Rodeo Life

Author: Charity Pulliam

  • American Hat: Caden Ussery

    American Hat: Caden Ussery

    “I’ve been with American since I was in the sixth grade,” said North Carolina cowboy Caden Ussery. “It’s been a long time. “My mom and I wrote a letter to Keith Mundee. He immediately wrote back and was very welcoming,” he said. “He said he was impressed that I would put myself out there at such a young age. “It really is a relationship I have built with them,” Ussery added. “They always take care of me, and being a part of the American family has been a huge blessing.”

    Caden Ussery from Huntersville, North Carolina, now calls Martin, Tennessee, and the University of Tennessee Martin (UT Martin) his home. “I originally did not want to college rodeo,” Ussery said. “But my mom always wanted me to go to college.” After two years at Central Piedmont Community College, Ussery transferred to UT Martin, where he is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business marketing. He still has some time left in school, but Ussery said he hopes to continue his relationship with American.

    “I went to a community college first, and then last summer, right before school started, I got a call from Coach Thrasher at UT Martin,” he said. “He was looking for new talent because they had lost some seniors last year. “People were sending him my videos just from some local and amateur rodeos,” he said. “So, I talked with him and moved to Tennessee.”

    He said he barely missed qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo this year. “I missed out on the finals by only a few points,” he said. “But I won our home rodeo. That was pretty awesome.” Ussery, a sophomore then, won the tie-down roping average with a time of 20.1 and the short go with a 9.8. He tied for second in the first round with a 10.3. “I started roping at a very young age,” he said. “My grandpa introduced roping into my life before anyone else.

    American Hat Rider Caden Ussery

    “I was pretty small growing up and couldn’t handle my rope to dally that well. So I started just breakaway roping,” he added. “I just had an old rope horse I would rodeo on, and he was awesome. When I got to junior high and high school, I bought a few more horses and got a little more serious.
    Ussery had a very successful Junior High and High School Rodeo career. He made the North Carolina High School Finals all

    four years. He said he won the reserve tie-down title during his freshman and sophomore years. He captured the state title in his junior and senior years.
    While Ussery occasionally team ropes, he said his heart is in the tie-down roping. “I fell in love with calf roping. There are a lot of really good team ropers, but the thought of working hard and not having to rely on anyone else to work to succeed appealed more to me,” he said.

    Although he enjoys the sole accountability of tie-down roping, Ussery said his biggest motivation comes from his family.“They have always encouraged me and allowed me to put myself out there,” he added. “If they believe I can do it, then there is no reason I can’t put my mind to it and get to where I want to be.”

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    -Article by Charity Pulliam

     

  • American Hat: Erin Taorimino

    American Hat: Erin Taorimino

    “Originally, I wore only American straw hats. The brand was looking to expand farther into the western industry, outside of rodeo with their partnerships,” said NRCHA Trainer and rider Erin Taorimino. “I already had a close relationship with American athlete Jackie Crawford, and so it all just worked itself out.”

    Erin said her favorite hat she has been wearing recently is American’s 100X Black Cherry felt. “It’s a really great color,” she said. “I used to wear a plain solid black felt, but the Black Cherry has won my heart.”

    Originally from Saskatchewan, Canada, Erin Taorimino, a now household name in the National Reined Cow Horse Association, said she moved to Texas after graduating high school and her final trip to the Quarter Horse Congress.

    “I met some people at the Congress show and had the opportunity to come down to Texas to show my youth all-around horse,” she said. “I ended up selling him at that show and just never went back.”

    Erin said she started her career as an assistant in charge of riding a string of two-year-old prospects at the Jim Babcock Ranch in Gainesville, Texas. While there, she met Million-dollar rider and NRCHA Hall of Fame inductee Ron Ralls.

    “That is how I really got into the industry,” she said. “He was in charge of the cow horse at that ranch, and so I fumbled my way through learning as I went with his help.”

    American Hat Rider, Erin Taormino and her son.

