James Arviso might have just set the arena record in Burley, Idaho, and he might be running away with the Resistol Rookie of the Year title—but this Arizona cowboy is still feeling the growing pains that go with the first year on the rodeo road.
“It’s felt like I’ve screwed up to win a lot more money than what was won last week,” Arviso admitted. “I think that comes with being a rookie.
“The thing that really surprised me was how good everyone stays. It seems like you get to missing a couple and you could just get really down on yourself, but all the good guys, they miss a couple and then the next one, they’re going to turn and they’re going to win.”
Arviso, from Seba Dalkai, Arizona, blasted a 3.7-second run to set the arena record at the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo in Burley, Idaho, during the Aug. 16 performance. Arviso and reigning Resistol Rookie Heeler of the Year Logan Moore shattered the 4.3-second record set by NFR aggregate record-holders Tanner Tomlinson and Patrick Smith back in 2022.
“I knew he was going to be good because James rides great horses and hits the barrier good all the time,” Moore added. “He hit the barrier and roped him and handled him, and about the time I got him heeled, he was already faced and the clocked stopped. But it was a crazy night of team roping because 4.1 [seconds] was winning it, 4.7 [seconds] was winning second, and I think 4.7 [seconds] ended up winning, I don’t know, maybe seventh.”
The record-setting run added $2,752 to the team’s earnings.
Ironically, Arviso and Moore hadn’t planned to rope in Burley at all. But after a few teams drew out to make the short round in Caldwell, Idaho, plans changed.
“We didn’t want to walk up at Burley,” Arviso admitted. “But we got the spot, they drew our steers. I mean, the guys broke a barrier and roped a leg on him; I didn’t think I could be three on him. I thought, surely if I could be four or five [seconds], I could win some type of money right here. I girl-curled it and thought, heck yeah, we’ll be about 4.6 [seconds]. Then I look up and it says 3.7 [seconds], and I didn’t know what to think.”
Since early July, the rest of the summer has been feast or famine for Arviso. He and Moore were second in the second round at Canby Oregon for $1,778 a man; placed at Omak, Washington, for $1,322 each; were fourth in Logan, Utah, to win $3,258 each; placed in the aggregate in Ogden, Utah, for $1,642 a man; and tied for the win the Wildcard round win in Cheyenne to take home $3,102 a man.
His fellow Navajo Nation ropers Aaron Tsinigine and Derrick Begay spoke about the growing Arviso—and his fellow rookie contenders—are bound to do their first year on the ProRodeo trail.
“I think it’s a real sensitive, new atmosphere for all the young guys that come on the scene,” Tsinigine said. “That’s one thing I told him from when he started, he was kind of holding back on buying his card and being out there. My advice was, you’ve got to get out there and you’ve got to experience all of it, whether it’s winning of getting your butt kicked.”
Arviso grew up watching his Uncle Derrick win year in and year out, but Begay said there’s no replacing the first-hand experience of the rookie year.
“The biggest thing is learning how to win,” Begay said. “I think that’s what separates guys out here that do good. It seems like one thing the rookies have to do is learn how to enter, like, enter what rodeos and then the situations at rodeos; then when to ride a certain horse or when to throw or not throw, or when to throw fast.”
As of Aug. 23, Arviso has $52,571.46 won, sitting ahead of Riley Kittle’s $37,426.34 for second place.
