10/11 Drew Horner: Uncoiled. All-American

We are here in Waco, Texas at the All-American Finals. This format is one of my favorite formats in rodeo. It’s like a tournament bracket in our sport. Makes it fun to compete in and watch. Here is how it works!

The top 30 contestants in the All-American Standings are qualified. They divide the top 30 qualifiers into 3 sets of 10. Each set of 10 competes in two rounds. Both rounds are separate from each other. Each round, they pay money to the top four placing contestants of the night. So in the Team Roping, the four fastest teams would win money. The Payout is something like this: $2,300 for first place, $1,700 for second place, $1,200 for third place, and $700 for fourth place. After both rounds are completed in a set, then the top 3 contestants that win the most money between both nights added up progress to the semi finals on Saturday. Once all 3 sets of 10 contestants are completed, they will end up with a total of 9 contestants in each event on Saturday.

This is what the semi finals and finals look like. The top 9 contestants compete in 1 round, which is called the Semi Finals. The top 4 placing contestants in that round then progress onto the final round, The Finals! This is where they decide the champion of the event. The top placing contestant, or in the Team Roping the fastest team, wins the rodeo.

It’s a really fun format to compete in because it’s an elimination round almost every night. You have to win every round to move on. Pretty exciting to watch too! You get to see a winner and a loser every night. The pressure to win is the same every round and you are always competing like your back is against the wall. You have to win! No one is really safe. It’s tough, fast and nerve racking.

We roped last night and did not win anything… I am really disappointed about this one. Although this rodeo has no affect on world standings, it is money, and we need to win money. This is our business; this is our profession. This is what we do! I missed our steer last night… had a good chance and I just split the horns (my rope caught the right horn, and as it was coming across to catch the left horn next, I didn’t allow for it to cover over the top of the left horn, and it stopped short)!!! Pretty frustrating… but we got a chance tonight! We need to win 1^st or 2^nd to have a legitimate chance at progressing to the semi finals on Saturday. We have to win! I like having that pressure sometimes. Its fun! Hopefully we can get it done!

I hope y’all are doing well! I have been keeping in touch with a few of you and it’s been fun to hear from you all! Keep the messages and comments coming! You can follow my fanpage at https://www.facebook.com/dhorner24 or on twitter and instagram @drewhorner24. Ill talk to you soon! DH