We all rope so much, and we’ve run so many steers at this point, it’s really no different for me no matter what’s on the line. If I miss, it for sure won’t be the first time I ever mess up, and it won’t be the last. I try not to put too much pressure on myself because this is what I’m supposed to be doing for a living, and I know I’m working at it. 

If it doesn’t work out the way I think it’s supposed to, there will be another way it will work out. Last year helped me a lot with that—I kept thinking there were big rodeos I had to do good at to get to the Finals, and I’d mess up or it wouldn’t work out but, somehow, other stuff kept happening. I won [the NFR Open in] Colorado Springs—stuff like that you wouldn’t want to count on. I did good at Pendleton, and that’s a place you don’t want to have to count on as your make-it-or-break-it spot. 

WATCH: Conquering Competition Nerves

All we can do is do the best we can. After that, it’s out of our hands. I try to remember that. I’ve missed a lot of steers on big stages, and it doesn’t feel any better or any worse than any other times. It won’t ruin my life if I don’t do well. I don’t do anything crazy. 

I listened to a podcast with Chad Masters—I’ve looked up to him for a long time. And he said he doesn’t watch the team in front of him go. He just looks at his steer in the back. I picked that up—I don’t really go any more in-depth than that. I don’t know why that sticks with me. It helps me to focus a little more. I’ll get a little scattered now and then and not pay attention to what I’m doing, so that little hack helps.

READ: Mindset Matters

For a long time, I tried to think about too many things. I tried to think about my swing, riding my horse, doing all this stuff. And I just got to thinking one day, if you go somewhere in a high-pressure situation, you look back and don’t remember what happened. I try to just remind myself to watch the steer and not worry about too much else. I just rely on muscle memory and all the practice I’ve had. I want to watch the steer, and when he lets me heel him, I heel him. I don’t want to make something happen. Some guys can make a shot happen, but I can’t. I try to let it develop and, when I see a throw, just take it.

—TRJ—