July 23, 2011

Rodeo life means lots of time on the road

BY TY HAWKINS - thawkins@idahostatesman.com

Copyright: © 2011 Idaho Statesman

David Key of Caldwell, Texas, entered the Snake River Stampede this week in the team roping event. Although he was in Idaho, he was also looking forward to his next rodeo — a day and a few states away.

“Either way, I’m heading to Salinas, Calif., tomorrow morning to rope Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Key said before his ride Tuesday night in Nampa.

“If I make the short round here, I’m going to have to fly back up Saturday to rope, then back down to California Sunday morning.”

Key and roping partner Justin Davis (Cottonwood, Calif.) failed to qualify for Saturday’s finals with a no score on their ride, and they were off to California. On Monday, the duo will be in Spanish Fork, Utah, for the Fiesta Days Rodeo Silver Tour.

Such is life in professional rodeo, where the ability to multi-task is a necessity. Headed into each competition, riders have their sights set on two things: getting a good score and getting on the road for the next rodeo.

It would be hard to find any of this week’s Stampede participants who don’t have their hat in more than one rodeo at a time.

Riders compete at one rodeo then almost immediately are back on the road heading to the next event — sometimes in the same night. With the way the schedule is set up, it’s easy for them to get a couple of rodeos under their belt in the same week.

At the same time as the Snake River Stampede, there are concurrent rodeos in Ogden, Salt Lake City and Spanish Fork, Utah; Salinas, Calif., and Cheyenne, Wyo., giving cowboys an option of where to go next.

It’s like that throughout rodeo season, which begins October 1 and ends September 31. A bulk of the events are held between July and September. The National Finals Rodeo for top cowboys is in December. A day or two off from the arena are usually few and far between.

The constant travel and time away from family can take toll on the riders — and their loved ones. In some cases, they’ll try to accommodate the situation by bringing the family on the road.

For J.W. Harris, a bull rider from Mullin, Texas, and his wife Jackie, taking their family on the road hasn’t been an issue. Their daughter Aubrey was born in Las Vegas — two days before the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

“I grew up around the rodeo, running the roads and I love it,” Jackie Harris said. “We get to see different parts of the country and meet a lot of different people, so I really enjoy it.”

The Harris family hasn’t been home this summer since the second week of June and will make a short two-day stop back in Texas during the second week of August. Then it’s back on the road for the next month.

“It’s not bad at all, we have an R.V, so it’s basically a house on wheels,” she said.

J.W. Harris is coming off of a groin injury that forced him to miss two weeks of rodeos, yet he managed to score a 90 on Wednesday night at the Stampede, one point shy of Zach Brown’s arena record of 91 set in 2002.

Harris’ score was good enough to qualify for Saturday’s final. But that didn’t stop the bull rider from hitting the road and competing in several rodeos in Utah before catching a ride with another cowboy back to Idaho to try and claim the $30,000 purse.

“Driving’s the best way to go,” Harris said.