I’ve always been laid back and I’ve always tried not to let stuff bother me because I’ve learned it doesn’t help at all. 

My dad planted that seed early, though you could say it was probably more of a “Do as I say, not as I do” thing because if he ever messed up, he’d get really mad. But, really, he hardly messed up because he never changed what he did. He rarely missed, and watching him, I wanted to be like that. I figured out the best way to not mess up was to not change what I did or how I acted.

This last winter, the short rounds at Fort Worth and San Antone ended up being easy, but there’s no way to anticipate that. Every other time, you put those 12 teams together, and they’ll all be 4.5 or under. But by not changing my mentality no matter what, I can set myself up to do my job. 

I’ve heard Trevor (Brazile) say you have to have a short memory in rodeo. No matter what happens, the next day, we’re going to get up, drive somewhere else and do the same thing. 

You can let your mistakes bleed over, or you can push through it. 

Me and Jake are such good friends, and that helps. Something can happen, and I know he’s not mad about it. He can mess up, and it won’t bother me at all. We can joke about it and make fun of each other. 

We’re getting to do what we love to do for a living. It’s never a bad day. There’s always tomorrow. We’re going to go somewhere else and rope for the same deal we do every day. 

Having somebody you get along with and who makes things easy is really important, and with my wife keeping everything else in line, I just get to have fun doing this.

—TRJ—