{"id":156417,"date":"2026-02-08T23:13:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/156417\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T23:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T23:13:22","slug":"bray-wins-billy-and-pam-minick-all-around-award-at-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/156417\/","title":{"rendered":"Bray Wins Billy and Pam Minick All-Around Award at Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The all-around has always been the most coveted in our cowboy sport. But in our modern rodeo world of single-event specialists, fewer guys are even entered in more than one event, much less successful. Some rodeos reward their all-around champ with a prize, and it\u2019s always so appreciated by the cowboys. This year\u2019s inaugural Billy and Pam Minick<\/a> All-Around Award at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo<\/a> pairs perfectly with Fort Worth\u2019s \u201cThis thing is legendary\u201d motto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And the winner is\u2026Paden Bray<\/a>, who won $5,525 in team roping and tie-down roping at the rodeo, and was awarded a $10,000 bonus and buckle for being one of only two cowboys to place in two events. The other was bronc riding bull rider Thayne Elshere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve won a lot of all-arounds, but I\u2019ve never heard of an all-around prize like this in my life,\u201d said Bray, 27, who makes his home in the nearby Cowboy Capital of the World in Stephenville. \u201cTo be fortunate and blessed enough to win this the first year Pam and Billy put this prize up is unbelievable. It feels like a sponsorship. I\u2019ve never seen or heard of an all-around award like this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brady Tryan is heading for Bray at Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston. | FWSSR Photos by James Phifer <\/p>\n

The 2019 Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year <\/a>has roped at three NFRs, the first two in 2020 and \u201921 with Erich Rogers<\/a>, and the third behind Clay Smith<\/a> in 2023. He and Rogers won the 2020 NFR average at Bray\u2019s first Finals, when COVID moved our Super Bowl of Rodeo to Arlington, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bray heeled for Brady Tryan<\/a> at Fort Worth, and they got out of Bracket 5 and the Semifinals with $5,400 a man. Paden also pulled a $125 check out of Bracket 5 in the tie-down roping, which was the difference maker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Bray was thankful to catch a ride on Tanner Green\u2019s great horse Bird in Fort Worth. | FWSSR Photos by James Phifer <\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a great team\u2014all-around means everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cI got to ride Tanner Green\u2019s<\/a> Bird in the tie-down, and he\u2019s the best horse I\u2019ve ever ridden. He\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bray heeled on his dun horse Hugh Hefner, who sports a Playboy bunny brand on his left jaw. He\u2019ll also heel for Tryan at San Antonio and Houston, because his 2026 header, Ketch Kelton<\/a>, is a rookie and didn\u2019t get in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t get into these big winter rodeos as a rookie, so we\u2019re going to do it the hard way,\u201d Paden said. \u201cKetch and I are going to focus on the team roping, and will rope some calves and (steer roping) steers along the way when we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roughstock cowboys Stetson Wright and Wacey Schalla went 1-2 in the 2025 world all-around race. That they both rode in two events at the NFR tells you how tough they are to beat for any all-around title\u2014Fort Worth included.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge just to have success at a rodeo like Fort Worth,\u201d Bray said. \u201cThe Texas Swing is so important to cowboys, because there\u2019s so much money to be won in one spot. It\u2019s the first time I got to compete in the tie-down roping at Fort Worth, so that was fun. To be able to hold off those roughstock guys is hard. The stars lined up for me, and I lucked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one lucks into being there in two events. The Minicks, who were recognized as one in December with the 2025 Legend of ProRodeo Award, know that well. And they want to shine a spotlight on it at their hometown rodeo, so have generously stepped up with a 10-year commitment to carry on this popular new Fort Worth tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo has been a part of my life since I was 7 years old,\u201d said Billy Minick, who remembers seeing Gene Autry perform there in 1947. \u201cThe proudest moment of my professional rodeo career was leading the grand entry at Fort Worth as the rodeo producer in 1970.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Fort Worth all-around bonus paid Bray twice what he won at the rodeo. | FWSSR Photos by James Phifer <\/p>\n

His 1973 Miss Rodeo America wife is a ProRodeo Hall of Famer, National Cowgirl Hall of Famer and National Rodeo Hall of Famer who served as a sideline reporter at Fort Worth for three decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to add to the prestige of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo by providing additional incentives to pro rodeo athletes,\u201d Pam Minick added. \u201cI was so happy to see my husband\u2019s vision become a reality, and we could not have kicked this thing off with a better recipient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per usual, there\u2019s a special cowboy\u2014make that cowgirl\u2014connection here. Paden and little brother Wyatt, who\u2019s heading for Cashton Weidenbener in 2026, are the sons of Ken and Billie Bray. Ken\u2019s the president of Equibrand, which includes Classic Rope, Classic Equine, Rattler Rope, Martin Saddlery and Cashel, and Billie works hard as director of marketing for Equibrand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Minicks didn\u2019t have to do this, and it\u2019s very special that they did,\u201d Paden said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool that my mom won the 2025 Pam Minick Lifetime Achievement Award. I\u2019m just trying to keep up with my badass mom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The all-around has always been the most coveted in our cowboy sport. But in our modern rodeo world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[58241,116,118,117,49983,64405],"class_list":{"0":"post-156417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-2026-prorodeo","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","11":"tag-fort-worth-news","12":"tag-fort-worth-stock-show-rodeo","13":"tag-paden-bray"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}