Spencer Mitchell and Trey White roped three steers in 17.0 seconds to win the average in Hermiston, Oregon, for $8,575 a man, then added $755 each for third in the short round for a $9,330 payday that moved White to third in the rookie heeling race with $33,453 won.
For White, of Los Osos, California, the win was more than his biggest payday of the season—it was the confidence boost he needed after a rookie year that hasn’t been all sunshine and roses.
“This has been my best week so far,” the 21-year-old said. “It’s been pretty rough just getting out there, trying to get a feel down, and it’s been pretty tough. It’s beat me down mentally, but I got to go home for a little bit, regroup, and came back, and it’s going good so far.”
Mitchell came into Hermiston looking for a reset of his own. After missing a couple of good ones earlier in the week at Jerome and Homedale, the 38-year-old Orange Cove, California, man went back to the plan that had worked for him through the spring.
“I just slowed back down like I had been doing all spring and tried to make sure to get the steers turned for him,” Mitchell said. “That was my biggest goal at that point, especially with Hermiston being as good a rodeo and having the short round that they have now.”
Their first steer tested that plan immediately. Mitchell and White were fourth out after watching three teams put four-second runs on the board, but their steer left harder than Mitchell expected. Mitchell got him around the neck, and White cleaned him up to be 6.0.
Their second steer was better but stepped left, forcing them towards the wall. They stayed hooked and stopped the clock in 5.3 seconds, giving them an 11.3 on two and a spot in the final round.
The short round started fast before opening up when several teams had trouble. Mitchell and White’s plan was simple: leave the arena winning the rodeo.
“Our number one goal was to take the lead when we were up, which is what we did,” two-time NFR qualifier Mitchell said. “We had a steer that was just average and I fortunately got a good start on him, and Trey pulled off a pretty dang good heel shot.”
“I rode terrible,” White added of their last steer. “My horse got a little tight through the turn and went by a little bit. I guess I got pretty lucky, and Spencer did a great job of finishing the run again. I thought he did a phenomenal job. I rode terrible in the last steer, but it all worked out.”
It worked out well enough that their 17.0 on three held for the average win, a full second ahead of Cash Duty and Trent Vaught’s 18.1. White had already headed back toward the trailer before Dustin Egusquiza ran into him and delivered the news that he and Mitchell had actually won the rodeo.
Mitchell made his three runs aboard Cuda, registered Duel Sweet Shotgun, a Playgun-bred gelding he has owned for about six years. Though Mitchell considers Cuda as much a heel horse as a head horse, the gelding’s cow and forward motion fit the fresh Hermiston cattle.
“He has enough cow in him to be able to read it,” Mitchell said. “He’s always moving forward, and it makes him easy to step out and away from them cattle without slowing down his front feet.”
White’s bay horse, whom he calls 50 Cent, came from a friend back home in California. White describes him as a little sensitive but exceptionally fast when everything comes together.
“When he works good, he’s a pretty phenomenal horse,” White said. “He’s really fast.”
White began the year roping with Tanner James before starting to heel for Mitchell after Cheyenne. Mitchell, a two-time NFR qualifier in 2011 and 2012 who currently leads the California Circuit with $29,712, has brought veteran experience to a partnership that started winning almost immediately, including a victory at Santa Barbara.
Before Santa Barbara, White spent a week practicing with Mitchell. Since then, the two have continued to work on their run.
“We break it down and we watch the videos every time we miss,” White said. “We really break it down. He’s helped me out a lot, and it’s pretty awesome to get to rope with him.”
For Mitchell, the willingness to listen is what makes working with White worthwhile.
“Trey wants to listen, he wants to learn, he wants to get better,” Mitchell said. “For him to want to listen and learn and actually take in the knowledge and see the growth that he’s making with that is very satisfying as well.”
Much of their work has centered around taking White out of the “jackpot mode” he grew up roping in and teaching him to let a rodeo run come together in front of him—working on position, his delivery and timing instead of trying to force it to be fast.
“The mindset of a younger kid starting, they’re going to go and see how fast they can throw,” Mitchell said. “But truly when you take off rodeoing, I believe you’ve got to slow yourself down.”
At Hermiston, that work showed up when White needed it most. Instead of trying to force the run, Mitchell’s message has been simple: “See your shot instead of trying to make it happen.”