Break Down: Winning Guymon with Joe Mattern

Winning Guymon with Joe Mattern

Mattern breaks down his first round run with Cody McCluskey at the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo.

Situation:

First round at the Guymon (Oklahoma) Pioneer Days Rodeo

Time: 8.3 seconds

Outcome:

24.8 seconds on three head, worth $2,614 a man for first in the average

Position:

Normally my partner pulls them a little faster than that. With that muley being fresh, it really hung on the end of the rope and my horse got to the inside a little more than I wanted to.

Muley:

He was a good calf. He hung on the end of it more than I expected him to in the corner. It got me to the inside quite a bit and I had to wait for him to come by me so I could heel him. He ran a good pattern—straight and kind of to the right a little bit. When my header got a hold of him he did a really good job at holding him up and keeping him on his feet—not letting him wipe out in the corner. When he did that it kind of put me a lot closer than I would have liked to be. When I heeled him, his legs were almost even with mine. The only thing that I could have done different there is held my horse out and been a little more patient. I was still able to catch him on that next jump.

Eyes:

I was just trying to keep my eyes on the feet and keep separation. When he got his head I was just trying to stay focused on the feet, which was kind of tough because I was way too far ahead of him.

Cody McCluskey:

Cody—he filled his card as a heeler and he just started heading. He hardly ever misses. He did a phenomenal job. He did a better job than anyone else as far as keeping the calf on its feet and making him easy to heel. This is maybe his second or third rodeo—PRCA rodeo wise—to be entered at.

Horse:

This is not the horse that I ride most of the time at the rodeos. He’s up and coming. He’s an 8-year-old gelding (Rey). I figured he would be good for this rodeo because I can kind of put him wherever I want him. He’s a little more forgiving in his stop—a little easier to dally on. That was actually the second or third rodeo that this horse has been to. I’ve been riding him a lot more now and I plan on riding him a lot this summer as my second horse.

Mentality:

We wanted to make sure we got him down and made a clean run. Especially it being our first run. Going into the first round we talked about letting the calf stay straight. We didn’t want him to come left because they were trying to circle back around. I just wanted to stay away from him and let it happen. We just had to be patient and catch—make a clean run.

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{ Vital Stats }

Age: 31

Rope: Helix by Lonestar, MH

Partner:Cody McCluskey

Home: Plantersville, Texas

PRCA Earnings: $55,170