Before winning California Rodeo Salinas this July, Brooks Dahozy, 32, proudly sported his 2017 Sisters (Oregon) 77th Rodeo buckle.
“It’s a cool rodeo. It’s up there in the mountains, close to my house. It’s almost like a hometown rodeo for me. They give sweet buckles—they’re so pretty. I finally took it off the other day and strapped on my Salinas buckle.”
[READ MORE: Brooks Dahozy and Walt Woodard Win California Rodeo Salinas]
Dahozy roped with Oregon’s Jason Duby, where they won the first round with a 5.5-second-run and stopped the clock in 12.7-seconds on two head to win the rodeo, with the Minors coming in second.
“Riley Minor gives me a hard time about it all the time. He had a chance to win it that day, too. Riley and Brady were a couple teams behind me. I had a strong steer and I told Jason, ‘All we can do is leave the arena winning first and see where it goes.’ I didn’t want to go for the round, I just backed off and turned one to let Jason catch two feet. It was pretty nerve wracking. When I got my belt buckle, I was so excited that I went back to the trailer and put it on.”
Dahozy was riding his Paint gelding, Paintball, to help him and Duby secure the Sisters win. The horse has since been put down.
“The first time I cracked him out was the year before. I was roping with Caleb Twisselman. I came back and won it on him the next year—that was pretty sweet. He wasn’t tall at all—maybe 15 hands. He could score and run, that was the best part. It didn’t matter where the steer was at, he would let you do whatever you wanted on him. That was the best horse I’ve had in my career.”
[READ MORE: Winning the Open Title Fights with Brooks Dahozy]
Dahozy may have swapped out buckles now after winning California Rodeo Salinas, but it took him a minute.
“Before I went and did that, I got out of the shower at Spanish Fork (Utah) that next morning, I looked at it twice, and thought, ‘let me make sure I just go catch one more steer before I strap that sucker on.’ I just wanted to make sure I could catch another one first. I wanted to trade buckles the minute I won it, but I looked at it the whole drive to Spanish Fork. I figured before I switch buckles, I want to make sure my head’s not too big. It was pretty cool to put a shiny buckle on.”
