Coy Rahlmann and Ross Ashford are making a strong push in the second half of the 2024 ProRodeo season, thanks to a $9,005 Dodge City Roundup win.
The pair of 2021 NFR qualifiers took home the win in Dodge City, as well as $747 a man in Preston, Idaho, to give Rahlmann a subtle push to 29th in the heading world standings with $50,211.43 won on the year and Ashford to 17th with $72,531.68 on the heel side.
“Obviously it’s still going to take a lot of money, so right now being in the Top 15, it doesn’t really mean anything to me,” Ashford, 25, said. “This is a good start. I’m just glad to get a little bit more money won and hopefully, if we can just win from here until the end of the year, then I think we’ll both be in good shape.”
For Ellsinore, Missouri’s Rahlmann, a rough winter caused a negative headspace for the spring andfor a slower start to his 2024 season. Since partnering up with Ashford at the beginning of the summer, they’ve been on the upward trek.
“I just got down too soon, and I almost think that that’s what’s made it where I’m just now starting to climb the ladder,” Rahlmann, 23, said. “I was in a negative state of mind, and it took me a long time to rebound from that.”
Dodge City payday
Rahlmann and Ashford were first out of the entire rodeo. Having been to Dodge City before, Rahlmann went with his gut as he’s familiar with the start and had an idea on the steers. They won second in the first round with a 5.2-second run for $3,085 a man.
In the second round, Rahlmann and Ashford had the steer their buddy team, Cody Snow and Hunter Koch, had and knew he was good. With the goal of staying in the average, Rahlmann and Ashford stopped the clock in 6.1 seconds to put them second in the average with an 11.3 on two steers.
A 14-hour drive from Idaho Falls, Idaho, Saturday night turned into 21 hours after a faulty DEF system, banged up truck and a blown tire, but the boys made it back to Dodge just in time for Sunday’s short round. As the round fell apart, Rahlmann and Ashford knew they had to be 8.2 to take the lead, so they went into catch mode.
“We knew [our steer] was just a good speed and straight,” said Ashford, of Lott, Texas. “I figured we had a little bit of a lead in front of the guys that were third, so I just wanted to get in front of them if we could. If we got to win it, cool, but at least we could win second. Especially whenever it got so easy, I just wanted to catch him and get him knocked down.”
A 7.2-second run for $599 each solidified their average win with an 18.5 on three head to take home $5,321 a man.
Cracking out
Both Rahlmann and Ashford rode newer horses. Rahlmann rode a gray gelding he calls Goose that he bought from Brayden Schmidt and originally came from McKennan Buckner.
“I think he’s a really, really good horse,” Rahlmann said. “I like him a lot, and I’ve done good on him since I had him.”
In the short time that Rahlmann has had Goose, he’s picked up on his strong areas and sees how it correlates to this time of year.
“I think the biggest thing, with buying that gray from Brayden, he’s such a good horse at the two-headers and the two-go rodeos,” Rahlmann said. “So, our main focus is to capitalize there: do really good at the two-headers and the two-and-a-short rodeos.”
On the heel side, Ashford was riding DD Trace Of Flash, aka “Ernie,” a 10-year-old buckskin gelding he bought at the beginning of the summer from Caleb Hendrix.
“I’ve always really liked him, and he’s a Double Dollar horse—the Kesler family ranch,” Ashford said. “I’ve always liked those horses. He’s a really good horse, and this is my first summer to be rodeoing on him. I really, really like him. That’s mainly what I’ve been riding everywhere.”
All about perspective
At roughly $20,659.27 outside the Top 15 for Rahlmann, the team will need more weeks like they had in Dodge, winning upward of $10,000, to get Rahlmann his second NFR.
“We’re going to try to get as much won as we can and be sure and do good at the Tour rodeos so we can get into Puyallup and hopefully Sioux Falls,” Rahlmann said. “Catch a lot of steers, but also win as much as they’ll let us win. I think the only chance I have at making it is to have a handful more really, really good weeks.”
Ashford has taken on a new perspective in 2024, lifting some of the self-inflicted pressure for both Rahlmann and himself.
“I just try not to really pay attention very much,” Ashford said. “I’ve rodeoed and I’ve worried about it a lot, and I think that makes it harder. So, the main thing that I’m trying to focus on is just trying to make money at each rodeo that we go to. If we can just go, do our job and get paid … if it all works out in the end, and we did good enough to make the Finals, then so be it. I’m trying to kind of enjoy the rodeo part of it right now and not put too much pressure on actually making the Finals.”
As the fourth quarter of the ProRodeo season is creeping in, Rahlmann keeps in mind that he’s thrived at this time of year in years past.
“This will be my fourth year rodeoing, and in two out of the four years, I’ve left it down to the last few weeks of the Northwest,” Rahlmann said with a laugh. “The first year I capitalized and made it 13th, and last year it came down to Sioux Falls. I keep telling Ross that, hopefully, we’re within striking distance when we get to the Northwest because, for some reason, the Northwest happens to be pretty good to me.”
The team heads next to the Lea County PRCA Rodeo in Lovington, New Mexico, on Wednesday, followed by Logan, Utah’s Cache County Fair and Rodeo on Thursday.
