ProRodeo Sports News - June 21, 2024

was supposed to be a weekend. The three days turned into a month, and the duo developed a fast friendship. “I’m just helping him out,” Pollo said of his role on the road. “I mean, he’s one of my really good friends. So, whatever he needs, I’m here for him.” Yeahquo and Pollo trade off driving on long trips, allowing Yeahquo to rest and watch Westerns in the passenger’s seat. After Saturday’s run in Grover, Colo., the duo jetted ahead in their rig to make a pit stop in Hersey, Neb., before the Buffalo Bill Rodeo. One of Yeahquo’s horses pulled a shoe earlier in the week during a jackpot, and he couldn’t find a farrier. But another friendship from a few years prior opened a small window to fix the issue before his final performance of the trip. “I talked to a friend that lived over here, and he had one for me,” Yeahquo said. “It was pretty cool because about 10 years ago, my brother came up here and worked on a big ranch for the Olsens in Hershey, Neb., and that’s where that guy was. I got to go see where my brother got to hang out 10 years ago.” YA WIN SOME, YA MISS SOME Since Yeahquo and Hawkins won the American Royal Rodeo (Kansas City, Mo.) and RodeoHouston, they’ve stood firm at or near the top of the header and heeler standings. During their June trip, the duo won some money and had a couple of misses. But that’s normal when you compete in 80 official PRCA rodeos, and neither left with any concern as the summer run rapidly approaches. “Probably the thing that most people misunderstand about rodeo is when they look at the top of the standings, they think the guy at the top missed zero this year, and the next guy missed one, the next guy missed two,” Hawkins said in Evergreen. “But in the last 10 rodeos, I think we’ve made three clean runs, and we’ve missed seven of them. That’s just a big part of rodeo. There are so many variables within team roping.” They finished with no times at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo and the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, but regrouped to finish second with a 6.4-second run and $1,537 each at the Evergreen Rodeo, and won the Earl Anderson Memorial Rodeo with a 5.6-second run to earn $1,738 apeice. A team roper’s success isn’t solely determined by his ability to hurl a lasso. Two horses, two ropers and a steer all need to work in concert to complete a solid run. Plus, there are a slew of talented cowboys competing at each event. After Yeahquo missed the head in Vernal, he sat atop his horse and

watched the rest of the round. But he wasn’t dwelling on the negative, he just wanted to take in the rodeo. “You have to have a short memory,” Yeahquo said in Evergreen. “Because if not, I could’ve sat there and thought about it all last night and all day today. On the drive to come here, I could’ve kept thinking about not doing wrong. “Most of the time, whenever you think about not doing wrong, you end up doing wrong. If you can just forget about it and go back to what you practice all the time, I think it’s a lot better.” There’s a lot of season and money left on the table, especially during upcoming Cowboy Christmas. After the Vernal run, Hawkins and Yeahquo discussed the key to staying put in the standings and improving down the stretch: falling forward. “About half of the steers that you catch are worth quite a bit of money,” Hawkins said in North Platte. “The other half may be worth pennies or nothing, but you want to make sure that you’re losing right and falling forward. I feel like things are good…We’ve just got to get back to catching more.” PRCA ProRodeo photo Fans sold out the final performance of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte, Neb. on June 15.

PRCA ProRodeo photo

J.C. Yeahquo’s rig navigates a dirt road in Western Colorado on the way back from Vernal, Utah.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/21/2024

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