Zane Bruce and Derrick Jantzen held on to the number-one spot in the Case IH Tractor #16 Championships, roping five head in 36.05 seconds, worth $37,000 and brand new Case IH Tractors at the United States Team Roping Championship’s Cinch National Finals of Team Roping.
“It was quite an honor to win it heading,” Bruce said. ” I don’t normally head a lot so it was pretty exciting to be able to have a great partner like Derrick and win it as a header.”
“It’s about the same for me,” Jantzen said. “I’m just honored to win it and be able to heel for him. He doesn’t head very often so I’m just excited that he decided to head for me.”
Bruce and Jantzen are both in the horse training business, which led them to their partnership.
“We’ve been doing some horse business off and on,” Bruce said. “We’ve just know each other from roping and rodeoing. He came down and roped with us some, and we just decided it would probably be a good idea if we roped together.”
Both Bruce and Jantzen were on grey horses to help them with the victory win.
“I was on Little Cesar,” Bruce said. “He’s normally a heel horse but we’ve been heading on him for the past year. He’s not your typical head horse—he’s kind of small. He’s really short backed and he’s really fast. That’s why I chose to ride him.”
“Mine was a 10-year-old grey I call Notch that we just bought not that long ago,” Jantzen said. “He’s my good one now. He’s not your typical heel horse—he’s pretty big, really.”
Just two days earlier Bruce was roping at the American Rope Horse Futurity Association World Championship, both showing and helping.
“We were at the Rope Horse Futurity Thursday and Friday,” Bruce said. “I had one horse entered and I made the finals on her. I really enjoyed it and had a good time.
“At the rope horse futurity, they want to see jackpot horses so you really don’t change it a whole lot. Now at the AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) showing, we show them a little different each end. To go from the Rope Horse Futurity to this, there really wasn’t a big difference.”
Bruce and Jantzen say they are both going to be selling their brand new tractors because they both recently purchase tractors of their own and Jantzen and his wife recently had a new baby.
“I need to sell it,” Bruce said. “We just bought a facility in Mineral Wells (Texas)—the Lucky B Arena—and we did just purchase a brand new tractor so I do not need another tractor. So somebody is going to get them a new tractor from me.”
