By 2017, Joseph Harrison had been a cornerstone in the rope horse world for years.
Working for Bobby Lewis, Harrison spent his days training and showing elite rope horses—but that season, he decided to gamble on a new path. Rodeoing full time wasn’t just a career move. It was a dream long in the making.
Only one thing stood in his way: money.
“I didn’t have the cash to get started,” Harrison said. “Mike Lane gave me $10,000 and told me to go rodeo. I never had to ask for more. At the end of the year, after the NFR, I handed it back. He didn’t want it back, but I needed to do that for him.”
He loaded his trailer with green horses—his standout mount Mainstreet Boon was sidelined with an injury—and partnered with veteran Charly Crawford. They hit every jackpot and rodeo they could get into.
“We didn’t get into the big winter ones—no San Antonio, no Fort Worth,” Harrison said. “But everywhere we went, we won something.”
They split the first round at Austin with a 3.9-second run, after picking up checks in Denver and Odessa, and started building momentum. By Reno, Harrison was 18th in the PRCA world standings. After the Fourth of July run, he’d shot into the top 10.
“I had $69,000 when I ran my first one at Ellensburg,” he said. “Nobody really knew it yet, but I had ’em made right there.”
That year, it took just under $68,000 to sneak into the top 15. Harrison finished with $78,000 and punched his ticket to Las Vegas for the first time.
The year proved something even deeper than eligibility: that Harrison’s confidence in his horses—and himself—wasn’t misplaced. With Street out, he rode his show horses—Lula Dual and Dual Chip—at the time, two lesser-known horses in his string. They more than kept his head above water through the toughest stretch of the season.
“We did just like we would’ve if I had Street,” he said. “That meant a lot. It proved I could ride what I had and still win.”
Mentors like Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith told him not to worry if he didn’t make the Finals his first year out. But that wasn’t how Harrison worked.
“I don’t do anything halfway,” he said. “If I decide I’m doing something, I go full-fledged. If I’m in, I’m in. By Dodge City week in August, TB said, ‘Hey remember what I told you about just trying to get into the winter rodeos? Scratch that. Go ahead and make it this year.’”
That all-in mindset—backed by a sharp mental game and a strong horse program—gave Harrison the foundation for what would become a respected rodeo career. And it all started with a chance, a $10,000 check, and the belief that if he showed up ready, his horses would too.
—TRJ—
