Once again hello and welcome to the Driver’s Seat. The rodeo road has been filled with miles and sleepless nights as well as some good times and a couple of bummers. We have been very busy out here on the road as most of you can probably imagine. The road to the NFR is long and crisscrosses the country on a weekly and even a daily schedule. With a few exceptions there are some major rodeo’s that just about everyone goes to and then there are some satellite rodeos around them that you throw in depending on how you get up and logistics. I think at today’s count we have been to 44 rodeos and there are 30 more to go. I couldn’t begin to tell you the number of miles we have covered or the hours we have spent on the road overnight to get to the next one. But let’s just say that they have been many.

This year has been a completely different look into rodeo and driving for me. Not only have I driven and taken care of horses I been learning about the procom central entry system. On occasion I have been able to make the calls and enter my guys at the up coming rodeos. That process is not as simple as just putting your name down. When you call you have the chance to give a “Preference” as to which day you would like to be up at a rodeo. I have learned through a little bit of trial and error that when you give a preference it will determine you position in the rodeo and could set you up for success or it will set you up for a rocky road ahead. Preferences are simply that they are when you would prefer to be at a rodeo and are simply a suggestion to the people putting the rodeo together of when your schedule works to get there. Sometimes everyone else who plans to go to that rodeo has the same preference as you and then it becomes a matter of who has priority on the list. I know what your thinking that Trevor would always have priority but I will have to tell you that is not so. I have talked to many many veterans of the PRCA and no one can tell me what determines priority in the entry system. So let’s just say sometimes you hit and sometimes you get popped and have to get a trade to what you wanted to work a rodeo.

As I sit here right now my guys are up in Cheyenne at “The Daddy” and I am in Kearney,NE getting our rig worked on so that we are ready for the next few weeks of rodeo. This time of year out here is tough because the miles and the conditions have taken their toll on your rig and equipment and so if something is going to break down it typically happens around now. It just so happens that our break down was in the generator for the bus and as much as I would have liked to be able to fix it this particular break was above my pay grade. So I drove to Denver from Cheyenne to have the problem diagnosed and then from Denver to Kearney to have it repaired. I should be set up and rolling by this evening and back at the rodeo in time to hook up and leave and head to Helena,MT for the Friday night perf. So I guess as the saying goes there is no rest for the wicked.

Credit: Josh Schley

From here we are looking at two more weeks of really busy rodeo before we settle into the NW up in Ellensburg,WA for about three weeks of what I would call casual rodeo. Over the next two weeks we will go to seven more rodeos and spend three days at the Spicer Gripp in Hereford,TX Jackpotting. With SR and TD and TR it is a good weekend all in one place for Trevor to have an opportunity for some winning. After theses two weeks of hustle we spend a week at Caldwell,ID and then the 17th of Aug we head up to Scott Repps Weststar Ranch and spend about 2 weeks there as a hub for the rodeos in the NW. So really looking forward the end is drawing near rather quickly and it seems like we only left home just yesterday.
This has truly been a wonderful year with so much learning and changing. i am not sure where it will take me in the future but I will never regret the time that I have invested out here. The friends i have made and the opportunities I have come across. I look forward to whateveer the good Lord has in store for me and I hope and pray that what ever it may be it includes rodeo. As always I welcome any feedback I can get and I would love to answer any and all of your questions. Please feel free to email me at Joshschley80@gmail.com and until next time I wish you Gods Blessings and good roping!!