    After Ralls left his position there, Erin said she went with him and worked as an apprentice under him for four and a half years. While working for Ralls, Erin met her husband, Anthony Taormino. Together, the couple moved from Ralls’ ranch in Texas to live in Idaho briefly before moving again to work under NRCHA Two-million-dollar rider and NRHA Million-dollar rider Todd Bergen in Oregon.

    “We stayed under Todd Bergen for five years,” she said. “From there, we moved to work with Garth and Amanda Gardiner at Gardiner Quarter Horses in Ashland, Kansas. We stayed there for two years before moving to Oklahoma and working out of Stuart Ranch for Terry Forst.

    “That’s where we started our business, at Stuart Ranch,” she said. “Terry was amazing. She really opened the door for us to start our own program.”

    Since then, the Taorminos have moved back to Texas, where they started their journey as independent trainers. Taormino Performance Horses is located at their home in Lipan, Texas.

    She said she is most proud of what she has accomplished aboard roan stallion Hazardouz Material (Metallic Cat x Scooters Daisy Dukes). “I won the NRCHA Stallion Stakes on him in 2021, and I made the World’s Greatest Horseman Finals on him last year,” she said.

    Erin also said her plans for her career are constantly changing and evolving.

    “I’d love to win the Snaffle Bit Futurity, going back to World’s Greatest Horseman next year and becoming a million-dollar rider are at the top of my list, also,” she said. “I want to keep climbing and be one of the best trainers in the industry as long as I can.”

    Erin said she does not keep track of her winnings to know how close she is to attaining her goal of being an NRCHA Million-dollar rider. According to the NRCHA, Erin has a lifetime earning of over $900,000.

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  • Team Cavender’s: Kiley Hargrave-Batten

    Team Cavender’s: Kiley Hargrave-Batten

    While Kiley Hargrave-Batten only joined Team Cavender’s a year ago, she had nothing but good things to say about her experience.

    “It was really a wonderful experience the year I was on the team,” said the 17-year-old cowgirl from Trinity, Texas. “The whole organization is full of amazing and kind people. They have been some of my biggest supporters.”

    Kiley said she was honored to be a part of the youth team during her final year of high school in 2023-24, but she said her rodeo career started much earlier in life.

    “I have rodeoed pretty much my whole life,” she said. “I think I was six when I asked my Papa for a pony for Christmas. I knew from then on rodeo is all I ever wanted to do, and I have done that ever since.”

    Kiley now has quite the list of accolades that include qualifying for the Texas High School Rodeo finals, Jr. National Finals Rodeo, and the Hooey Patriot three times each. She also has been the THSRA Region 9 pole bending champion three times. All these awards and qualifications are thanks in part to her pony, Socks.

    “My Papa bought me my pony at my first rodeo in Waller, Texas. We then trained him together, and that has been such a special memory,” she said. “My Papa is easily the biggest influence I have had in my life. He taught me everything I know, and I am forever grateful for him and his experience.

    “I went on to win the Texas State High School Finals Pole Bending title and National High School Finals Rodeo Pole Bending title on him in 2021,” she said. “That is easily my proudest moment, to be able to win those titles on a horse that my Papa and I trained together.”

    Although Kiley now has several horses in her string, Socks holds a special place. “I have three horses. Socks, my pole horse, and then I have two barrel horses: Easy and Luna,” she said.

    “I have had Socks for 12 years now, and he has always been my favorite,” she said. “After winning me the state and national finals my freshman year, he really has made all my dreams come true.”

    She said Easy and Luna are newer to her herd, having both of them less than a year.

    “Easy came to me from a really great family about three months ago, and Luna, I have been riding for a family friend for about five months,” she said.

    Kiley said she attended public school in the Groveton ISD. She went to Groveton Elementary and then to Groveton Jr.-Sr. High school until she graduated in the spring of 2024. During her time there, she was a varsity cheerleader and cross-country runner. She was involved in the FCCLA, BETA, FCA, and UIL student youth organizations. Outside of school and rodeo, Kiley said she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, especially if it involves the swimming pool.

    Find out more about Team Cavender’s Here

  • American Hat: Bradi Good

    American Hat: Bradi Good

    “A great family friend of ours talked to me about switching hats,” said NFBR qualifier Bradi Good. “After talking with them, I decided to go ahead and switch over to American Hats.

