ProRodeo Sports News - June 15, 2018

IN HIS OWNWORDS: CHANT D E FOREST FAST START HAS TEAM ROPER LOOKING FOR MORE

Team roping header Chant DeForest is having one of his best seasons. As of June 12, the 26-year-old fromWheatland, Calif., was ranked 12th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings in the all-around, 28th in the team roping heading standings and 58th in tie-down roping. DeForest and his team roping heeling partner, Bronc Boehnlein, swept the Santa Maria (Calif.) Elks Rodeo.

committee does quite a bit for the contestants. At Santa Maria, we won both rounds and the average. That shows how we go about it. We’re going to try to win first. The second one we just had to catch him, and they couldn’t beat us in the average. We were five-seconds flat in the second round. I had three or four people say they were surprised we didn’t just go catch him. Bronc and I looked at each other and said, we usually don’t win if we just go catch him. I used to say tie-down roping was my best event, but it’s been team roping lately. Part of that has to do with my head horse. I’ve been pretty lucky, my mare, Blackie, 14, she’s one of the best going. My family raised her. We’ve also got some younger ones coming up who are going to be really good. My good tie-down roping horse is Foster. He’s 16. We got him when he was about 7 or 8. We made him into a tie-down roping horse. The last couple years, I was a rodeo coach at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. The two years before that I was an assistant coach and then the head coach for a semester at Western Oklahoma State College in Altus, Okla. I really enjoy coaching and really enjoy helping high school kids and college kids. I wouldn’t mind getting back into coaching eventually. The job I have now is a good opportunity for me. I grew up on a ranch. My parents ran cows, and I always worked for them. It plays into what I do. I hope to have cows and go in that direction. For the most part, I’m a circuit cowboy. I don’t go much out of the circuit. I’m happy with where I am in the standings, it’s a neat accomplishment because I haven’t gone hard. I’ve hardly left the state. I’ve been to about 20 rodeos. For what I have won, I’ve been lucky. I had a really good spring, and a really good fall. I’m pretty happy and proud.

M y brother, C.J., and I used to rope together a lot, but then he got married and moved. Through him and his wife, I met Bronc. C.J. had shoulder surgery, so Bronc and I started roping together. C.J. and I planned to rope again together after he got healthy, but Bronc and I got to winning. Then C.J. started winning with Blake Teixeira. It all worked out pretty good for both of us. Bronc and I head to the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo on Sunday, where we’ll team rope and I’ll also tie-down rope. I’m excited because I feel the momentum is in our favor right now. It makes you want to go when you feel like every time you nod your head you’re going to win something. Hopefully we can win good there. Then we’ll have to go a little bit more. I just started a new job at a ranch taking care of cows, so I’m working more. I can’t go rodeo a ton more. We’re in the Top 30 right now. If we can go win good there (at Reno), we’re going to be close to the Top 15. So, we’ll have to try and sneak away a little bit more. I’ve talked about it a little with my boss. He understands. I’m going to try to get away enough where I don’t just give a chance away. Winning Santa Maria was cool. I’ve won the tie-down roping there twice and won the team roping there twice now. It’s been a good rodeo to me. The

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ProRodeo Sports News 6/15/2018

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