It&rsquo;s been six years since <strong>Jerome Schneeberger</strong> stood in the winner&rsquo;s circle at the end of a Prairie Circuit season.</p><p>His performance over the past three days during the Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo, in conjunction with the American Royal, was a mix of celebration and sigh of relief. </p><p>He placed in every go-round and won the tie-down roping average title for having the best time after three runs.</p><p>He roped and tied three calves in 24.7 seconds at Kemper Arena to win the rodeo, about 2 1/2 seconds faster than runner-up <strong>Trent Creager</strong> of Stillwater, Okla.</p><p>&ldquo;To have that kind of run is more of a confidence-builder,&rdquo; said Schneeberger, a 10-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Ponca City, Okla., who has now won the circuit&rsquo;s tie-down roping crown seven times. &ldquo;To tell the truth, I&rsquo;ve been down in the dumps the last two years.&rdquo;</p><p>When cowboys rodeo for a living, money not only pays the bills, but it&rsquo;s how championship points are tallied. </p><p>Schneeberger simply hasn&rsquo;t won enough money over the course of the past two seasons to be among the finalists to qualify for the NFR, the premier finale of ProRodeo where world champions are crowned.</p><p>Not only has Schneeberger played on the sport&rsquo;s biggest stage, he&rsquo;s done pretty well there, winning the 2001 average title for having the best cumulative time over the 10-round affair. But the past two seasons have been downright rough.</p><p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot that goes into it, but basically I just didn&rsquo;t rope well,&rdquo; he said.</p><p>And with the confidence, he&rsquo;s hoping that changes quickly for the 2010 season.</p><p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a new horse, and it&rsquo;s been pretty green all year,&rdquo; said Schneeberger, 33. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s starting to click along. It makes me realize that I&rsquo;ve still got it.&rdquo;</p><p>&bull;<strong>BUCKING HORSE EUTHANIZED:</strong> The Frontier Rodeo Co. horse High River had to be euthanized on Saturday night after the animal sustained a spinal injury in bareback riding.</p><p>&ldquo;You could tell by the way the horse went down that it was likely a spinal injury,&rdquo; said veterinarian <strong>Randy Huenefeld</strong> of Adrian, Mo. &ldquo;I&rsquo;d given it a heavy sedation to make sure the animal didn&rsquo;t hurt herself anymore or hurt any of the people working. We allowed her to attempt to stand, and when we realized the severity of the injury, we euthanized her.&rdquo;</p><p>The injury happened just as High River was bucking off rider <strong>Justin Williams</strong> of DeSoto. American Royal spokesman <strong>Greg Lee</strong> said instances of fatal injuries to animals at the rodeo are rare.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been doing this for several years, and we don&rsquo;t see this kind of injury very often,&rdquo; Lee said. &ldquo;We are very proud of the way our veterinarian handled this situation. It&rsquo;s just a freak accident that happened.&rdquo;