I wish I had better news to report about the rodeo situation. When I got ready to leave for Red Bluff, California, my good horses were sore. At a recent USTRC roping Bob over-reached causing a hairline fracture in his left front coffin bone. The black horse had an abscess, so I left with Flint and Tommy, and not feeling real confident with four sore horses at home. Viper is getting better and hopefully we’ll be able to use him some this summer.

 I knew that eventually I would have to go to the long scores without Bob. I’ve gotten to ride him at the bigger events for a lot of years by saving him and using other horses at smaller events. When you have a horse that can score and run, it gives you confidence and we’ve won a lot of ropings and rodeos on him. For the big events you like to take your big guns and I try not to ride those horses all the time. I’d rather keep them home and legged up and working so we’re prepared for the big events.

 Now I’m headed to the last two Tour rodeos of the season without my big guns and neither of my other horses are ready for it. Trevor Brazile offered and I rode his horse on my first steer at Red Bluff. I got a decent start and roped the steer but when he came around he got heavy in the corner and Rich roped a leg.

 Since the next steer was for the day money I decided to ride my heel horse. I’d been reaching on him and I thought I could be pretty fast on him. We made a heck of a run and were a long four. Rich roped the inside leg and at the last second got the outside leg too. We ended up winning fourth or fifth in the second round and made it back to the short round. In the short round we had a steer that tried a little but ran straight. I got out good and my loop him in the back of the right horn. My horse dropped out a little and I held him up and as I did, my loop fell over the right horn. Then Rich’s horse stumbled and almost took a nosedive. He didn’t even throw his rope and pulled up.

 Next is Clovis, a Tour rodeo and we need points so we are in the “catch mode” and not very aggressive. We have a decent steer and make a good run but we’re one-tenth too long for points in the first round. Our second round steer tried a little and we made a clean run. In the third round we drew a pretty good steer and I’m a little conservative on the barrier. I run up and rope him and steer checks off a little. I turned him, then Rich got out of whack, took an extra swing and we were six-something, too long to place in the round. But we have a clean run and it all comes down to points in the short round.

 Whether we make the Finale in Las Vegas comes down to this one steer. At Clovis, you really don’t want a steer that runs and goes left. So one that also drops his head is even worse. I’m not saying this steer was impossible to catch, but while in the “catch mode” you don’t want one that runs, goes left and drops his head. All we had to do was make a clean run. We were fourth high team and everyone missed before we ran. There was one eight-second clean run and we had to be under to make the Tour Finale. I missed the barrier by a foot and the steer ran a little harder than I expected on a hot Sunday afternoon. I was riding and swinging and really not wanting to reach. The steer came left and I’m forced to either throw or hang up in the left wall. I took one more swing and about the time I let go, he lowered his head. When I let go I was pretty certain I didn’t have my sights lined up well enough to catch him, but I was at a point of no return and missed him.

 Riding someone else’s horse under this kind of pressure make you feel ill prepared. Trevor’s horse worked fine and I just didn’t execute. Having to just catch, I didn’t want to gamble by reaching and I didn’t want to get my partner in a bad spot by getting hung up on the left wall.

 Truthfully we haven’t been in many situations where we had to catch and not pull through. We wouldn’t have had the success we have if we couldn’t overcome those kinds of obstacles. There was a lot on the line and we didn’t pull it off which made for a very long drive to Guymon. It’s been a while since we missed a Tour Finale and it’s not a good feeling. It does, however, motivate you to try harder next time.

 The summer rodeos are here and I don’t want to be in that situation again. It’s pretty much a given that if you don’t make the Tour Finales, the chances of winning a world title are very limited.

 I have to congratulate David Key and Clay Cooper for roping outstanding and making a lot of good runs. Clay sure seems motivated to be at the top of his game and David has the burning desire to win a gold buckle. David ropes good; He’s a reacher but can also run in there and rope to put the runs together. They’re a good team and I was a little concerned about them going into the Finals last year. They’re going to be hard to beat if they continue roping like they are now. If I was riding my good horses they would be hard to beat; so riding my second string they’ll be extremely tough to beat.

 Frank Graves and Brad Culpepper, both from the east, have also had a good winter. It’s hard for them to stay gone to all the bigger rodeos. They come out and go for a couple of months and then go back home. They both have families and kids at home. It’s hard to be out here all the time – even with the sixty-rodeo rule. If you go to the sixty best rodeos you’re going to be gone a lot.

 Guymon is a Tour Rodeo and I ride my black horse. We have a decent steer and I get it on him fast and Rich ropes a leg. Our second steer just walks and I’m running as hard as I can get my black horse to run. As I get to him I try to rope and miss the right side of his head by about six inches. The steer is walking and I’m running wide open. I should have been a little more conservative and taken another swing. That may not have worked because he jumped, went to the right and ran – after I missed him. I run up on a lot of the mulies and I sure thought I could catch him and would probably do the same thing again. Guymon didn’t count as a Tour Rodeo for us so we were going at them, which is what we normally do when there’s not a Finale on the line.

