8/21 Drew Horner: Uncoiled. Advancing in Pro Rodeo, part 3
0When I walked into my first big rodeo as an official card holder, I was pumped! I was nervous, and excited. I was anxious and couldn’t wait to get there. We were in the slack at Kansas City, MO, and back then it was a Tour Rodeo, so it was big deal. This was my first rodeo that officially counted to my world standings. Although the nerves were there, and I was actually at a rodeo that “counted”, I knew I was ready because of the prepping I had done through each of the stages of rodeo before this point. I had been through each level of roping and learned at every stage what I could, and now I’m here, in the BIG LEAGUES, ready and anxious to test myself against the best in the world for the entire year. You’ll see in a bit that this was definitely another learning year though, big time…
So, you’re at the top level. You’ve bought your card, set some goals, and feel ready to beat the best. The only way to find out is by jumping in. For a full-time Professional Team Roper, there are basically two ways to win money, at the rodeos and the jackpots. You have to be a good jackpotter to make money out here, but in this blog I’ll be talking about the rodeos. If you’re on the road full-time, you are trying to make the National Finals Rodeo in Vegas. It takes a lot more than you can imagine. You are gone for most of the year, which isn’t bad, but you will get homesick, especially when your not doing well.
Essentially, the things the top guys focus on out here is
1) Qualifying for the NFR
2) Qualifying for the Tour Finales at Puyallup, Washington and Omaha, Nebraska
3) Getting a Tour Bonus check when the Tour rodeos are over.
Some secondary goals for guys out here are
1) Qualify for their circuit finals
2) Qualify for the All American Finals
3) Qualify for the National Circuit Finals.
The Wrangler Million Dollar Tour is the tour that the top guys in the world follow. The number of rodeos and which rodeos that are apart of the tour vary, but it’s usually anywhere from 20 to 30 rodeos. It’s the biggest and best rodeos of the year. Rodeos like Salinas, CA, San Antonio, TX, Austin, TX and Prescott, AZ are apart of the Tour. These are the BIG checks. You have to win big checks throughout the year to have a good year rodeoing. The tour system has a bonus system. They pay the top 7 places in the tour standings at the end of the tour rodeos, which they call a “Tour Bonus” that adds to your official world standings. This is a pretty good “reassuring” check. The Payout is on the PRCA site and I’ll post a link at the bottom.
If you’re on the “bubble”, the area on the standings between 10th through 20th places, you definitely need to do well at the end of the season, and the Tour Finales are crunch time. Puyallup takes the top 24 in the standings, and Omaha, which is after, takes the top 12. Omaha is the last weekend of the year, so if you make Omaha, you have made the finals. For the guys on the “bubble”, the last month of the year is big. You have a few good rodeos left, and you’re probably also flying to other rodeos just to get a few more in to finish strong. You have Ellensburg, WA, Pendleton OR, Puyallup, WA (the first Tour Finale), and then your probably flying to Kansas City Mo, Amarillo Tx, and a few other rodeos to win a little bit more to hopefully sneak inside the top 15. It comes down to the wire every year, and its always fun following the standings to see how it ends up after every week.
One thing I will say is that it always seems to be the same top guys at the end, and a few fill-ins. Figuring out how to be that consistent top guy is how you become considered one of the best. It’s an accomplishment to make it once, but to be able to do it every year for a few years is impressive. There is a reason why certain guys go every year, and it’s a journey to figure out how you can do it. Definitely fun!
Rodeo is a fun sport, but it definitely needs to be progressive in order to get better and grow. Everybody has their own opinion on the future of rodeo and what needs to be done in order to grow the sport. One thing the PRCA has started is the Champions Challenge. They hope to make this the future of rodeo. It’s a great deal, and I really like it. There are things that could not do so well, but it’s brand new and needs a little bit of time to grow for us to learn how to make it a better system.
The way it works is they take the top 10 guys in the world, and put them in a tour of rodeos, separate from any other tour. These rodeos are pre-existing rodeos in the PRCA that have added another, separate, individual rodeo to its current schedule of rodeos. It’s the top 10 guys in each event with the best livestock, being showcased on TV. They are hoping to provide an opportunity for more sponsors, to hopefully be able to reach its audience better and grow its audience, and hopefully provide a way for the Cowboys to make more money by growing the Champions Challenge to be the Official Tour of the Best Cowboys in Rodeo. It’s a cool idea, and I hope it works out. It could be great if they keep it rolling and grow it. Even if it fails, it will be good for the sport, because we can learn from it, and hopefully try a new approach with the same goals.
Check these links out for more information on these tours and systems if you’re interested. Let me know what you all are thinking of these blogs. I really enjoy the feedback I have been getting from some of y’all and it’s been fun to be able to communicate with you a little bit more outside of the arena. Keep in touch with me my fan page, or my twitter! Links below:
Million Dollar Tour:
http://prorodeo.com/wrangler_tour.aspx
Champions Challenge:
http://prorodeo.com/PRCA-Champions-Challenge.aspx
Puyallup, Washington Tour Finale:
http://prorodeo.com/Playoff_Omaha.aspx?xu=2
Omaha, Nebraska Tour Finale:
http://prorodeo.com/Playoff_Omaha.aspx
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https://www.facebook.com/dhorner24
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/drewhorner24
