Painted Valley passes

Vold Rodeo Company’s Painted Valley, a multi-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo bareback and saddle bronc horse, passed away Jan. 14, according to Kirsten Vold, owner of Vold Rodeo Company. Painted Valley was 19. Painted Valley was a ranch-raised stud. The horse was a product of decades spent selectively breeding bucking horses on the Vold Ranch in Avondale, Colo. Painted Valley was the 2010 PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year and the top saddle bronc horse of the 2009 National Finals Rodeo. Painted Valley, on the maternal side, was a son of Harry Vold‘s six-time NFR mare 050 Big Valley. Big Valley is a daughter of the producing-Vold mare Yellow Valley and Vold stud named Kojak, all ranch raised. In 2007, Painted Valley was selected to his first NFR as a bareback horse. The following year, he debuted in Las Vegas as a saddle bronc horse. Selected to his third NFR in 2009, Painted Valley had a breakout year, from carrying ProRodeo Hall of Famer Billy Etbauer to an 89-point ride in Cheyenne, Wyo., to earning best bronc at San Antonio. He was also selected best saddle bronc at the Mountain States Circuit that year and third runner-up in the Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year voting to go with the NFR saddle bronc of the year honor. Painted Valley retired from bucking in March 2014.