Lightning Aguilera Makes a Play at Albuquerque

Situation:

One-header at Albuquerque, New Mexico

Result:

4.8-second run, worth $3,895 a man

Mental

This was one of the last weeks of the season, and I was pretty much on the bubble. We left Pendleton, drove 18 hours, roped this steer, then drove 18 hours back and roped in the short round. I couldn’t take a chance of riding another horse at either rodeo, and with all the miles we went that year, surely another couple thousand didn’t matter. I wasn’t nervous at Albuquerque—going that fast, you don’t have to think about it that much.

Start

It was point by the end of the gate. If I see a little bit more, I can get a little bit more send out of my horse. He’s fast, and he’s long. So I can’t just try to drill it. I was just a little off of it.

Steer

This is the same steer Manny Egusquiza won the rodeo on later in the week. We didn’t know anything about him when we went. So I just kind of reacted to him. He was pretty good, and I made sure I was safe and didn’t break out.

Throw

Just going and catching wasn’t an option. I reached and the steer handled good. I probably dropped two or three coils.

Handle

That steer handled pretty good. I tried to keep momentum on the run, but Coleby doesn’t need a lot of help back there. I reined my horse out, because I needed him to come back off that wall. If I’d have just picked up, we’d have gotten stuck in the wall. That horse really keeps pulling, so I just try to kick because he stays trying to drive. I am just keeping him going.