    “Now I only wear American,” she added. “I am so grateful for everything they’ve done for me.”

    Bradi Good was only seventeen when the PRCA hosted the first National Finals Breakaway Roping in Arlington, Texas. The very next year, she began her career in the sport of professional rodeo.

    “I was new to professional rodeo, and so was Breakaway. It was cool to be able to learn at the same time,” she said. “It’s really picked up a lot in the last few years.”

    Good said she sees a bright future for Breakaway in the sport of professional rodeo.

    “I see so many fans and younger girls in the upcoming generation that I hope there is a bigger push for it,” she said. “But we don’t want it handed to us. We have to pay our dues and pave our way.”

    Good qualified for her first National Finals Breakaway Roping in 2023, where she finished 8th in the world. The NFBR is held in conjunction with the NFR but not during the ten rounds in the Thomas and Mac. The ladies run five head, over two days at the South Point Hotel and Casino.

    “I was so excited to go out there [to Las Vegas] and rope,” she said. “It’s a little different because we run five a day, and it’s at the South Point, but I’m used to that because I grew up watching my dad rope at the steer roping finals, and that’s how they run them too.”

    PRCA Breakaway Roper Bradi Good

    Good’s father, Shay Good, has qualified for the National Steer Roping Finals on four occasions. Similar to the NFBR, the steer roping finals run five head a day over the span of two days during the last weekend of November at the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, KS.

    “It’s different and not quite the same atmosphere as the Thomas and Mack, but we are still the top 15 in the world,” she said. “We still get a back number, and it’s still the coolest experience.”

    Going into her first finals, Good was sitting 8th in the world, the same spot she would finish out her 2023 year.

    “I was too far back in the standings to win the world because our rounds and averages don’t like the other events,” she said. “But coming in at I gave me the chance to watch some of the other girls go first and kind of get the feel of it all before I went.”

    Good is sitting 8th in the world again, and she said she has won more money this year. She has high hopes going into the bigger summer rodeos.

    “The ones that really come to mind are Reno, Cheyenne, the whole week of Utah rodeos, and my first time up at Calgary this year,” she said. “My horse is set up for a longer score, and that’s the way most of those big outdoor rodeos are.
    From her first year in the WPRA, Good has ridden her main horse, Rango. But she said she recently purchased a 5-year-old from Bailey and Erica Young that she is planning to haul as well.

    “I am super excited about him. They [the Youngs] train an awesome horse,” she said. “I just got him last month, so I am getting ready to start taking him and showing him the ropes.”

    -Article by Charity Pulliam

     

  • Team Cavender’s: Cooper Lane

    Team Cavender’s: Cooper Lane


    Although his time with Team Cavender’s is coming to an end, Cooper Lane said he fulfilled a goal he set for himself when he was invited to join the team.

    “I always wanted to be on Team Cavender’s,” he said. “It was a goal of mine. When I was in junior high, everyone that was a winner was on Team Cavender’s.

    “Everyone I looked up to was on Team Cavender’s,” he said.

    “I got the phone call the week after my freshman year at state [Texas High School Rodeo State Finals] right before my sophomore year,” he said. “I’ve been a member ever since.”

    Cooper described the moment he got the call inviting him onto the team.

    “I’ll never forget it. My best friend John Crimber called me and asked if I had also gotten a message about a meeting with a rep to join the team,” he said. “I hadn’t, and my heart sank.

    “And then, sure enough, the lady called me while we were on the phone,” he said. “I was over the moon because I felt like I really accomplished something big going into high school when I made it on the team.”

    Now that Cooper has graduated from high school, he said he is going to attend Clarendon College to rodeo under Brett Franks, a three-time WNFR qualifier who began coaching at Clarendon in 2013.

    “It’s bittersweet. I’m sad to leave home, but I am stoked to go college rodeo under Brett,” he said.

    “I picked Clarendon because it’s a smaller school that will work with rodeo athletes,” he said. “The weekends I’m not at a college rodeo, I plan to be gone as much as I can going to pro rodeos.”

