rodeoing, I sll have to go do my ob. Usually, if you make
your run and do your ob then you have a good chance to
win. Moving on I hope to go a few more mes. It gave me
the condence to know that I am good enough to compete
in Vegas and I think that was a big part of making it for the
rst me. It was a big weight o my shoulders to realize
that I put the work in to make it and now I get to enoy it.
RL: How do you mentally prepare before a rodeo How do
you physically prepare How do you prepare your horse
RR: My goal for me is to stay in good physical shape,
especially in the calf roping we have to treat ourselves like
an athlete. The winter’s been hard on me, I haven’t eaten
very well – moving on, I’m trying to eat right, do the things
for my body to stay sound. The same thing for the horses I
try to ride on them every day whether I’m roping or not to
keep them in shape and feeling good, and make sure I keep
up on the vet work to where they’re sound and ready to go.
I think by preparing in the pracce pen and doing what I
need to prepare before I get to the rodeo is a huge way
for me to be mentally ready. If I’m not pung in the work
at home and praccing then it’s hard for me to be right
mentally. I think it’s more feeling prepared that helps my
mentality stay in check. I don’t really have a ritual that I
do before every rodeo to try to get my mind right, I’m a
prey laid-back kind of guy.
RL: How many rodeos on average do you compete
in each year Which rodeo is your favorite
RR: It depends on what our rodeo count is. Last year,
the calf roping count was one hundred and I think I
went to ninety-three. This year, the rodeo count is
eighty-ve in the calf roping and sixty-ve in the Team
Roping so I’ll probably go to eighty in the calf roping
and about the same in the Team Roping, but I’ll only
get to county sixty-ve.
RL: Many speculate rodeo as a model of the American
Dream, what does the American Dream mean to you
and how has rodeo helped you achieve it
RR: Honestly, rodeo has taught me that the western way
of life is a good life. I think there’s a lot of young guys out
there today that need to step back and look at rodeo for
what it is. I think we get caught up in social media and
technology nowadays that it almost takes away from western
culture. It’s taught me how to work hard and appreciate
what hard work is. I guess the American Dream to me
is being a good person and live my life like my ancestors
who upheld western culture and values.
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