Lunatic Heaven

2025 Pendleton Whisky’s Let ‘er Buck Bucking Stock of the Year – Brookman Rodeo’s Lunatic Heaven Takes Top Bareback Horse Honors

If there was a phone line to heaven, it would be burning up with people calling Marvin Brookman to congratulate him on Lunatic Heaven’s recognition. 

Brookman Rodeo could credit the big skies of Montana and all of the bucking horses that have come before her. It’s all that and more. Having the 2025 Bareback Horse of the Year is a payoff for generations of work.

Lunatic Heaven, a seven-year-old super star from Brookman Rodeo, has had all the above. Her mother, Continental Drift, and father, Lunatic Bait, are both products of a breeding program that started with the late Marvin Brookman who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2005, six months before he passed away at the age of 92. 

Marvin started breeding horses in the 1930’s and passed his knowledge and love of them on to the next two generations. That put Dave and Cathy (Marvin’s granddaughter) at the helm of the operation.  And with their attention to detail and careful planning, they have raised a horse that exceeded everyone’s expectations. Dave and Cathy have three children, LaTasha Sheets, Tesa and Tate Wieferich. Tate is following the path of his family and is an integral part of Brookman Rodeo now. 

In the spring of 2019, there were about 15 foals born on the ranch. One of those was a sorrel filly with a blaze face and a kind eye. She went to a couple of rodeos as a foal alongside her mother who was selected for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2017, the same year that she took Tim O’Connell to a championship at Wyoming’s Cheyenne Frontier Days. 

Eight years later, Lunatic Heaven took Kade Berry to the title at the “Daddy of ‘em All.” And they set an arena record with a 93.5-point ride. Tate was on the flank duty last July and he knew that it was going to be special. 

“I had a feeling that something good was going to happen,” Tate said. “I thought that this horse had a good opportunity when we drew Kade Berry. He spurs hard and that horse loves that. When I pulled the flank and watched that horse on the first kick out, I just had chills down my spine. 

When he was 93.5, I couldn’t even speak after that. I was just happy and shocked. My dad was there, and he said he had goosebumps. It was just a very cool experience.”

Brookman Rodeo depends on subcontracting to have the opportunity to showcase their horses. After her first NFR appearance in 2024, Lunatic Heaven was back home in Montana at the Chase Hawks Rough Stock Rodeo. Then she went to Fort Worth; Jackson, Mississippi; Watford City, North Dakota; Redding, California; Nashville, Tennessee; Red Lodge, Montana; Cheyenne, Wyoming; Sidney, Montana; Puyallup, Washington; and Pendleton, Oregon.  

Her trip to the Music City Rodeo in Nashville was all Montana. She took Sam Peterson, from Helena, to the winner’s circle there with an 88-point ride – in a building. In Puyallup, she took Jacek Frost to the win with a 91.5. She helped both of these bareback riders secure their first spots at the NFR. 

She doesn’t care if she is bucking in a big outdoor arena, or in a building filled with thousands of screaming fans, she just wants to buck. According to Tate, she is the total package. 

“She’s very gentle,” Tate said. “She’s just a calm, cool, collected horse. It’s like she doesn’t have a care in the world. She just loves being a horse, especially a bucking horse. “

Lunatic Heaven –  like most of the Brookman horses – started her life on their ranch near Sidney, Montana. After their first winter, they send them north to the ranch at Wolf Point, just 60 miles from the Canadian border. There is a lot of good grass and natural water. The horses are given time to grow, learn to be independent and just be. When they are four or five years old, their journey to becoming a bucking horse starts in earnest. 

All of their horses are started in the bareback riding. The process gets them used to having something around their middle. They start with a very loose flank strap.  For Lunatic Heaven it has stayed that way. 

“We run the flank strap up and down their bellies and get them used to something touching them there,” Tate explained. “When we started with Lunatic Heaven, we barely had any tension on the flank and she just came out cracking. We haven’t changed anything.” 

They take their young horses to college rodeos and amateur events to gain experience. Lunatic Heaven was about to turn six years old when she first bucked at a PRCA-sanctioned event. That same year, she was selected for the NFR. From the get go, they knew they had a great horse. 

“We took very good care of this horse,” Tate said. “She had some great trips early on. My dad knew this horse was going to be special. So, we didn’t buck her much and got her going slowly. He was right about the whole deal.” 

What Marvin Brookman started, the Wieferich family continues. Marvin raised a horse –  Brookman’s Velvet – that was selected as the saddle bronc of the year for Cervi Championship Rodeo. This is the first award under the Brookman Rodeo name. 

“We don’t put on a whole lot of rodeos, so when we get to these big rodeos it’s a big deal for us,” Tate said. “A ton of this goes out to those who have us come to their rodeos too. Without them, this isn’t possible. It’s cool to know that we’re not the biggest stock contractors out there, and this can still happen.

When the votes were tallied up, Cathy got the call. “Mom was so excited,” Tate said. “She called my dad and everybody she could. It spread like wildfire from there.” 

Lunatic Heaven will be spending time in Montana preparing for her second trip to Las Vegas in December. And when she comes out of the yellow bucking chutes in the Thomas & Mack Center, she will have a little more incentive to be great as a world champion bucking horse. 

With Tate and Dave behind the chutes and the family watching in the stands, it will be a culmination of years of planning, preparing and hoping. For this seven-year-old mare, the anticipation has nothing to do with awards, she just wants to do her job.