Most Important Lesson I have learned in Rodeo

As a first generation cowboy, or as Floridians would say “Cracker”, I have had to seek guidance to become the Cracker I am today. From learning to ride a horse, to gaining weight, it has been a challenge, but one that I would face again any day for the knowledge I learned along the journey. It has only been four years since I started rodeoing, and on December 2, 2010, I will celebrate two years of be in the family of bulldoggers, a family unlike any other. Most people are unable to recall how many buckles or saddles they have won. I on the other hand, only have a hand full, but am proud to wear each one of them. This includes the Champion Buckle I won last April with a time of 6.2 in the steer wrestling at Green Cove Springs, Florida, which is no doubt the most difficult arena to bulldogg in Florida. Ultimately, there were two choices as I entered that rodeo. First, I could gable and take a gable and win the rodeo or maybe even miss for a chance to go to nationals, or just be another bulldogger and go out there have fun and just merely get the job done. I did not have any buckle proving my rodeo success by my third year of high school and decided that winning this rodeo was going to become my ultimate goal. I also desired a shot at Nationals and winning the Green Cove rodeo was the only way to see this goal come to fruition. State Finals was all business knowing I had to be one of the top four. I had to throw each steer as well as be in the top for the average. After my run and the third round was over, I knew it would be a challenge for the competitors in front of me with their draws, but they overcame it. I received second in the average and seven points away from nationals. I often think of all the runs I made my senior year of high school and everything I could have done differently. Those seven points that I lacked were one steer – one that I missed. Following State Finals, I often asked God why it was that I tried so hard, but never made it to the big dance? I practiced more often than most other bulldoggers, while some did not practice at all. I, on the other hand, was in the practice pen at least four days a week. I found that God was and continues to prepare me for better things in this life than to be a High School National qualifier. I not only want to be “one of the five” in steer wrestling, I want to be “one of the five” in life, in God’s eyes. So on that day, when I have reached my ultimate goal of heaven, I know that my entry fees have been paid, with or without a gold buckle.