Trevor Hale, of Perryton, Texas, is in strong contention for the Resistol Rookie of the Year title leading the all-around standings with $45,217 in PRCA earnings. There are six weeks to go in the ProRodeo regular season.
Hale, 20, who competes in tie-down roping and team roping, currently holds a lead of more than $23,000 over his closest challenger, Caleb Berquist, 22, of LaCrosse, Wash., in the No. 2 position.
“Winning the all-around was one of my goals,” Hale said. “It’s one of the best titles to win and I always kind of set out to win it. Luckily, it’s working out.”
Hale is a fourth-generation cattle rancher who was raised on their family ranch in the Texas Panhandle, where his mother trains horses and his father runs cattle for a living.
“I’ve always just been around rodeo and always got to be around the right people at the right time and just love doing it,” Hale said.
Hale is a true all-around hand who, in addition to rodeoing, shows cow horses as well as futurity horses.
“I love showing futurity horses and the cow horse and anything that’s really challenging,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have quite a bit of success in the cow horse as well. I feel like anything that you can do on a horse is just a plus. You’re always gaining horsemanship or just different feels on different horses. I’ve been blessed to get on a lot of different horses, and I feel like that’s been a big part of my success.”
Currently, Hale attends Cisco College where he competes on the rodeo team. In 2022, he finished second in the tie-down roping at the College National Finals Rodeo.
“Calf roping has always been my first event,” Hale said. “I’ve definitely done that more, but I do enjoy doing other events for sure.”
During his Rookie season, Hale has ridden two horses: Pack, a mare he purchased from 11-time NFR qualifying calf roper, Brent Lewis; and Cornbread, a gelding that he heads on and started roping calves on just over a year ago.
“I’ve been a fortune I have had some pretty good horses,” the soon-to-be-sophomore said. “Pack is kind of a stronger horse on bigger calves and longer starts. I ride Cornbread on littler calves when we have to time fast, and I feel like it’s a good combination to have both styles.”
Hale has no doubt been going strong throughout the first half of his rookie season, competing for the Year-End title and learning as much as he can about the game.
“I rodeo with Stetson Vest, and he’s rodeoed for a long time,” Hale said. “I’ve learned a lot from him just by going and doing it. The biggest thing that I’ve learned is how to get from point A to point B on time and try to figure out how to enter correctly. That’s all new to me. It’s been a big learning experience.”
Hale plans to continue pushing the throttle to claim the title and finish out the season strong.
“I’m going to finish out the year and just keep roping,” Hale said. “I don’t know exactly how many rodeos I have left, but the plan is to finish out the year and just keep going at them.”
