Off Season - Hunter Washburn

Well, it's that time of the year again; it is cooling off, and you might be practicing a little less. It's the off season, so what do you do now? Weather permitting, I still practice as much as I can. When I'm practicing at this time of the year, I am working on any prospects I have. This year I have two- a gray mare and a sorrel and white paint gelding. The mare has been roped off of, and she's doing very well so far. I've ran about fifty steers off of her, and she hasn't done much of anything wrong. Her only fault is not running through the hole as hard as she does getting there. 

The paint horse has never been in a box or around cattle, so we are taking things a little slower.  He has come a long way in the last six months. I've ran him by about ten steers and tracked a good number of steers around the pasture and arena. I will continue with what I'm doing, and in the spring I'm planning on jumping off of him.

Working on prospects allows me to work on my horsemanship throughout the winter, so when I come to the start of summer, I'm riding my horses very well. I also sit down and watch old videos, mentally preparing myself, tearing my runs down, and rebuilding my foundation. This is also a good time to let your body heal from the stress and strain of the rodeo trail.

The Lord as shown me numerous things this year and has blessed me in many ways. I’ve stayed healthy this year, and I will be competing in the ACRA finals in a few weeks. I also have some really good horses under me with great people helping me. 

Straight Paths - Rope Myers

  Lynn McKenzie likes to say “clocks like straight lines,” and as a World Champion barrel racer she would know. This phrase also rings true in the other events.  In the steer wrestling the straightest path past the steer is the fastest. In the calf roping we want to break to the pin in order to get straight behind the calf.  In the calf roping and the goat tying we go straight down the rope. In team roping the time stops when both ropes are straight and taught. “Clocks do like straight lines.” 

  One training tool to work on straight lines is to use a rake.  It is a really simple trick, but it will help you to see the path you are taking to the animal and to see if you have straight lines. 

      

              1. Leaving the box

a.      Rake the front of the box and about 15’ in front of the chutes between runs. Then look at your horse’s path.

b.     For calves the tracks should be right behind the calf by about 20’ in front of the chutes.

c.      For steer wrestling your horse’s tracks leaving the box should line up parallel to where you caught the steer.

              2.   Down the rope

a.      For goat tying, between runs rake around the area where you get off of the horse to the goat.  This will let you see if you are running straight to the goat and pinning him on the end of the rope.

b.     For calf roping, rake beside the rope when you are tying from the post. This will allow you to see if you are running straight to the calf, and it will also let you see if you are placing your feet in the right place to flank the calf.

In the practice pen, just like in life, sometimes the best way to see where your problems lie is to look back and see where your footprints were landing. 

“Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”    Hebrews 12:12-13

Bumps and Slumps- Abbea Farris

This summer the Father had a different plan for me. I started the summer off by entering the same rodeos as I always do and planned on entering more as the summer continued. They all started off great until we hit a bump in the road. My good horse injured itself causing me to enter into what most people call “a slump.” I decided to take some time off and get some good practice in, improve my fundamentals, work, and spend time with my family before I left for college again in the fall. During tough times like this, I just have to remember that everyone goes through slumps in life and to keep my head on straight. Hoping I have worked out some of these problems, I will be going to a few rodeos the last month of summer! I am rodeo hungry and ready to go! 

This summer has also been filled with work and family. I am working construction 35 miles north of town. I have a lot of family that live out there, so it has been very convenient being able to see them more this summer. Every Sunday I’m home, I take my grandpa to church. With work being so busy during the week, then going straight to roping at night, a lot of my time is taken. So you could say, Sundays are our grandpa-granddaughter days. After church, we go out to lunch and simply spend time with one another.

This summer has been difficult at times, but I continue to keep my head up and remember the important things in life. Family is very important, so it has been nice to be catching up with them. But I cannot wait to be competing in rodeos again! No matter what, God is great, and I am blessed and thankful for another day.      

