Having started roping as a little kid-roping whatever would move, from dogs to other kids-I went through all the steps. I started in junior rodeo, then progressed through high school rodeo, college and amateur rodeo, plus lots of team roping jackpots. Who knew it would turn out like this-that team roping would become a major sport? To be honest, I never really thought you could make a living at rodeo when I was getting started. But I was infatuated with it. I loved to rope. Then I made my first National Finals Rodeo. It seemed like one day I woke up and I was making a living at it.
Through all the stages, you need to strive to always get better. It's like a puzzle you need to try to piece together. I always worked hard at it, but even now I strive to keep up. There was a time that Clay and I were winning everything without worrying about creating new techniques. Then the bull's-eye got put on our backs. People started watching us, and as the leaders we became the mark.
We still strive to be the best we can be. I look at a team like Speed (Williams) and Rich (Skelton). They took this event to another level, just like we did. More people are catching on to their style, and that just takes everybody up a notch.
It's a constant fight and challenge to try to get back to the top. I work so hard to see if I can dominate again. The road to get there is a long one, and there aren't any shortcuts. It's such a process. But you can't just say, "I want to try to be the best this year." It takes a lot of components to put it in place-an arena, a good practice partner, good cattle and good horses to rope on. And that's only the beginning.
You have to have at least one dominant, outstanding horse to have any shot of taking it to the top. And if you're really serious, your second horse needs to be almost as good. You can rope as good as you want, but you're only as good as your horse.
