Decatur, Texas’s Miles Baker and Weatherford, Texas’s Trey Johnson kicked off the 18th Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale with a win in the #15.5 Priefert WSTR Finale, taking home a $66,500 payday for a time of 28.56 seconds on four head.
The horse trainer and the motivational speaker and pastor took a businessman-like approach to the roping, grateful for the chance to rope at the kind of money the Finale pays out.
“We drew really good on the first two and it put us pretty far ahead—a low 13,” Baker said. “From that point you can’t completely let off the gas, but it had put us ahead in the roping and we could just go take care of business.”
For their third run the men stayed smart, entering the short go in the third-high callback position. Baker explained that he was so focused on the job at hand that he wasn’t sure what time he needed to win the biggest check.
“They pay a lot of money and a lot of holes here,” Baker said. “You don’t have to win first to make good money, and I just wanted to get paid. I wanted to be clean and stop the clock in the short round.”
Johnson, who just got back from mission work in Africa and has been balancing roping with his leadership work, shared the same mindset. He says the two of them have roped together so much they’re attuned to what kind of run the other wants to make.
“There is nothing like winning with one of your best friends,” Johnson said, “I know I can rope on the offense when I’m roping with him.”
For the full story, see the February issue of The Team Roping Journal.
