No. 4 | 171,241
- Age: 34
Hometown: Lake City, Florida
Career earnings: $1,326,143 - Major Rodeos: NFR; Southeastern Circuit Finals; Washington (Puyallup) State Fair Pro Rodeo; Chief Joseph (Ore.) Days; World’s Oldest Rodeo (Prescott, Ariz.); West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo; Calgary (Alberta) Stampede; Cassia County Fair & Rodeo (Burley, Idaho)
- Major Ropings: Danny Dietz Memorial, Calgary Team Roping
NFR Qualifications: 5 (2018, 2021, 2023–25)
NFR Average Titles: 1 (2024)
Star Horsepower: WSR Hesa Alive (Transmission), Mr Joes Shadow Bar (Joe)
Rope Choice: Rattler GT4 XS
Few have qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) on both ends, but 34-year-old Clint Summers has lived on that list since his first NFR in 2018.
What started on a 13-hand Appaloosa pony in rural Florida turned into a career crowned by an NFR average title, multiple Finals qualifications and one of the most respected head horses in the game under him.
Summers’ rodeo story began on an unlikely partner — a small Appaloosa pony named Frisky. The little App pony carried him through junior rodeos and USTRC ropings across the Southeast.
“He was the one that taught me everything. I really believe that.”
After a few years heeling on the ProRodeo trail, 2018 watched Summers earn his first NFR qualification as a heeler behind world champion Erich Rogers, where they finished with $48,288 earned at the NFR.
“Making the NFR was definitely a dream come true,” Summers told The Team Roping Journal’s Kendra Santos. “It was everything I’d worked for my whole life, from when I was roping the Fast Lane as a kid. All I ever thought about was trying to get to the NFR. When I finally got there, it was an awesome feeling.”
His first NFR as a header came during the 2021 season, heading for 2018 Resistol Rookie of the Year Ross Ashford. Together, they placed in two rounds at that year’s NFR.
After missing the cut in 2022, Summers came back with a vengeance during the 2023 season, this time with Jake Long. At the 2023 NFR, Summers and Long were on a roll, winning the first, second, third and seventh go-rounds. Summers walked away No. 2 in the world after it was all said and done, with a huge $182,517 earned at the Finals.
“We’re literally living what every little boy who sits out there and watches the NFR dreams of doing,” Summers said after their third go-round win. “I can see myself as a kid still watching it. Seeing Speed and Rich back in the day, it’s like, man, I just wanted to go outside and rope the dummy and pretend that I’m there. To be getting to do this, I don’t even know how to describe it. I swear I don’t.”
The 2024 season was another standout year for Summers and Long, where they won the NFR average and ended up second in the world. They placed in seven of 10 rounds and won $199,355 in Las Vegas.
“We were shooting for a gold one and this one,” Summers said, holding the average buckle in the NFR press room after Round 10. “We knew it was going to be hard to get gold. Them guys roped so good. But our main goal was to come here and do the best we could, and we roped good all week. We weren’t really talked about much. And then here at the end, look up and we’ve had an amazing week.”
With the momentum of two big NFR years, Summers has capitalized on the 2025 season. Winning the 2025 Cowboy Christmas run, Summers and Jade Corkill have fought it the hard way to get into the top three in the world. Together, they won Puyallup (Washington), Cody (Wyoming) and Prineville (Oregon).
“We won quite a bit, but nothing like this,” Summers said. “I mean, I’ve never been 100% over a Fourth of July. It’s a pretty cool feeling because we did draw some good ones, obviously, but we did draw some runners and stuff in there, too, and for it to still work out and our run to work, it is pretty neat to think about it now.”
Summers is sitting No. 4 in the PRCA standings heading into his fifth NFR with $171,241 won so far.
“Obviously, there’s going to be some hiccups along the way — it’s just part of it. You’re human, so you’re going to mess up here and there. Ain’t nobody perfect. But I think when you get in a groove, you just stick with what you’ve been doing. And I think that if you do that, in the long run it should work more than it shouldn’t. It’s a lot easier doing that, I feel like, than if you get in a slump and try to get out of it. But I think the bad deal with the bad runs, you just have to forget about them, like I said, because I know it’s going to happen to everybody. There’s no way of getting around that.”
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