“All things are possible if you believe.” Mark 9:23

A Time for Everything - Bobbi York

I find myself asking “Why me?” a lot. I will humbly admit, I sometimes find that life has given me the short end of the stick. Just like most people, I want life to go my way 100% of the time. But, life never goes that way. I strongly believe that we all have a time in our lives where our entire outlook on life changes. I have had this moment and now I wish I had a tale of an epic rodeo saga where I bravely looked into the sunset finally realizing that this was my purpose in life. But this is not the case. Frankly, this had nothing to do with rodeo and I was at my weakest.

At the beginning of the summer, I would’ve been fine with never roping another day in my life. I had decided that rodeo was petty and selfish. But God had another plan for me. June 12, 2015. I was sitting at the Wyoming High School State finals and a girl on the rodeo team texted me saying…

                Someone in our team got killed in a car accident.

As one can imagine, I began to panic. I ran through every person on my team while I waited for the text telling me who it was. Eventually, I just called her.

Tyler. The Tyler I had known since freshman year. The Tyler that was always there. My next reaction was to call him. Nothing. Again I found myself asking “Why?”, but instead this time I was asking “Why God?” Months pass and eventually I was asked to write this blog on my summer rodeo season, that I wasn’t really doing, and on a God that I was even sure cared.

Slowly, I began to listen to God. I used to think God had never been there or he was testing me. But actually, God was always there for me, I just needed to listen. My dilemma was continuously questioning God about taking Tyler. To be honest, I’m not sure I will ever understand why such an amazing person had to leave us so soon. But to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

In July, I was able to get to see Lily and Sarah at the High School National Finals. When I was there I felt the rush and intensity of it all. From that point on, I knew this is what I wanted. I was driven. I roped every chance and when I wasn’t roping, I was thinking about roping. I knew that I wanted to be there next year and I was going to do everything in my power to get there. But roping is not my purpose; Rodeo is not my purpose.  As it says in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” My purpose is to spread the word of God, living each day to his Glory. Now by no means do I do this all the time and I have my low points. But through everything I have come to realize that I cannot get through this life without God and I try my best to live like he wants us all to.

Maybe Tyler’s purpose was to show us how to be kind and love one another and his death was to make us all realize we need to be kind and love one another. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Tyler. Think about his smile, his humor, his kindness. But thanks to him I have been able to see a glimpse of the way the Lord wants us all to be. Tyler, like all of us, wasn’t perfect. But he was by far the best person I’ve known on this earth.

As my summer comes to an end, I have won the Wyoming State Fair Breakaway Roping, bought a new rope horse for college, grown closer to the Lord, and am trying to make him proud each day. And each day I think of my friend that has given me so much.

Set Goals and Dream Big - Hunter Washburn

I hope you had a good summer! I had a lot of good runs this year and am looking forward to the last couple months of summer. I went to some pro and amateur rodeos. I'm sitting fifth in the permit standings in the PRCA.  I'm also sitting in the top five in the ACRA rodeos. The goals I've set for myself this year are to make both finals and work on finishing my equine dentistry school. Spending some time setting goals is a great way to motivate yourself. If you fall short, don't give up; try again. Do some things different next time. Learn something every time you nod your head. It's what we have to do to keep moving forward in our goals.


I was told it's okay to dream big if you're willing to put in the work to make the dream come true. I've always wanted to go to the NFR like everyone else, but if I'm going to do that I have to work harder than everyone else. What does it take, you might ask? Well, the truth is I don't know yet, because I haven't been there. What I am doing is working on my finances, I do know that is a big part of it. Along with horse care, vehicle maintenance, my health, and many more things. One day by doing these things I will give myself the best chance to make the NFR, and that's all I can ask for!


Until next time, God bless and have safe travels reaching your goals.