 On our third steer at Guymon we made an outstanding run. It was one of the faster runs I’ve seen there. We were six flat and thought we had the round won but someone tied us that night.

 I had booked some schools during the PRCA rodeos in Stephenville and Mineral Wells, so we didn’t go to those rodeos. With forty-five days before the BFI and the Reno rodeo I thought I’d stay home and try to find some horses and get mine in shape and ready. So I got to hang out with my wife and little Miss Hali Wren (our natural alarm clock that goes off at 6 a.m.).

 Phillip, my brother-in-law, wants to be a professional golfer and has been working at it hard for three years now. We made a deal that if he played four under par for three consecutive days, that I would try to get him in the Byron Nelson tournament in Dallas. He did it and it was a good experience for him. He got to meet a lot of people and play against some pros. It was a good experience for me – because my wife, Kelli Jo and Johnna all went to watch him play and I had my first 36-hour solo with my baby girl. I change diapers and the whole bit. None of the women thought I could handle it. Jennifer waited until midnight to leave so she could spend more time with the baby and leave me less time on my own.

 Hali woke up at 5:00 a.m. and I fed her, changed her diaper and put her back to sleep. She woke up again at 8:00 a.m. and I put her in bed with me and we played for about thirty or forty-five minutes. I changed her and put her back in bed, thinking I would get a shower before feeding and dressing her. That turned out to be a bad decision because my little woman gets very upset when she doesn’t get to eat every three hours. When I get out of the shower she is hollering – loudly. While I’m fixing her bottle I’m talking to her to let her know I’m there even though she can’t see me and it didn’t do much to improve her disposition.

Well, I’m not going to pick her up and feed her as long as she’s having a fit. I’m waiting for her to quit her mad screaming fit. This goes on for about twenty minutes or so and I go in and sit down and start talking to her. She gets quiet for a minute and looks at me, and she’s got some mean little eyes. I take her in the living room to feed her and we’re sitting there and I call her name like I had been all morning. You’d have thought I scared her to death. She threw her bottle, threw her arms in the air, starting kicking her feet and screamed bloody murder.

 I looked at her and said, “What is up with you?” The more I talked, the more she screamed. So I hushed up and she got quiet and started eating again. I said, “Now baby girl,” and when I spoke she started screaming again. I hushed and she stopped. This happened about ten or twelve times and then the phone rang. I answered the phone and she went to hollering.

 My father was an animal trainer and had a lot of dogs. I don’t claim to be a trainer but I have raised a few border collies and taught them a few tricks. This behavior threw a kink in my methodology. My little woman associated my voice with getting left in her room alone while she was hungry. It took a good forty-five minutes before I could speak without her having a fit. I told my wife I thought I was pretty tough and would be able to handle this a little better than that. But I didn’t like my little woman being scared of my voice and having fits. So from then on, no matter what I was doing, every three hours I pulled over and fed my little woman and changed her diaper and kept her happy. Some will see that as giving in but I get a little grouchy when I’m hungry and tired – so I choose not to have that battle again. I’ll keep my little woman fed, changed and happy. I thought some of you Moms and Dads might get a kick out of that. The family all likes to pick at me about training on her, well she’s trained me well. That’s the lesson I’ve had in training my daughter. We’ll see how things go next time.

 I’ve been helping Mr. Roy Gene Evans, who has a real nice place near Mineral Wells, with his roping. We roped with him one day and the Stephenville USTRC roping is the next day. At Stephenville Rich was trying a new horse and missed our first one. With my other partner, Richard Durham, our second steer ran up the rope and he missed him. So after three steers I was done heading in Stephenville. But I did get to heel. I roped with Mr. Roy Gene, Cody Byrd and Shelby Smith. Mr. Roy Gene and I drew a runner in the first round and he missed him. Cody and I went out in the third round.

 But Shelby Smith, Brad Smith’s daughter, made me look like a #2 heeler. Brad won the world a few years back. Shelby and Bailey, Clay Cooper’s daughter, are cousins and rope together a lot. Our first steer ran hard and she it hung on right before he went in the catch pen and did an outstanding job. When the steer stopped that hard, I ran by him and threw underneath my horse’s neck and roped a leg. On our second steer I planned to be a little more aggressive and try to help her. She got a “downtown” start and then I broke the heeling barrier. We’re 7.1. I get out on our third steer but she breaks out. She hangs it on him and he just quit. I’m going by and am going to take one more swing to catch. The steer falls behind me and my horse is standing still and I don’t even throw my rope. I kick back up and all I hit was the arena floor. Shelby and I didn’t draw the best, but there was no excuse for me on the third one or for breaking the barrier. It was a learning experience and Shelby had fun picking on me afterwards.

 The next place we go is the Windy Ryon Memorial. My Mom came out to rope with us and horse had been real sore so we took him to Doc and got his hocks injected and worked on. She’d like to find someone closer to her to work on him instead of bringing him all the way to Texas. It’s always amazing how much better a horse will work when he’s no longer sore.