    Cooper said he plans to rodeo on his PRCA permit until he is closer to the end of his college career. “I’ve been going to a lot of pro rodeos, but I want to wait until closer to my junior year to buy my pro card and then make a run at the NFR,” he said. “I plan to be all online, then I don’t have to worry about going back to class in the middle of the rodeo year.”

    His goals for this year include qualifying for the National High School Rodeo Finals and winning the saddle bronc riding national title. He was close to achieving that goal in his sophomore year of high school when he finished third in the standings. Because he is still entering pro rodeos on his permit, he said his main goal right now in the PRCA is to make the Texas Circuit Finals and the PRCA Permit Finals.

    Cooper said he looks up to three-time PRCA saddle bronc riding champion and seven-time WNFR qualifier Brody Cress in the sport of professional rodeo. He said he recently had the opportunity to ride with Cress to a rodeo.

    “He roomed with my cousin in college, and they were always over at the house,” he said.“Brody has helped me a bunch. I got a new saddle, and I sent it to him, and he fixed it up for me.

    “I called him and told him I didn’t have anyone to go with to a rodeo recently, and he said I could hop in with him,” he said. “That just made my day because it’s a chance to gain knowledge from the guy I look up to going down the road.”

    Cooper spoke very highly of his role model and mentor. “It’s surreal for me. Now that I’m eighteen I’m going to the same rodeos he’s going to. It really opened my eyes,” Laneadded. “He’s helped me learn how pro rodeo works. How to enter, how to stay in the gym while on the road, all those little things. He’s dealt as much knowledge as he can to me.”

     

  • Team Cavender’s: Grace Dubois

    Team Cavender’s: Grace Dubois

    As the second oldest of six siblings, Louisiana cowgirl Grace Dubois said rodeo runs in the family. Following in their
    parents’ footsteps, all of the Dubois kids compete in rodeo. “My dad ropes, and my mom did high school rodeos,” she
    said. “All of us rodeo all the way from youth rodeos to high school.”

    She said her father, Shel Dubois, has had the biggest influence on her rodeo career. “My dad has helped me my
    whole life. He’s taught me everything I know,” she said. “He’s always out there, every day, helping me get better.”
    Dubois said she had never played any sports outside of rodeo. For her, it has always been rodeo and roping. She
    competed in youth, junior high, and high school rodeos. “Rodeo is kind of my whole life,” she said. I don’t do much
    outside of it.”

    Dubois said she is a member of the Catholic Church, and she and her classmates in her church finished confirmation. Confirmation is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. These seven sacraments are baptism,confirmation, Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, marriage, and holy orders. They are categorized into three groups: sacraments of initiation, sacraments of healing, and sacraments of service.

    “Recently, I did my confirmation, which was my last sacrament I had to do for the church,” she said. She also recently completed the last of her homeschooling curriculum and has now officially graduated from high school. She said she is soon to be 19 years old, and as of right now, she plans to pursue a career that will keep her in the equine workforce.
    “I was looking at going to college, but I think I’ve decided I’m going to learn massage therapy for horses and then go more in-depth with osteopath,” she said. “I’m just going to amateur rodeo for now while I do that.

    “But I also went to a clinic with Jake Barnes a few weeks ago, and he told me I could do well training horses,” she added. “So, I think I want to try out training futurity horses also.”

    The young cowgirl is originally from Church Point, in southern Louisiana, but says she plans to move eventually, though she’s more certain where to. “I’m still trying to figure out where I want to go and what I want to do,” she said. “I maybe am thinking I want to go to Texas.”

    Dubois mentioned she wants to wait to hit the ProRodeo road until she is financially stable enough to handle everything the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association has in store.

    “Since I was 15, I’ve been on my own financially for rodeo,” she said. “I bought my own truck and everything like that, so I have to think about the money in it. Eventually, once I have money and a new trailer and am prepared, I want to do pro rodeo,” she said. “But I think it’ll be a couple of years.”

    She said she has enjoyed being a member of Team Cavender’s for the last three years. She said she will miss the experiences she has had moving forward. She highlighted Cavender’s as her biggest sponsor and supporter.

