ProRodeo Sports News - June 12, 2020

COWBOY GRILLE WITH MATT NABER

Rookie cowboy Britt Smith turned 19 in May, and the party continues with him at the top of the PRCA | Resistol

What kind of an influence has your family had on your ProRodeo career? Britt: My dad started roping in high school, and that’s how he met my mom. My brothers Jake and Clay are the first in the family to rope in ProRodeo. They’ve been so much help. I can skip steps and they can tell me things they already know from their experience. It’s let me learn a lot of stuff faster. What’s it like having your brother Jake as your roping partner? Britt: It’s really good, but as most brothers do, we give each other a hard time and people think we’re getting into it, but we’re just messing with each other. We’ll pick at each other and have games and matches on everything. Everything we do is a competition, and we’re always trying to beat each other at something. But in the roping pen and outside the roping pen, it’s all a team effort. He built a house 100 feet away from where I live, so we rope every day. How did COVID-19 impact your approach to your rookie year? Britt: You really can’t do anything about it. We will go to as many as we can and do the best we can. It’s a weird year, but it’s the same for everyone, so it’s not like anyone has an advantage. How did you get into rodeo in the first place? Britt: I’ve always had a rope in my hand. Our toys were a roping dummy and a rope, and for as long as I can remember all we’ve ever done is rope. What’s your favorite part about rodeoing? Rookie Standings for team roping heading. The $6,510 the Oklahoman has earned this season was largely thanks to successful trips to Texas for the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo ($4,200), the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo ($2,000) and the Heart O’ Texas Fair & Rodeo in Waco ($1,091) with his brother Jake as his roping partner. Britt’s oldest brother, Clay, is the reigning two-time world champion team roping header (2018-19) and a five-time qualifier for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (2015-19).

BRITT SMITH

Britt: My favorite is not being in the heat here at the house and riding horses you think might buck you off every day. I like being at home, but I don’t miss riding bucking horses at the house and fixing fence. There’s cooler weather at rodeos. Heck, we’re down in the southeastern corner (of Oklahoma), 20 miles from Texas and 15 miles from Arkansas, and it gets really humid here. If you weren’t a rodeo cowboy, what would you be? Britt: I like doing stuff with cows, and I have a few of my own right now. But I would try to do something with cows. I’d probably ride some young horses and train them for people. I couldn’t see myself getting a job in town. Who do you look up to? Britt: My oldest brother, Clay. What’s the best song to have playing while you’re in the box and about to compete? Britt: I try to cancel everything out and don’t hear anything when I rope. Sometimes they’ll ask what the announcer said, but I won’t hear a word of it. That goes back to our younger days when Jake, Clay and Dad would mess with us to make us nervous and choke, but I cancel all that out and don’t pay attention to anything else. Are you picky about your hat’s shape? Britt: Yeah, I am pretty picky about it. I don’t like wearing a hat that isn’t shaped well, but we get all our hats from Resistol, and they help us out a lot. Sometimes they’ll send them pre-shaped, and if they’re not, I’ll get Jake’s wife, Brandy, to shape them for me. What’s your favorite movie?

Britt: Secretariat or Hidalgo . What’s your favorite food?

Britt: I’m not health conscious at all, I will eat anything. When we’re home, mom cooks for us six nights a week, and it’s good eating. I wish we could take her with us. My favorite meal of hers is deer meat that she fries like a tenderloin. Then she’ll make squash that’s soaked in milk and flour and fried. We like everything fried. What’s your favorite app on your phone? Britt: I have hardly any apps on my phone. Most of the time, I’m on the maps to see how far away something is. If it wasn’t for that, I’d wish I had a flip phone. What’s your favorite book? Britt: “Hatchet,” by Gary Paulsen. Which celebrity do people say you look like? Britt: A lot of people say I look like Clay or Jake, but I say neither, they’re both ugly.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/12/2020

ProRodeo.com

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