Wesley Thorp has been on a roll on the summer rodeo run with the help of Mabel, a 1300-lb chestnut gelding he’s had since the fall of 2023.
Mable––SB Smart CD––has been in Thorp’s A-string since the spring of last year and has proven himself successful in all situations. Thorp has had a win at Spanish Fork, a placing at Ogden, and took the lead in Salt Lake City; all thanks to help from Mabel. Short set ups, fast set ups, it doesn’t matter. After taking the time to get connected, Thorp and Mabel are looking to capitalize on the momentum they’ve created this summer.
Thorp admits it wasn’t an easy partnership at first, but all good things take time.
Mabel is powered by ADM PowerGlo and Sawyer Hay and Cube alfalfa cubes. Forage First POWERGLO is formulated to be fed along with good-quality forages. Forage First POWERGLO contains HEALTHY GLOTM, Omega FlaxTM, vegetable oil, and highly digestible fiber from alfalfa, beet pulp, and soybean hulls. Forage First POWERGLO is designed to be the feed of choice for your elite companion partner.
Q: When did you officially purchase Mabel?
Thorp: I bought him around October 1, 2023. [Kaleb Driggers and Kollin VonAhn] had had him since he was a colt.
Q: How long did it take you to decide to take him as backup to the 2023 NFR?
Thorp: My theory has always been: when you have the opportunity to buy one that is that caliber and that potential and is solid, it’s super hard to pass those up because, even if they don’t fit you perfect, they’re not going to cause you to mess up; he’s not wanting to do anything to mess you up and I saw a lot of value in that. I thought he was the type of horse that might work at the NFR, but I wasn’t certain on that, and his age was good. It wasn’t like I had to buy him expecting him to be number one, I was hoping he would. He felt okay practicing, and I would have been fine riding him, but I just had not spent the time with him; in reality, it took me longer than I thought to get with him. I kind of thought it was going to be a little two-week, get right with him, show him what I want, and get him to fit me within a couple weeks and we will have barn burner on our hands; but it wasn’t that way. I was glad to have him at the Finals, but he was not my main choice, for sure.
Q: When you got him, had he been to very many rodeos?
Thorp: Driggers had rode him at the American, he rode him for me when I headed him one at the American stuff and just some local stuff. So, he had kind of been there, done that in those types of settings. There wasn’t a green factor there at all.
Q: Was there a specific time where you figured out he had the potential be one of your main mounts?
Thorp: I think the main timing for it was when my horses all got hurt last year. I was just getting with him in the spring when he got hurt in a trailer accident and he was out for a little bit. Then it seemed like a domino effect: all the rest of them got hurt too. Then he came back sound, so it was kind of a forced decision to make him my main horse. It’s not that I didn’t like him, he wasn’t my main choice. But when I had to get with him and was forced to compete on him, it seemed to fit and be on the same page. Ever since then, it’s been steady progress.
Q: What made you decide to move him up to the A-string with Juice (Juiced Up Cat)?
Thorp: When I got him, I had my black horse, and I had Juice too. But he really wasn’t one of my main ones starting out at all. It took me longer than I thought to get with him. It took me almost a year to really feel confident on him, I would say eight or nine months. Then he kind of moved ahead of my black (RayJay) at some point last year. He’s always had all the tools: he can run, he’s easy. It just took him a while to fit me.
Q: What made that transition take a little longer from how you ride RayJay and Juice to Mabel?
Thorp: He’s really fast –– but he worked a little bit different through the corner than I was used to. He was almost a little bit flatter and there wasn’t as much separation, but he would be there so fast, I would sometimes try to take that throw. But I wouldn’t get enough momentum through the turn. For me, I got a touch straighter and a little more elevated through the corner and I started riding him in a different lane for what I like. Then we kind of got on the same page.
Q: Where were you riding him this summer that you had some success?
Thorp: I won the second round at St. Paul on him to get the summer going; then we just won Spanish Fork on him; and then placed in the second round at Odgen; and we won our set at Salt Lake City riding him. Those were some of the bigger wins on him.
Q: Is there a specific set up you prefer to ride him?
Thorp: He is starting to be pretty good at everything. I rode him at Sioux Falls and Mandan and did really good on him last year at the fast set-ups, you know, Spanish Fork, Ogden, stuff like that. Then he felt really good at Salinas this year, too, in the long set-ups; and I’ve done pretty good at some of the bigger jackpots on him. He will kind of adapt to any set up.
Q: What do your practice sessions look like with Mabel?
Thorp: He’s super gentle and kind of lazy. So, his way of being fresh is being numb and dull and kind of lazy. My kids ride him a lot, but I have to make sure I ride him some or he will get numb and lazy acting. I ride him a lot at home just to keep him sharpened up but I don’t rope that much on him. I might run three or four steers on him 2-3 days a week and rope the dummy on him at least once a week. But he gets rode almost every day.
Q: Has that changed since you first bought him?
Throp: I’ve changed that a little bit. I took it for granted––how good-minded he was. I just kind of roped on him. But once I realized that was his way was––to be lazy when he’s fresh––I spent more effort into keeping him rode every day and keeping him responsive to my feet and the bridle.
Another strange thing about him: he’s so smart. If I rope a bunch of slow steers, he’ll get super lazy and dial down a lot. I have some runners and some trainer-type steers at home that I rope on most all my good horses, just to keep their confidence up. But I quit doing that on him because he gets so lazy, patterned, and routine. I’ll just run two or three medium/medium-plus type steers 2-3 days a week and then keep him exercised the rest of the week.
Q: What does your NFR preparation look like for your practice set up and horses?
Thorp: I’ll set the arena up for the dimensions for the Finals and try to get the most realistic steers I can. Then I try to be open-minded about it, especially starting off the first week or two. I’m going to rope and get in that mindset, ride my position the way I need to, and get in that rhythm a little bit. And then, as I get closer to time, trying to pin down what I want to ride, I really don’t like second-guessing once I get out there or thinking a week before: ‘What am I going to ride?’ I like to have that narrowed down pretty quick. Theres been a time that I had three or four that I was between –– I felt pretty good about all of them –– and I just didn’t know. So, I was just real open-minded the first several practice sessions. For that month, two or three days a week, I will run at least five or six on each of them, even my good ones, just to kind of get in the routine of it. Then the closer I get, you know, make the decision on which one I want to ride. I’ll almost pick it in my mind and then, maybe two or three weeks out, I’ll give another one a chance to win the spot back over. But I’ll kind of have it in my head and really stick to it.
Q: So, did your wife give up on calling him “Romeo”? (If you’re confused, check out the first time we meet Mabel.)
Thorp: That did not last long, she tried for a minute, and it just wouldn’t stick. Everybody knew the horse. It kind of made me mad when I bought him because of how many people would come up and talk about how much they liked the horse. Like, I went to a big open roping in Texas and won Horse of the Roping and didn’t even place. Everybody liked him and everybody knew his name and it just seemed to kind of stick. I normally do change the names on my most of my horses but with that one, it just never did stick.
