5/30 Drew Horner: Uncoiled. Hugo, Oklahoma

These past couple weeks of being home have been awesome. I have been able to practice and spend time with friends, while still competing a little bit at the circuit rodeos and jackpots to stay sharp. It has been fun to keep working and progressing at roping.

I somewhat explained in a previous post about my perspective and what I am doing this month while I am home, so here is a little bit about how it has been going. I didn’t do well with Trey Norris the first week of the few circuit rodeos I went to. In fact we didn’t win anything. Buddy Hawkins and I went to Redding California and did well at the Tour Rodeo. Then, I went to the Windy Ryon Memorial Roping this past Friday and did well with Trey Johnson. Won about $4,500 there.

I roped with Buddy Hawkins, my main partner, last night in Hugo Oklahoma. We made a good run, 4.3. We are currently winning 2^nd at the rodeo with roughly 20 or 30 teams left to go. The cool thing about making that run last night with Buddy is that we both just got back from vacation this past weekend and went right back into making our run. Feels good to have chemistry like that with someone that ropes really well.

 Hugo Oklahoma is a fast set up. Last year, 3.9 won it, so we knew that we just needed to get a good start and make a sharp, fast run. The wide box and big arena make for fast times. The measurements of the barrier are even, which means the barrier length is the same length as the box, which is normal for pro rodeos. The steers were just as normal as any other rodeo would have.

The wider box makes it easier to get out, because you have more room to get to the rope barrier. Typical boxes are 16 feet long and maybe 8 to 10 feet wide. Hugo is 16 feet long roughly, and probably more like 10 feet wide. This gives the header a much faster and sharper start on the cattle, and makes it easier to get a fast go at the line. The open arena makes it easier to have a quick finish. You don’t have to worry much about coming back down the arena to keep the steers head. All of these factors make it an easy set up to be fast. I don’t want to say that it is easy to be 4 on a steer anywhere, because you still have to execute your run in those conditions, but these conditions definitely help.

This weekend I am roping in Mesquite, Texas with Wesley Johnson, a younger guy just starting out. He is a really cool and ropes really well. He is on his permit and looking to come out next year for his rookie year. He has been getting lessons from Patrick Smith for the past couple years, and I have seen him get better and better. I am excited about it. I don’t know for sure what horse I am riding yet, but I have confidence roping with Wesley. I also entered a few rodeos with him next week that I’ll fill you in on later.

Until next time, Drew.