ProRodeo Sports News | March 4, 2022

instead of months.” Barnes buys and sells horses and he and wife Toni are also plenty busy with grandchildren. “We’ve got another one on the way in July. That will be number seven,” he noted ironically. Barnes has two daughters and three sons who are “scattered all over.” “We’ve got two here in the Phoenix area, Texas, Oregon, Southern California,” he said. Retirement is definitely not in the offing for Barnes. “Clay and I will pick and choose some rodeos to go to, maybe like Oakdale, some of our favorites,” he said. “We like to be able to get out, go rope and come home.” Cooper is living in Gardnerville, Nev., and Barnes spent last summer there to beat the Arizona heat. “We roped every day and Toni, and I went up to Tahoe and hung out,” he said. “It was fun.” The couple plans to make the move more permanent, at least for the summers. Barnes has entered three rodeos in the 2022 season and picked up checks at all of them. Most recently, he won the first round at La Fiesta de los Vaqueros in Tucson, Ariz., roping with Jaylen Eldridge. The team was 5.5 seconds on the long score and won $3,490, adding to Barnes’ career total of more than $2.4 million. “He’s a young guy from Idaho. His dad rodeoed some in the Northwest and I’d seen him around the last couple of years at the ropings around Wittman (Ariz.),” Barnes explained of the temporary partnership. “Clay didn’t want to come down, so Jaylen heeled for me.” Despite the win, Barnes isn’t feeling the itch to try to bring his total NFR qualifications to 28. “When you win, it makes you think you want to go,” he laughed, “but

then you think of all the driving and, not so much. I like to be home.” Barnes’ last Finals qualification came in 2015 but a freak accident in the practice pen just prior to the Finals left him with a traumatic brain injury and broken ankle, preventing him from competing. “That wreck, sometimes things happen that you don’t think will happen to you,” he said. Barnes was back in the saddle within months, roping for a while in a helmet. “I probably started back too soon. It’s just the way I’m built, I don’t know how to stay down.” He added with a laugh, “I don’t like to be a comeback story.” Though they weren’t competing, Barnes and Cooper were in the headlines during the 2021Wrangler NFR. AndrewWard and Buddy Hawkins broke the iconic team’s record for the 10-head average with their time of 54.7 seconds. Barnes and Cooper’s 1994 winning time of 59.1 seconds had held up for 27 years, the longest standing NFR record on the books. “Honestly, I am surprised it took that long to break it,” Barnes admitted, noting that he doesn’t really keep up with what’s happening during the event. “They talk about it every year and I’m glad those guys beat it. “Now, they can answer the questions (about holding the record) every year,” he joked. With wins at every major ProRodeo on the schedule, Barnes laughs when asked his most memorable moment. “It’s not a positive one but probably when I cut my thumb off,” he said, referring to the accident which happened during the 2005 NFR. Despite doctors being unable to reattach the thumb, Barnes went on to qualify five more times to rodeo’s Super Bowl. “Winning the first World title (in 1985) . . . that was pretty special,” he added. At the heart of his accomplishments is a simple passion for the sport. “I love roping,” he said. “I still rope every day, whether I am competing or practicing. I would enjoy it even if it was just a hobby.”

PRCA ProRodeo file photo Team roping icons Jake Barnes and Clay O’Brien Cooper competing together at the 2002 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Barnes qualified for the Finals 27 times in his storied career.

ProRodeo Sports News 3/4/2022

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