Gainesville, Texas’ JR Caldwell and Beaver, Utah’s Rodney Teichert won the Riata Championships Rope Horse Rewards #10.5 at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie with a time of 34.88 seconds on four head, good for $46,200.
It’s Caldwell’s second Riata title of the week. He and Justin Copp won the #12.5 for $151,200, and Caldwell rode the same horse, SF Mr Bonnie Bay, to both.
Caldwell and Teichert came back 10th high callback and had to sweat out some stiff teams before they could celebrate.
“I personally was happy I got him some gas money to get home, so I was good,” said Caldwell. “And then it kept getting better and better and I’m like, this is crazy.”
The Team
Although this team seems like an odd matchup—Caldwell is 51 and Teichert turned 37 a few days before the Riata—they have ties that go beyond roping.
Caldwell and Teichert met earlier this year in Cheyenne at The Daddy Ariat World Series qualifier, where they won the #12.5 muley roping for another $12,480. After they got to talking, they realized they’re from the same neck of the woods.
“Probably the best part about this whole deal is we’re both originally from Idaho, and I happened to draw him in the muley roping at Cheyenne, and I don’t rope mules very well and I won it with him,” Caldwell said. ” We were talking and realized we probably grew up 20 miles from each other.”
The Long Go
“I swung over it once and made sure I got it caught, and he cleaned it up,” Caldwell said. “Our second steer was great, and third steer fell down with us. They gave us a new one and he come and cleaned it up and saved my butt on that one.”
Teichert saw it differently.
“I took steer one and three all the way across the arena,” he said. “We were on a cattle drive, but we got them branded.”
The Short Round
“Up to us, they had roped really well,” Caldwell said. “And it’s like, I want to go at this one and give us a shot to pick up a check and he did a great job. He heeled and wheeled him down, and then it fell apart. It was crazy.”
Teichert knew exactly what was coming out of the box.
“Between the little bit I roped behind JR, I know what he does, and he always sets them up good for a pretty quick shot,” Teichert said. “I just wanted to be in a position that one of those first couple hops, I was going to take my first good shot, and luckily that came pretty quick.”
From there, every miss behind them had a dollar sign attached—or a gallon of diesel.
“It’s going to get me some gas money home, and gas is high,” Teichert said. “He’s like, ‘Every time somebody misses, that’s a little more fuel.'”
Caldwell wasn’t celebrating until it was official.
“I thought we was first all along, and then we [were] kind of going to celebrate, and it’s like, ‘Wait, let’s make sure they announce our name first,'” Caldwell said. “So it was a relief when they announced our name and we got to win.”
The Horses
Caldwell headed on SF Mr Bonnie Bay, the Four Bonnie Bay son that carried him to the #12.5 title earlier in the week.
“Same one. He’s just been good,” Caldwell said.
Teichert heeled on Sunlight Tesla, a 6-year-old mare by Metallic Malice that he raised from a baby.
“She’s out of a Sun Frost-bred mare, so a little different cross there, but she’s big,” Teichert said. “. She’s real big for a heel horse. She’s not a freak athlete, but she’s real good about just sitting back there and putting me in a good spot. She’s pretty easy that way.”
She doubles as the family horse.
“She’s super gentle,” he continued. “My little boy rides her all over, so she’s a good one for the family too.”
Both horses cashed in on the Rope Horse Rewards incentive, adding $6,000 each for Caldwell and Teichert.
“Thank the good Lord,” Caldwell said.