    “They have supported me and advertised me a lot,” she said. “They’ve gotten my name out there too, not just the other way.”

    She said that she hopes to maintain a relationship with Cavender’s and other team members moving forward.

  • Community Coffee Shad Mayfield

    Community Coffee Shad Mayfield

    Few things in life will always remain constant. However, two things will never change: Community Coffee’s promise to serve their customers with consistency, integrity, and excellence and JoEllen Mayfield’s love for her son.  As the mother of 5x Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Qualifier Shad Mayfield and a schoolteacher in Clovis, New Mexico, JoEllen said she was a typical rodeo mom when her son was growing up.

    “Every weekend, we were going somewhere, traveling to a rodeo. I was the typical rodeo mom,” JoEllen said. “I was with him every step of the way. I packed the clothes and the food and made sure everything was ready to go. 

    We spent hours and hours in the practice pen when he was growing up, and by the time he was in 10th grade, he was entering open jackpots,” she said. “So that year, we started homeschooling.”  “He was such a good kid, and we were always really busy,” she said.  “He didn’t have time to get in trouble.

    JoEllen said Shad is not the only competitive member of the Mayfield family.  “I am competitive too,” she said. “I was always out there coaching and helping where and when I was able to.”

    Shad said that now that he lives in Lipan, Texas, his mother doesn’t get to travel with him and watch as often as she’d like to because of her obligations as a teacher. However, he added that he is thankful she was able to be there to watch him win the American in 2020. “She got to be there on the biggest day for me, which meant a lot,” he said.

    JoEllen said she still messages her son daily and talks to him on the phone frequently throughout the week. “He doesn’t always reply as often as a mom would like, but I know how busy he is,” she said. “When I visit him in Texas, he is always going, and he never sits still.

    “Growing up, he was a momma’s boy,” she added. “He still probably is one, even though he doesn’t talk to me as often as I want him to.”  Shad said he would still consider himself a momma’s boy. He added that he couldn’t do many things without her. “She helps me make sure I’m getting everything taken care of with bills, paying fees at rodeos, anything with my house, and anything with life,” Shad said. “She is my go-to person.”  “She visits and stays with me, and soon, she’ll move to Texas close to me.”

    Shad says, “My mom has impacted my life in so many ways. She taught me the most outside of the arena, and that’s what I’m most grateful for. “It’s not always about what’s going on in the arena. Sometimes, it’s more about what is happening on the outside,” he added. That’s what my mom brought to me.” She also taught me how to be smart so that I could succeed in the arena. 

    Bravo to JoEllen and her many hours of being a rodeo mom, one of the best jobs on the planet. It certainly has paid off in the success of her son Shad and his appreciation and love for his mom. 

  • American Hat T Parker

    American Hat T Parker

    “I went through probably six or seven straw hats before I partnered with American Hat,” T Parker said. “My aunt was bugging me about finding a good hat that would look good every time I got on a bull.”

    “Now, I have a 100x Silver Belly American that I wear all the time,” he added. “I don’t wear anything but American hats now.”

    Winnie, Texas cowboy T Parker took the rodeo world by storm by winning the 2023 Resistol Bull Riding Rookie of the Year Award and qualifying for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo before the age of 20. 

    Parker said he felt he took everyone by surprise during his rookie year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Unlike many young rodeo cowboys, he realized his dream later in life. 

    “I watched the Houston rodeo every year since I was around 10 or 11 years old, and that was the only rodeo I wanted to ride in when I was growing up,” Parker said. “When I finally got to ride at Houston, I just ate it up. I loved every minute of it, and after that, I just wanted to keep on going.”

    “At the start, my mom was kind of against it because, you know, I’m the baby; I am a big momma’s boy,” he said. “But then she saw how much I enjoyed it, and then she just fell right in on the bus.”

    Parker said his permit year was not the smoothest ride. “I think I went to 36 rodeos on my permit and bucked off at all 36 of them, and then I finally rode my 37th to fill my permit, and I bought my card that night.”

