Over the Fourth of July, Joel and I won Livingston with a 4.0 and we earned $13,000 total to move to 17th in the world. Now we’re only about $5,000 out of 10th, so if we keep roping good we should be able to make the Finals.
I want this to encourage you, because two years ago I had real doubts about my ability to rope again at this level. Last fall I had shoulder surgery on an unattached biceps tendon and three other tears. I didn’t have much strength last winter and was doing some serious soul-searching. Even my own family was like, “Dad tries so hard and nothing’s happening.”
Then in April I roped as good as anybody at the Hork Dog and won $9,000. Finally – a breakthrough. But then I went to four more jackpots on fresher cattle and got my butt kicked. I could have made excuses about handles or drawing bad, but it was like, “here’s how much more work you need to do.”
So I went home and got fresh steers. I started attaching rubber straps from my belt to my D-ring to help my hips stay down in the saddle so I can ride like Jade or Patrick. And I bought a flatbed truck from Charly Crawford so I can haul my four-wheeler. I can have Smarty unloaded and practice and be loaded back up in an hour.
People see the straps and think I’m losing my balance, or they say, “Hey Al, what’s the seat belt for?” But you know what? Who cares? Soon I’ll be able to take those straps off, and I’ve gone to another level in my roping.
I run into people all the time who have self-doubt. But as long as there’s one person left who keeps believing – and it’s you – you can rope as good as you once did or better. You just have to be doing something about it.
It feeds my confidence to know I’m not leaving anything on the table. If I know I’m not being lazy, then I know I deserve some success. Competitiveness helps, too. We’ve been buddying with Jake [Barnes] and Junior [Nogueira]. It’s been fun to watch Junior and ask myself, “Am I capable of roping sharper than him?”
At Window Rock, Kaleb [Driggers] and Patrick [Smith] had just been 5.0, and Junior comes around there in 4.8 and lays back and throws his fist and everyone’s just going wild. Joel and I follow them and I’m thinking, “I’ve got to beat him!” Joel got a neck and we went 4.7 and they went crazy.
You know what? It’s a lot better than thinking you need to beat somebody and not being able to do anything about it. And I hope it’s inspiring. Out here, it’s everyone for himself – but I feel like the younger guys are silently cheering when I make a good shot. I think they respect a guy my age who’s doing something they thought he could never do again.
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