At 24, Tanner Tomlinson is still classified as a team roping young gun. The 2020 Resistol Rookie Header of the Year has been busy making his mark on professional rodeo in recent times, with two Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifications in 2022 and ’23 already to his credit. Both of Tomlinson’s trips to Vegas were with two-time World Champion Heeler Patrick Smith. Perhaps this kid’s wise beyond his years, because Tomlinson is leaning heavily on seasoned veterans—horse and human—again in 2025. And how it all happened at Fort Worth in February felt like a Hollywood script.
Grounded in gratitude
You can’t talk to Tanner without hearing his sincere gratitude for the Patrick Smith Effect on his roping career and life.
“I don’t even know where to start when talking about all Patrick’s done for me,” said Tomlinson of Mineral Wells, Texas, who, with Smith on the back side set the NFR team roping record of 53 flat on 10 steers in 2022. “Besides being a legendary roper, he’s an amazing family man and like a second dad to me. Patrick taught me that it’s not a sprint, but a marathon. And if I missed one, he was always there for me and telling me to fix the mistake, then erase it from my mind. He helped me with my scoring and entering. Patrick’s taught me so many things that I can’t start to name them all. Your word is everything. Be honest and straight up with people. Be on time.
“But I think the most important thing Patrick instilled in me is the importance of keeping good horses under you, and to do whatever it takes. If you have to drive an hour out of the way to run a few and keep your horses working and tuned up, do it.”
A good horse goes down
In Tanner’s estimation, head horses are 80-90 percent of a header’s success. So imagine how lost he felt when his best one—Tomlinson calls his sorrel ace Missn Cowboy Sioux “Marshall”—went down last summer in the heat of battle.
“We (he and Smith, who joined forces in 2021) were just getting tapped off last summer and started doing really good,” Tanner remembers. “We did good at Lovington (N.M.), and were headed to Logan, Utah. When we stopped to let the horses out, Turbo (Patrick’s 2022-24 Nutrena Heel Horse of the Year presented by AQHA, Kadabra King) was in Marshall’s slant, and the slant was down. When I went to turn Marshall out in the arena, he started rolling and didn’t want to get up. He doesn’t usually stay laid down like that.”
Other cowboys making that same pitstop, including Kaleb Driggers and Erich Rogers, helped with some pain relievers they had on hand. Patrick has cameras in his trailer, so he and Tanner loaded back up and watched the monitor closely. Sure enough, Marshall started lying down again.
“I called my vet, Josh Harvey at Outlaw Equine, and he told me to get Marshall to the closest vet,” Tanner said. “We did, and it didn’t take Dr. Hammer at South Valley Equine (in Sarasota Springs, Utah just outside of Lehi) long to tell us that Marshall had a twisted gut. Dr. Hammer immediately put Marshall on the table for colic surgery.”
With Marshall in good hands, Tanner and Patrick went on to Logan. Tomlinson caught a ride on Tyler Wade’s 2024 Head Horse of the Year, Spur.
The power of prayer
“Three days after what they thought was a successful surgery, Dr. Hammer called and told me I had a decision to make—either put him back on the table or put him to sleep,” Tanner said. “Marshall wasn’t passing manure or eating. He was trying to roll 24/7, and was just stressed and could not get comfortable. So it looked like a second surgery was his only shot. But it was a longshot, and because of Marshall’s age (16 then, 17 now), Dr. Hammer and Dr. Harvey both told me I should probably put him down. Both said most horses that have back-to-back colic surgeries don’t come back 100%.
“I told them Marshall meant the world to me, and I prayed about it for about an hour. God kept telling me to put him back on the table and give him one last chance. So I called Dr. Hammer and told him to do whatever it takes—no matter what it cost—to try and save him. Hours later, they called me back and said, ‘It’s a miracle, Marshall’s passing manure and eating again. He doesn’t need to go back on the table.’”
After some time to recuperate, Tanner got Marshall back home to Texas, where he spent about three months at Outlaw Equine in Decatur. Once he was all healed up, they rehabbed him, swam him and got him back in shape.
Comeback kid
“I got Marshall home a week before Fort Worth,” Tanner said. “I rode my gray mare, Clair (C Clair Otis is 9), at Fort Worth, and won the American qualifier in Kentucky on her. But when her back was sore when the Fort Worth short round rolled around, my gut feeling was to ride Marshall.”
He’d only run a few lopers at home to bring him back slow when Marshall got the nod for all the marbles in the Fort Worth short round.
“Winning Fort Worth on Marshall this year was very emotional,” Tanner said. “To run a few slow practice steers, then throw him to the wolves like that—what a highlight for him and me. I’ve never had a good winter, and I’ve never taken it as seriously as I should have. What I’ve come to is if a guy treats the winter rodeos like you’re 16th in the world in September, there’s so much money to be won. I set a goal to get this year kicked off right in the wintertime, and have some good money won going into Reno.
“Marshall’s been my game-changer. Patrick and I had some great years, thanks to him, and it was going great last year before Marshall went down. He’s back, and he’s my stepping stool to get to the top.”
Tomlinson’s buddy Kal Fuller won the 2020 BFI riding Marshall and roping with Reagan Ward the year the Lazy E rescued the roping from COVID-closed Reno.
“Kal and I have been buddies a long time, so I knew Marshall was unbelievably good,” Tanner said of the 15-hand, 1,200-pound sorrel. “When Kal quit roping to start a towing business, he told me to ride him and see what I thought. Patrick and I went to winning and setting records on him immediately. Kal thought he would be a good fit for me, and he was right. I loved him. He scores every single time, can run and faces unbelievable. Marshall has every tool of a good head horse. I bought him at Cheyenne in 2023.”
Tanner rode Coy Rahlmann’s roan Blue to set that record at the 2022 NFR, and again there in ’23.
“I haven’t gotten to ride Marshall at the Finals yet, but he’s great and the same every time, whether you need to be 3 or are at Cheyenne,” Tomlinson said. “He has it all, and I’d love to ride him at the NFR this year.
“Every team has to have a good quarterback, and I don’t care how good you rope, you have to have a horse that scores and helps you set up that run. The best guys never stop looking for that next great horse. It’s a non-stop grind, but there’s no slowing down and staying on top in this sport.”
Tanner plans to take Marshall and Clair this year.
“I’m working on getting a couple more head horses,” he said. “I’d like to save Marshall for the big ones as much as possible. He’s getting older, and with everything he’s been through does not deserve to have his wheels hauled off.”
With Smith stepping back from full-time travel, heading for another veteran hero of his made sense to Tomlinson.
“It’s been amazing,” Tanner said. “I love Travis. I grew up watching him, he’s been one of my idols and he ropes phenomenal. I’m still young, and you can’t ever learn enough. These veterans are setting up my career and my life.
“I got a text from Patrick when Travis and I won Fort Worth. It said, ‘You don’t know how proud I am of you. I’m going to be your biggest fan this year.’ He’s super excited about this year for me, too. As for Marshall, that was just a miracle. God had a bigger story for him.”
—TRJ—