    He said that going into his first WNFR, he had an advantage because he felt that a lot of people in the ProRodeo world didn’t know his name yet.

    The young cowboy finished his rookie year 13th in the world standings and won approximately $193,251 during the 2023 rodeo season. However, his 2024 ProRodeo season was recently cut short by a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum in his right arm.

    “I had been fighting my shoulder injury since before the finals, and I just kept pushing it back because I didn’t want to hear what the doctors had to tell me,” Parker said. “But it finally got to the point that I couldn’t hold myself up on my bull rope.

    “It is heartbreaking because I felt like this might be the year to win the world. But I’m going to get fixed up, head back out, and hopefully do better than the time before,” he added. “I’m hoping to come back in September for the end of the 2024 season.”

  • Team Cavender’s Jolee Alvey

    Team Cavender’s Jolee Alvey

    Every rodeo starts with the singing of the national anthem and a prayer. It makes sense that Jolee Alvey, a 17-year-old high school senior and a Region 4 Texas High School Rodeo Association athlete, favorite place to be is with her church youth group when she is not on the road going to rodeos.

    “I don’t have much free time outside of rodeo because I high school rodeo; I am in the Lone Star High School Rodeo Association and hit every jackpot in between,” said the Lindale, Texas cowgirl. “I am always roping and always rodeoing, but I am also very active in my youth group at church. “We go to an event every year called Leadership Training for Christ,” she added. “It’s held every year during Easter weekend in Dallas.”

    Alvey said North Texas Leadership Training for Christ (NTLTC) is an event she looks forward to attending every year. She said it helped her develop close relationships with all the church youth group members. According to the NTLTC website, the purpose of NTLC is to plan, organize, promote, and execute programs that assist young Christians in developing their knowledge of the Bible and biblical principles, enhancing their communication and leadership skills, and orienting their energies and abilities to areas of Christian Service.

    Jolee Alvey proudly rides for Team Cavenders. Photo Courtesy of Twisted C Rustic Shots

    “I really became close with everyone over this last year and a half because before then, I was always gone and rodeoing,” she said. “I got baptized the night before my birthday, and that experience brought me much closer to God.”

    The young cowgirl decided to transition to homeschool classes. Now, she will have more time to focus on her multiple rodeo events. She said she competes in barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway roping, and team roping and is a former rodeo queen.

    “I went in person to school my freshman year, but when I went back my sophomore year, I decided it was not really for me,” she said. “I went to homeschooling for my junior year. Now, I can focus on rodeo more.”

    Alvey said the homeschool program simplifies juggling schoolwork and rodeo because there are no set due dates throughout the semester. “As long as I have everything turned in by the nine-week mark, I am good to go,” she said. Taking time to focus on rodeo has paid off for Alvey. She was crowned the 2023 LHSRA Breakaway Average Champion.

    Alvey, who also won the “Raye” of Sunshine award in the THSRA in 2023, said it was an honor to carry on the legacy that Bailee Raye Ackerman Byler left behind when she and her husband died in a helicopter crash leaving their wedding in 2018. The award is presented to a THSRA member who displays exceptional character, leadership, and sportsmanship.

    -Article Courtesy of Charity Pulliam

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  • American Hat: Shad Mayfield

    American Hat: Shad Mayfield

    Shad Mayfield can be seen wearing an American 100x black felt hat during the colder months but said he would wear a felt year-round if Texas did not reach the scorching temperatures that it does. “I have been with American Hat’s since junior high,” said the 5x Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier. “They have believed in me every step of the way. “American is all I have ever worn,” he added. “Their quality is the best, for sure.”

    Son of Sylvester Mayfield, a two-time WNFR qualifier, Shad ‘Money’ Mayfield said he knew from a young age that he loved the competitiveness that rodeo brought to his life. “I have always been very competitive,” he said. “When I went to the junior rodeos, I entered every event, and I loved getting the chance to compete against everyone.”

    Mayfield’s competitive edge sets him apart from other Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association athletes. So much so that at the start of the 2020 WNFR, he led the tie-down roping by $89.479.

