It’s always more fun when you’re successful, whether you rope for a living or just for fun. I’ve noticed over the years that winners, both humans and horses, share some common traits. Confidence is one of them, and that goes for two-legged and four-legged success stories. Confidence comes from a strong work ethic, and it’s pretty hard to deny people who believe they can win.
There are so many obstacles that can get in the way of winning. If you haven’t had a strong support system, be it parenting or coaching, you can get off track pretty easily and the wheels can fall off of your progress. Work to build your own strong foundation.
Maturity is another thing that comes into play. A lot of guys are pretty green when they first get their (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) cards. It takes them a couple years to get the travel part of the rodeo game down, and learn how to win at the elite level. There are always some that win right off the bat, but others have to navigate a learning curve.
Some winners have natural poise, and others have to figure out what it takes and make it happen. But bottom line, winners are not going to be denied. That’s how I was, and it started out as necessity. I was hungry, and didn’t have another source of income. I knew every day I woke up that I had to be better than the rest of the field, because I was roping for a living and I had to win. I knew I had to outwork everybody and be the iron horse.
I hope I never came across as arrogant. My good friend Popeye Boultinghouse told me one time when I went to winning, “The people you meet on your way up are the same people you’re going to see on your way back down. Treat people with respect.” That was some good fatherly advice, because no one stays on top forever.
Junior (Nogueira) is a good example of a winner, because he had extra hurdles to overcome. He came from Brazil, and didn’t even speak English when he first came to America. A Canadian brought him to my house, after bragging about this kid from Brazil he claimed was as good as anybody in the U.S. I told him he was full of crap. He proved me wrong. I stand corrected, and now know there are some dirty roping sons of guys in Brazil. I love to watch them rope those muleys.
Horses that win a lot share some common traits, too. Other than at the NFR or World Series events, where it’s basically a bulldogging start, scoring is a key characteristic in good head horses. They’re also strong, can run and face. The best ones are the difference between driving an automatic or a manual transmission you have to shift all the time.
The good horses have a sense for what we’re trying to do. One of the greatest scoring horses of all time was Travis Tryan’s Walt. I swear that horse knew the score everywhere he went. He had incredible timing on the get-out.
Speed is important in long-score conditions, like Salinas or Cheyenne. But some rodeo horses have medium speed, and can get from Point A to Point B almost instantly. They might not be the fastest horses in the world, but they score really good and can go from zero to full blast fast. The great ones have run and rate.
A horse that doesn’t have a good mind is the kind I want to avoid. My horse Bullwinkle was not a fun one to lope around or practice on. You had to hit the gears at the right time. He didn’t score very well, but could mortally fly and was super strong. The scores were longer and the cattle were bigger back then, so if I could manage to get him out of the barrier, I had a chance to win something.
I think I won three championships on Bullwinkle, starting with the first one in 1985. He was kind of a runaway and not ideal for the BFI. But he was a perfect NFR horse, because he didn’t have to score in that short setup, and I could reach on him. He was super strong, and could face coming back up the wall. He was quick, but not quick enough to take my rope away.
—TRJ—
