Junior and high school rodeo careers are a stepping-stone onto college and professional rodeo for many. While buckles and trophy saddles from your junior rodeo careers are great, there are a whole lot more important things to takeaway from these years that will benefit the rest of your lives.
Building Blocks
In junior rodeo, you need to prepare for the next level of competition. It’s OK if junior rodeo is as far as you want to go with your career, that’s great. But if you have goals to go to the next level—college rodeo, professional rodeo, world championships—then you need to realize that the most important thing is not being the best 12-year-old roper out there. Don’t set your goals to where you don’t recognize it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Keep the big picture in mind. Find your weaknesses and address those, and find your strengths and address those. Spend these years honing your strengths and focusing on what you can improve on.
Mental Strength
Learn how to win and control your mind. That’s one of the main questions I get: how to take your mind out of the picture. When I’m at a rodeo, that calf is no different than the calf I’m roping in the practice pen. Usually, when I’m practicing, there’s no nerves and no pressure. You have to learn to look at a situation just how you do at home. You’re just roping calves, running barrels, riding that steer or bucking horse. It’s the same whether it’s for a million dollars, a gold buckle, or a ribbon in 4H. Run that pattern, rope that calf—it’s the same anywhere you go.