    “I always said when I turned 18, I was going to buy my card and rodeo,” he said. “So, that’s what I did. My dad rodeoed with me for my first year.” His start in the PRCA was slow. He said he was lucky enough to win money during the spring and early summer, but it was not until later that year Mayfield realized he had a chance at making his first WNFR.

    “It wasn’t until late summertime when I placed at Cheyenne, and that gave me a good jump in the world standings and put me in the top 20, that I realized I had shot at the finals,” Mayfield said. “I was actually up at the high school finals and Cheyenne at the same time.” Mayfield was riding the bubble in the 15th spot during the last week of rodeos before the season ended.

    Fred Whitfield and Sad Mayfield at the 2023 NFR Buckle Ceremony. Photo Courtesy of Kristen Schurr

    “It was a lot for a young kid, thinking about if I didn’t make it,” he said. “There were a lot of ‘what ifs’ in that time. So, I took that week at home to practice really hard and tried to stay positive.”
    After winning and placing at several rodeos in the last week of the 2019 rodeo season, Mayfield qualified for his first NFR. He ended the year 12th in the world standings after placing in two rounds. At the start of 2020, he won the San Antonio PRCA Rodeo and The American. He estimated this put him around $100,000 in winnings.

    “I was at the Houston rodeo when everything started shutting down,” he said. “Covid slowed down the whole rodeo season for everyone, but it really put a stop to a lot of goals I could have accomplished that year with the momentum I had.” He went on to win his first world title in Globe Life Field at the 2020 WNFR. While thankful for the win, he said it is still at the top of his goal list to win a gold buckle in the infamous Thomas and Mac Event Center.

    “I always watched the NFR there as a kid,” he said. “Watching Cody [Ohl], Fred [Whitfield], and Joe Beaver in the Thomas and Mac as a kid, that feeling of being there is like no other.”
    Since his first NFR, Mayfield has had five consecutive finals qualifications and won over a million dollars in his pro rodeo career. This year is looking a little different for the 23-year-old cowboy. “I have always been tight in my hips, but this year at the finals, they really affected me,” he said. “I went to my doctor, and he told me I’d have to have surgery on both of them due to torn labrum and impingements.”

    He originally planned to have the surgeries after Rodeo Houston this year. However, after revisiting with his doctor and surgeon, he elected to hold off until after the 2024 rodeo season and NFR.

    Mayfield said he is working to maintain his health and focus on not worsening his hip conditions. He is doing all of this in hopes of achieving his dream of winning that gold buckle in the Thomas and Mac.

    -Article Courtesy of  Charity Pulliam

     

  • American Hat: Riley Webb

    American Hat: Riley Webb

    It’s no surprise that 20-year-old Riley Webb from Denton, Texas, PRCA tie-down roper (currently ranked number seven in the world) and team roping header, is going straight to the top in his rodeo career. His parents, Dirk and Jennifer Webb run Webb Roping Productions, a sanctioned cattle producer for the breakaway and tie-down qualifiers for the Junior World Finals. Dirk is also the manager of The American Rodeo, and with Jennifer being secretary, Riley couldn’t have had a better setup to be an achiever in the rodeo world.  

    Riley’s first rodeo was in Denton, Texas, at only a few weeks old. He roped his first calf at a young age and was hooked from that point on.  At 11 years old, he began his rodeo career roping competitively. Riley was the 2020 National High School Rodeo Association Champion Tie-Down Roper. When he gets up every morning, he’s always roping and practicing with one goal: to accomplish getting better. Riley says it’s in inches and tenths of seconds they’re working with, so he has to think about things most people don’t. Everybody can rope and have a good horse, so he has to think outside the box to improve himself. Riley became a member of the PRCA in 2021, and he says his favorite rodeo is the Pendleton Roundup in Pendleton, Oregon, because of the atmosphere created by the fans. 

