Jr. Dees and Levi Lord tied with NFR Average winners Andrew Ward and Buddy Hawkins in the four-head average of the Clovis Rodeo. Both teams were 37.1 on aggregate and Ward and Hawkins each made close to $13,000 while Dees and Lord made more than $11,000 for the rodeo. Here’s how Lord got it done:
Situation:
Short Round, Clovis (California) Rodeo
Result:
9.7-second run to be 37.1 seconds on four head, splitting first in the average worth $6,908
SITUATION
That was our short round run, and that steer hauled. I was riding, riding, riding, and the left fence is decently close. As soon as I got there, the steer handled really fast.
DELIVERY
I’m dang sure reaching and I had to feed that coil into my loop to have enough rope to get to the feet of the steer. I was hustling and riding and had to reach to make it work.
Levi Lord’s Seven Ported Shank by Kerry Kelley Bits and Spurs
BODY POSITION
My body is forward, but I’m not leaning. Everything is forward in the saddle, but I’m still square.
FEET
I’m reaching to rope the steer, but my feet are under me with weight in my stirrups. People will lean and their feet will go out behind them. Then you lose all control of your horse and your body position. I was riding for what I was worth until it was right up to that point. I didn’t want to kick my horse as I’m delivering because I was ready for him to be stopping. In the next stride, my horse is getting in his stop and the steer is leaving me so everything can come tight and make a good finish. If he keeps going where I’m throwing, we won’t get a good finish. With my rope coming tight fast, we were faster than I thought we were going to be on that steer.
LEFT HAND
I have contact with the reins as I’m throwing, which will help my horse stop. If my left hand would go forward, that would release my horse and not help him stop. If you look at my rope, there’s nothing loose anywhere. It’s all accounted for. I’d probably have too much rope out, or I’d lose a leg. It keeps everything more controlled and where I need it to be.
HORSE
That’s Paully. He’s 9, with no papers. He’s the horse I won the US Finals on, and I’ve been riding him everywhere since last year. He was good all week at Clovis, and with there being a heeling barrier behind JR’s really fast head horse Dillon and us drawing on the strong end of them every round, he had to hustle. But he’s solid, and he made it all happen.