 The night before the roping it was rainy and we couldn’t ride so we went to bed pretty early. Jennifer and Johnna were going to get up and eat breakfast before the All Girl, which started around 8 a.m. They get up at 5 a.m. and I’ve got Miss Hali Wren from about 5:00 to about 11:00 a.m. Lord help me, I didn’t know a little woman that size required so much equipment just to go watch the roping.

 Between trying to get the girls’ horn knots tied, horses saddled, getting them each ropes and cutting them off plus tending to the little woman – it was quite a busy morning. Before the Windy Ryon even got started I was exhausted, mentally fatigued and with my whole crew roping I was nervous. I always get more nervous watching than roping. It was worth it. Johnna turned two good steers for Kelli Jo. Her horn knot came off on one and she missed the other.

 Mom wasn’t going to rope at the Windy Ryon because she didn’t have any partners. Jennifer wasn’t going to rope because she hadn’t been practicing. Johnna and Kelli Jo both wanted to rope. No one knew for sure what they were going to do. Jennifer roped with Johnna and Mom. Kelli Jo roped with Shawn T and Johnna; and Mom had another run. Jennifer and Mom were clean on their first one. Kelli Jo and Shawn T were clean on their first one. They both placed in the first round. Mom came back and roped a leg on their second one. Shawn T missed Kelli Jo’s second steer.

 Mom and Jennifer came back to the short round as eighth high call. They had a steer that ran and went to the right a little. Jennifer rode my little heel horse – or I should say she rode her little horse that I have confiscated. He worked really good for her. She roped and turned off and Mom roped the outside leg and they were fifteen with seven teams left to go. This year there were 134 teams in Windy Ryon All Girl Open to the world. The next seven teams missed. The ground was deep and boggy which caused the steers to get a little heavy and what ever could go wrong did go wrong.

 Mom and Jennifer ended up coming from eighth call back and winning the Windy Ryon All Girl. It was a pretty happy scene around my house for a while.

 Not long ago Rich saw a head horse at a roping school that he really liked, and bought him and sent him to me. I couldn’t help picking on Rich a little. I rode the horse for a couple of days and then called and asked if he wanted me to send him back to him because he wasn’t going to work. Rich didn’t really know what to say, he just couldn’t believe it. He said he thought the horse was really good – and he’s actually turning out to be really good and I was only kidding. I’ve been home forty-five days and tried about twenty horses and haven’t found anything I felt like I could put in the trailer and use. Then Rich stumbles up on one at a school.

 That’s what I rode at the Windy Ryon. My first steer with Rich ran and when I got out in the mud I bogged down a little and missed. Cory Petska and I had a steer than went left and ran and he roped a leg. Kory Koontz and I had a leg on our first steer. Clay and I won fifth in the first round and then were clean on our second one. Our third steer ended up being the highlight of my day. It was hot that day and the dress code requires you to wear a hat. I bought a straw hat and had been sitting it on the back of my head because they come off anyway unless you pull it down really tight.

 We drew a steer that just trotted and my horse scored good. This new horse will run right to the cow and let you rope, like Bob does. So I let him almost to the end of the tunnel and get a great start. This steer stuck his head out and I’m right on top of him. Right as I throw, my hat comes off and hits my rope and turns it over. I didn’t even hit the right horn and barely touched the left. Talk about humiliation. I’m very confident in a set up where I need to run up and catch a walking steer because I make my horses work in the practice pen so that I can do that. This was like missing the money cow – not supposed to happen.

 As I rode out the back of the arena, I’m laughing and telling Clay that I cannot believe my hat didn’t come off before then. But I hadn’t been trying to throw my rope right there either. A lesson learned. Kory and I came back and made three pretty good runs and won fourth. Winning $4,000 was not too bad for my horse’s first outing. It was a good day with Jennifer and Mom winning the Windy Ryon, one of the toughest all girl ropings there is. They got lots of awards and prizes.

 This year has been pretty interesting. You think you’re prepared to go compete and then one or two injuries to horses can change it. It’s like a football team with a great defense but then the quarterback gets hurt and then the second string quarterback gets hurt. It’s kind of hard to compete, no matter what they get paid. There’s usually a reason your third string is third. Then if you get down to your fifth and sixth string it’s a different world all together. We’ve had some problems in the past and tried to overcome them and compete and it’s always a learning experience. I don’t feel prepared because the horses I’m competing on are making mistakes at home. When you’re making mistakes at home, it’s hard to get away from home and dominate. If you draw really well you can get by a lot of situations and still win a little.

 Now days team roping is a lot tougher with more competitive and faster teams. There used to be just a handful of teams to beat and now there are twenty or thirty teams who are capable of winning first on any given day. It will be interesting to see where our sport goes in the next five or ten years. Like how much faster it can get, how much better the horses can get.

We leave for Reno and BFI in a few days. Hopefully I’ll have some good news to share about it. Until next time, catch your high-teamers. God Bless.