    Winning Reno is his favorite memory, and his favorite food on the road is Mexican. For his young age, Riley already has quite a resume of accomplishments. As well as winning many other rodeos throughout the year, including Rodeo Houston (Houston, Texas,) Rodeo Austin (Austin, Texas,) National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, Calgary Stampede, Alberta, Canada, Horse Heaven Roundup in Kennewick, Washington, and The Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Washington, in 2023 (for the second time,) he qualified for the finals and claimed the number one spot and he won his first PRCA World Championship; winning $452,852, and breaking the previous season earnings record. He finished second in the average with 82.9 seconds on ten head, earning $172,447 at the finals in Las Vegas. 

    Riley’s first trip to the Thomas and Mack was in 2022, and he finished 12th in the average and tenth in the world, placing in five rounds that year.  Riley’s success this year comes from a couple of new horses he calls Boots and Rudy and a new determination to look at every single run individually, practice with the basics, not worry about the standings, and just do his very best and execute every single run. 

    Currently sitting in the top ten in the standings, he’s starting in a great spot in his 2024 ti-down roping season and is well on his way to adding to his growing list of accolades.

  • Community Coffee: Tyler Waguespack

    Community Coffee: Tyler Waguespack

    “I grew up right south of Baton Rouge,” said 5x Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Steer Wrestling World Champion Tyler Waguespack. “Everyone around here has always drunk Community Coffee. 

    “And my dad orders the signature roast by the box load,” he added. “So, if you want to drink coffee at our house, that’s what you drink.”

    Tyler said he loves the energy the Community Coffee team brings with their sponsorship. “When we are all out at the finals, they come over to talk to my family, and it never feels like I am working for them because they treat us like friends,” he said of the crew. “They are real and genuine people.”

    Before his five world titles, Tyler Waguespack had a job shoeing horses at home in Gonzales, Louisiana. He said he received an invitation to Rodeo Houston in 2013, and after placing in every round and winning around $17,000 that week, he decided to pursue professional rodeo full-time. “After that week in Houston, I was sitting on the couch, and my dad walked in asking if I had horses to shoe,” Waguespack said. “And I told him “No, sir, I’m entered up the next couple of weeks to see how rodeo treats me,” and I haven’t looked back.

    “In 2015, when I realized I was far enough into the top 15 to make my first NFR, I called my dad, and when he picked up, I said, “Hey, what are you doing the first ten nights in December?” Waguespack said. “My dad has done everything for me to get me to where I am today.” 

    According to statistics posted by the PRCA, Waguespack now has five world titles, nine Wrangler National Finals Rodeo appearances, and a whopping 2.29 million dollars in career earnings. 

    “Growing up, I was always the little dirty kid following my dad around in the practice pen,” Waguespack said. “I enjoyed calf roping, but bulldogging is what I always wanted to be serious about.” He said he attributes his ability to stay calm under pressure to 4x PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion Ote Berry. “The winning mentality and the winning attitude that he has is what’s helped me when I’m going to different places,” he said of his former mentor. “He is a very situational type of steer wrestler. As crazy as it sounds, there really is a strategy to it when you’re out there. 

    “I had the opportunity to live with Ote for two years when I was first getting started,” Waguespack said. “He had always been a great friend of the family, and he told me I could come live with him if I wanted to start taking it seriously and learn to really win. “A lot of times, these guys out there don’t like to take the time to talk to people when they get a big name made,” he added. “But Ote, he was always willing to talk to the younger guys no matter what.” At the 2023 WNFR, Waguespack won his fifth world title, earning him one more gold buckle than his mentor. “Every time he would wave to me, he would wave with four fingers. I could only hold up as many fingers as buckles I had,” he said. “But this year, the student has surpassed the teacher, and we took a photo where I am holding five fingers up.” 

    Waguespack said he has now taken his own aspiring world champion under his wing. 

    “Cash Robb is a young man that attended Tom Carney’s bulldogging schools, and my dad and I have always helped with those,” Waguespack said. “Cash’s dad, Justin, had called me a couple of times; I finally told him if Cash wanted the best opportunity at success, he could come live at the house and practice with me.“That is a young man who puts forth a lot of effort and has a ton of potential,” he said. “He is one of the only people who can keep up with me in the practice pen.” Waguespack said Robb, the 2023 Steer Wrestling Resistol Rookie of the Year, currently lives and travels to PRCA rodeos with him while completing college classes online.