John Franzen joins WSR to discuss the passing of Craig at Midnight

God needed a good bareback horse and called Powder River Rodeo’s Craig at Midnight home over the weekend.

The grey gelding passed away suddenly on Saturday afternoon at age 15.

“We’re hanging in there,” John Franzen said. “He was a special animal......He was a horse that everyone wanted to see at every rodeo we went to.”

Craig won his first Go-Round at the NFR in 2013, which was also his first appearance.

“It was just the start of a great career. He was kind of unknown, I mean we had high hopes for him and he had a rough start at first. He was kind of hard to get out on in the chutes,” Franzen said. “He was pretty young still right here at this moment and for him to go there and have the trip he did and to win a Go-Round, it was pretty special.”

Craig made the NFR every year from 2013-2020 and was named the PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year 2016 and was the top bareback horse at the NFR in 2017.

Franzen said there were no signs that something was wrong with Craig other than that he looked a little sluggish on the day he died.

“We’re not exactly sure what happened, but whatever it was, it took a horse out that definitely had a lot of heart.”

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At home with Powder River Rodeo’s Craig at Midnight