Growing up on a farm an hour south of Lake Erie, Chris Taylor rode ponies and did 4-H playdays, then wrestled in high school. But he wasn’t very high on school. So, when an Army recruiter showed up and called him out of English class using a name similar to his, he didn’t let the guy know they had the wrong kid. After all, the recruiter even gave him some Copenhagen.
“They were looking for Michael Taylor, and I’m Christopher Michael Taylor,” he said. “I felt kind of guilty.”
He’d intended to go to college, but when the recruiter told him there was a $10,000 signing bonus, he enlisted as soon as he turned 18.
Taylor became part of Long-Range Surveillance Detachments (LRSD), which are specialized Army intelligence units, often airborne, designed for clandestine surveillance behind enemy lines. That means he jumped out of airplanes.
Finding team roping
After a handful of enlisted years, Taylor remained part of the National Guard and went on to wrestle for Penn State.
Eventually Taylor met his ex-wife, who was a barrel racer, and started getting roping lessons on a dummy. Then, he got back on a horse.
“Once at a round robin, they were short some guys and I had an old sorting horse,” he recalled. “They said, ‘Chris, enter on the heel side.’ I caught some and just fell in love with it.”
A Different Kind of Mission
Living in his teeny hometown of Polk, Pennsylvania, and after a six-year stint working for the Department of Corrections, Taylor partnered with his mother, Rindy Taylor, in 2019 to open a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility called Oil Region Recovery.
The detox facility has expanded into a 54-bed treatment center on 270 acres, and has helped other veterans, said Taylor. Just before starting the treatment facility, he’d gone down to Texas to Charly Crawford’s Horns N’ Heroes Clinic. Taylor has continued to invest in his roping thanks to the support of Lone Star Ropes and the pros he’s met along the way.
“Paul Eaves has a sister who lives 10 minutes down the road from me,” Taylor said. “So, when I was down in Texas, I called him up and asked if he’d mind giving me a lesson. I went for three days. Then, I went for a week. Now I go to Paul’s twice a year, for two or three weeks at a time. He came to my wedding. And one time I drove for him between Puyallup and Pendleton. I’ve bought some really nice horses from Paul and gotten to meet some cool people,” Taylor said.
Taylor and his wife, Brandy, are raising their girls Jade, 9, and twins Callie and Chloe, 7, plus her son Kannon, 13, who is learning to rope. Each girl has a pony. The Taylors run some cow-calf pairs and have broodmares, as well.
A Community Worth the Miles
Chris competes as often as possible at amateur rodeos and, in March, drove the 14 hours down to Live Oak, Florida, to visit friends and enter the JX2 World Series Super Qualifier. He placed third in the #10.5 with Chase Quinn of New York. Last year, he qualified for the APRA Finals in heeling, though he switches ends at jackpots.
“We’re 4s and 5s here in Pennsylvania, but there aren’t many jackpots, so we rodeo,” said Taylor. “Up here live some good people. But at Paul’s, there are 10 roping arenas within 5 miles of his house. Here, we have to drive an hour to find one.”
Taylor is grateful not just for what Eaves has done for his heeling, but also for the opportunity to just be around the champ and soak up his focus on faith and family. Cheers to American heroes and rodeo heroes elevating each other, in turn.
—TRJ—
Thank you to Equinety for helping us share stories of military members, veterans and first responders in the team roping community.
