Freeze Frame with Wesley Thorp

Thorp walks us through his and Cody Snow's first round steer at the World Class Invitational.

Situation

Cody Snow and Wesley Thorp’s first round in the top 40 of the World Class Invitational in New Town, South Dakota, June 2018.

Time

4.43-second-run

Outcome

18.04 seconds on four head, worth $30,000 a man for first in the average

a) Horse

Lex is 13 years old. He came from Blaine Vick. He’s really easy in any position you get in. He’s free and keeps a good distance. He keeps his shoulder up in the corner, which makes it really easy to get a good read.

b) Loop

I felt pretty good about my loop. It was the first round so I wanted to make sure that I took a good shot and Cody was more aggressive. I just got a good entrance in the corner and put a pretty big loop down there. I took one swing over him and heeled him and took a pretty conservative shot.

c) Handle

Cody reached with probably two coils and stepped his horse up. He picked the steer’s head and shoulders up and rolled him through the corner so there wasn’t any hesitation. It was a really easy handle.

d) Steer

The steer stepped right and was kind of stronger.

e) Feet

I was trying to keep a good amount of weight in my stirrups to where I could get balanced and then use my feet as much as I needed. I wanted to keep my feet in contact with my horse but didn’t want to override, either. I just wanted my feet in a position that if I needed to use them, I could.

f) Eyes

I was wanting to get into position and move my horse where I wanted to be. I watched Cody’s loop go on to see how the steer was going to handle. Then I was focused on my position following the steer through the corner and then focused on where I wanted to be on the feet.

g) Left Hand

I give my horse quite a bit of rein down the pen to keep him pretty free. Then when I’m going to the steer I like to engage the bridle reins a little bit to kind of have a good feel through the corner and keep my horse in my hands as I read the situation.

h) Mental Game

That was the first round so it was a fast run in the top 40, so I knew it was going to be pretty aggressive and Cody was going to rope aggressive. I just wanted to trust my horse. I have quite a bit of confidence in him now. I didn’t want to rope conservatively, but I just wanted a couple good runs and treat it as average rodeo runs. Cody is going to be going at them, and I wanted to get in a good position to take my best.