ProRodeo Sports News - October 19, 2018

IN HIS OWNWORDS: CHRIS GLOVER STEER ROPER SHOOTING FOR FIRST NFSRTITLE

I ’m going into the NFSR not looking at anybody or what anybody else does. I know if I can go in there and rope good and do my job then I have a chance to win it. It doesn’t matter what anybody else does, especially in the steer roping. You can’t make it happen, it’s got to come to you and you have to wait for it to happen. Tuf (Cooper) is amazing. That kid’s a beast. He’s phenomenal. There’s no time off the clock from horse to steer. I feel honored to be in the same class as Tuf and Trevor (Brazile) and Rocky (Patterson) and Scott (Snedecor). Those guys are as good as it gets. It was frustrating not to make the NFSR last year, but at that point in time he (his horse Cooper) was the only horse I had. I needed to turn him out. He was starting to fight it and I was fighting it with him. I didn’t have the right kind of horse to go rope with the best in the world at that time. And I knew that. That horse was green last year. The first year I hauled him, I almost made the Finals on him. It was a good testament. He’s a pretty good horse, and he made it this year. Chris Glover is headed to his second Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping. A year ago, he missed out by one spot. His first trip – in 2016 – saw Glover finish 13th in the world standings. This season, the 58-year-old from Keenesburg, Colo., heads into the NFSR in third place in the PRCA | RAM World Standings after netting $62,295 during the 2018 season while astride his PRCA | AQHA Steer Roping Horse of the Year, Cooper. Cooper is Glover’s second horse to win the honor. Champ was a co-winner in 2016.

When he was young, I roped calves on him, headed on him and heeled on him. He had the mind of an older horse, and that’s a rare case. This year he’s 10. A lot of times you don’t start roping on steer horses until they’re 10, 11 or 12 because they have to get that right mind-set to be able to be trusted. I felt good about him when he was 4 or 5. (Glover purchased Cooper at age 4 in Pendleton, Ore.) I hauled him with me and team roped on him on the grass at Pendleton at 4. He’s a hard- headed winner. The good ones all have a quirk about them that you’ve got to deal with. Having a Horse of the Year is probably a bigger deal than even going to the Finals, because you know you’ve taken something and trained one and made him good. Nobody’s ever made a great one, the great ones make themselves. Champ retired after the 2016 NFSR. He’s now got the most important job he ever had, taking care of my granddaughter (Riley, 9). That horse is not a kid’s horse. But when she gets on him he’s totally different. She loves to ride him, and they’re a pretty good team. Last year I won the National Circuit Finals Steer Roping. Winning that Polaris RANGER at the NCFSR was really cool. At 58, it’s quite an accomplishment for me to compete against younger guys. I’m fortunate that my body is good. Those young guys have an energy drink and I have Advil. One of those guys I have to contend with is my son, Cole, who’s 28 and team ropes and steer ropes. Six years ago, he and I went rodeoing together. That was the most fun time in my life on the rodeo trail.

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Photo by karenkellyphotography.com

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ProRodeo Sports News 10/19/2018

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