We Have Jesus - Bobbi York

For most of my fellow rodeo contestants, the dream is to be the best, like Ty Murray or Cody Ohl. I am not like other rodeo contestants. If anyone would have asked me when I was 8 what I wanted to grow up to be, I would have easily answered that I wished to be a lawyer. From my excellent debating skills that I practiced daily with my mom to my love for government, 8 year old me was sure that I was going to be a lawyer. It was the most logical career that I could choose. As years went by, I was determined that I did not belong in the courtroom, but instead in the lab as I had an interest in human biology and anthropology. This drew to my attention the idea of being a forensic anthropologist. Approaching my freshman year, my interest in rodeo grew and so did the idea of vet school. Logically, it seemed the best option due to my extensive background in agriculture and pre-existing knowledge of basic veterinary skills. Finally, with my junior year starting I decided that my becoming an athletic trainer was the best thing due to my constant use of one thanks to my unstable joints and forever tearing muscles. All of these were logical. It's easy to say rodeo isn't the best choice for me. Like Casey Allen always says, "We spend a fortune to live like a carney." But for us, logic doesn't apply when it comes to rodeo. We will risk our health, financial stability, and sometimes even our sanity. With logic comes security and predictability which makes us feel comfortable. But maybe that's a lot of our problem: logic. Doing things that are logical doesn't always mean that it makes you happy. This is why we rodeo. When we use logic we lose sight of dreaming big and aiming for the impossible.

            In rodeo there is always going to be room for improvement just like anything else. In rodeo we can’t think logically all the time. Granted, there is an element of rational thinking that is needed in order to have success, but sometimes we have to dream big in order to attain the unimaginable. For me that moment came when I went to my first big breakaway roping. I remember looking at everyone else and thinking about their ability and stats. I remember asking my coach “Do you think I belong here?” I knew it would be a long shot for me to even rope alongside some of the best. Now I missed, but I threw and missed but I took my first shot. I wish I could say the same for our walk with Christ. For some people it seems illogical to have a “relationship” with someone we can’t see. But the way I see it, it is the most logical thing we can do. There is only two promises in life: death and eternal life with the Lord. It would be foolish not to claim an eternal life that we are promised.

Grab Life by the Horns - Hunter Washburn

I wanted to talk about the Duvalls' annual steerwrestling jackpot. It didn't go as planed; I came back 4th high call in the 19 & under and missed my steer. That weekend, I learned that you have to run every steer for what he is and not like the last steer you ran. I don't know why I missed the steer, tunnel vision maybe. I backed in the box knowing I had a good steer. If you've ever been there, you would know how they set up the bleachers in the arena in a V shape from the boxes, which makes braking to the pen a death wish to your run. I broke to the pen and my steer was so close; I couldn't get my foot between us. This caused me to go over the top of his horns. After a weekend like this is, I first remind myself there's another one next weekend and I try to learn as much as I can from my mistakes. If you don't do this, you will get in a rut, dry spell, or make every excuse you can and still be at square one. So take a deep breath, learn from it and move on.

I've seen people talk/think their way out of check. It's a bad habit. If you know the steer is good, do what your supposed to do and it will work out. If you worry about it and have thoughts like, "I have to do this and this," and "what if I try this," you're  going to create chaos. I'm not saying just back in and nod your head and go. I'm saying be smart and if he stops and comes in to you, break down the rail and get down; let the steer come to you. If he runs left, break down the rail and ride your horse all the way up to the steers back and get off. If he goes right and tries the hazer, then break toward the left of the flag or middle of the box. It's not hard we just make it hard.

Through Him all things are possible. God has a plan for all of us, but sometimes we don't trust him enough to guide us through it. If his plan for you is to be a world champion steer wrestler, then you have to work at it. It won't be easy, but if I'm going to do it, I want God in my corner. God gives everlasting life and joy.  There's no guarantee that it will always be easy, but the reward at the end is the greatest of all. If you have not asked Jesus into your heart and soul and been saved, I pray that you ask Him to be apart of you and mean those words with all your heart. It won't always be easy, but it will be worth it.