Trula receiving her buckle at the 2014 WNFR – Greg Westfall
Trula Churchill and Worm just won $3,900 at the Bonus Race Finals in Lincoln, Nebraska. “I’m not usually home in June, so this just happened to work out. I won third out of 1,200 runs.” Worm is 12, and was raised by the Churchill’s. Born late at night, Worm was long, skinny, wrinkly and dirt brown. Streak of Fling is his dad, his mom is NFR Qualifying Steer Wrestling horse Jetta Rita. “When my husband, Linn, wasn’t using her, we decided to raise some colts out of her. It was a fate deal when we took her over to the Clinic and Brian and Lisa’s horse happened to be out there and we bred her to him. He was the first colt crop that Streak of Fling produced.”
Trula admits that he’s a character, but quick to add that he loves his job. “He’s one of those kind that wants to please and do what you ask of him. He’s very willing. He’s still winning, so as long as he is, we’ll keep going. He doesn’t owe me anything – he has a home for life.” Worm has taken Trula to the WNFR three times, the Canadian Finals three times (once as the champion), the RAM Circuit Finals twice and made three or four trips to the California Circuit Finals. He’s known as the streak of blue as he makes his way around the cloverleaf.
“To me, the highest compliment a horse owner can get is to have everybody from the pickup men to the team ropers complimenting your horse. The announcer will call his name – and that’s pretty cool to me that they always call his name – here comes Worm.”
This summer finds Trula staying close to her home in Valentine, Nebraska. She made the WNFR in 2014 and decided after the winter that she was going to stick closer to home this year. “I have some young horses that need to be ridden,” she said. “Linn and I will hit the closer rodeos and some of the amateur ones around home. The three years I made the finals I was home maybe 40 days, and not consecutively, so this will be a nice change.”
She has no intention of quitting the rodeo road. “I’m going to keep rodeoing and do what I enjoy and stay active in the horse industry. Worm was the first colt we raised and we’ve raised one or two every year. I’ve got a full sister to Worm and she’s now having some colts. The riding age colts they have are by Fulton Ranches other stallion CS Flashlight, and others such as Jesse James JR, Slick By Design, and Prime Talent.”Linn is still riding horses and training a few and helps on his folks’ ranch.
