Wanda Harper Bush
Barrel Racer & GRA Member #14
1931-2015
Wanda Harper Bush was born in Mason, Texas on October 6, 1931, to Alvin and Gussie Harper and grew up on the Harper Ranch. Wanda and her husband, Stanley Bush, along with their daughter Shanna have worked with horses all of their lives. Wanda conducted barrel racing clinics nationwide for 30 years. All of the family are outstanding horsemen and women and have trained and sold many champion futurity and rodeo horses.
Wanda Bush competed at the West of the Pecos Rodeo in barrel racing for 28 years from 1957-85. She was the West of the Pecos Rodeo Champion three times and was the proudest to win the rodeo on its 50th Anniversary. Wanda considered Pecos and Houston as her two favorite professional rodeos.
Many, many honors and accolades have been bestowed upon Wanda as she is a 1978 member of the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Fort Worth; inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) in 2001; the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame (Belton, Texas) in 2002, the Texas Rodeo Hall of Fame (Pecos, Texas) in 2008 and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (Colorado Springs, Colorado) in 2017. The WPRAnamed Wanda the 1998 Pioneer Women of the Year and she held card #14 in the GRA.
Wanda was given the Texas A&M Equine Industry Leader Award and she won 32 GRA-WPRA World Championships, including barrel racing, calf roping, cutting horse, and all-around. Wanda qualified for the NFR 7 times. Wanda Harper Bush passed December 29, 2015, in Mason at the age of 84 and will be remembered as being “a tough-as-nails competitor who dedicated much of her life to helping others learn her sport and to leaving that sport better than she found it.”