a Canadian Champion, and the current world leader, Tana was awarded top honors of $100,000 and was thrust into the international sports limelight.
With the support of her family, Tana and Amigo continue to blaze around the barrels in arenas across the country; in communities as small as Sydney, Iowa, and as large as Houston, Texas. Tana is currently riding several horses looking to add to her arsenal. Goose (Docs Hickory Cross) made his debut at Austin. He is a 6-yr-old grey gelding that she started last fall. Cutter is a 10-yr-old bay gelding that Tana is also trying.
Click NFR image to see enlarged view.
|
|
|
