ProRodeo Sports News - March 23, 2018

IN HIS OWNWORDS: CURTIS CASSIDY

AT 39, CASSIDY FINALLY HEADINGTO FIRST RNCFR Steer wrestler Curtis Cassidy is off to a quick start in the 2018 season. As of March 19, Cassidy was in fifth place in the PRCA World Standings with $28,697. The 39-year-old Canadian is searching for his fifth trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. But first, he’ll be making his debut at the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla., April 5-8. I’ll fly to Arizona for a week to relax, then fly back to Texas and leave fromNewWaverly. It’s about 1,000 miles to Kissimmee, Fla., which is about 16 hours or so on the road. Last fall, I won all that money inWaco at the All American

ProRodeo Finals ($10,179) and the RAMWilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo ($5,834), so I got off to a great start. But a great start doesn’t guarantee a spot in theWNFR in Las Vegas, either. You’ve still got to go rodeo through the rest of the year tomake it. I won a pretty good check at San Antonio ($9,615), too. You’ve got to keep picking away all year. I’mby nomeans counting my chickens before they hatch. It’s always my goal to make the NFR as fast as I can. But sometimes you make it at the start, or the middle or the end. You never know when you’re going to win your money, so you have to plan on going to all the good ones and have your ducks in a row, so you have as good an opportunity as possible to win when you do get there. Make sure you’re mounted good and giving yourself a good opportunity every time. In October, I’ll turn 40. So, I get a hard time from the younger guys about my age. It was funny, most of the guys I’ve rodeoed with have been older than me. I was always the young guy everywhere I went. All of a sudden, one year, I was the oldest guy at the Canadian Finals Rodeo. It seemed to happen pretty fast. The younger cowboys like to get in their smart-aleck comments. Then I remind them if they would quit letting me win so much I would have a good reason to quit. But those young, dumb guys keep letting me win, so I’ve got to keep going. PSN- Pro Rodeo Sports N April 2018

I ’m heading to my first RAMNational Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, Fla., in April because there’s so much money to be won down there. I’ll mostly be focused on rodeo, but my mom and dad are flying down. I don’t know if we’ll get too crazy as far as doing any tourist stuff, but I’ll get to hang out with my parents for the weekend. I’m hoping my fiancée, Shannon Leguerrier, will join us, though she might have to tend to our horses in Arizona. I might ride Tom Lewis’ horse, Maverick, at the RNCFR. I rode him last fall and won most of my money on him. I’m not sure if that will happen yet. If not, I’ll ride my horse, Tyson, who I’ve had about four years. I bought him from a barrel racer and turned him into a steer wrestling horse. With some of them, it’s difficult to teach them. But this horse, for whatever reason, took to it like nothing. He never had any bad habits or did anything wrong. I never roped on him. I just backed him in there to run steers on him and he took to it like nothing. Luckily, I don’t have to haul my horse fromDonalda, Alberta, Canada. FromArizona, where I stay in the winters, I believe it’s about a 32- to 34-hour drive. But I’ve got my rig and horses in Texas because of the rodeos there. So,

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ProRodeo Sports News 3/23/18

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