July 2007

July 31, 2007

Well after returning to the United States after the Calgary Stampede we hit the rodeos in Nampa, Idaho, Salinas, Calif., and Cheyenne, Wyo. I picked up some money in two of the three and continued to inch closer to that world title. I am second right now in the PRCA World Standings with $73,915, while Jule Hazen leads the way with $79,387.

Both Nampa and Salinas were stops on the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and those were the two I picked up some money to hold the top spot in the Tour standings. In Nampa, I finished eighth in the first round with a 4.9-second run and picked up $301 for my efforts in that round. In the second round, I stopped the clock in 4.8 seconds which put me out of the money in the round but gave me a two head time of 9.7 seconds which was good heading into the Wrangler Tour Round. The Tour round was a quick one with Casey McMillen winning the round with a 3.8-second run. I finished with a 4.6, which brought my total time to 14.3 seconds. I ended up third in the average and added another $3,840 to my bottom line.

In between my runs in Nampa, I hit the rodeo in Salinas. For those that haven’t been there or are not familiar with the event in Salinas, they pronounce their event as ro-day-o not ro-de-o like most people are accustomed to saying. I won the first round with a time of 5.4 seconds and collected a check worth $2,710. My second round run was just a little too long and I missed qualifying back by one spot. My traveling partner Billy Bugenig had a good showing there finishing second in the Tour round with a time of 7.2 and was fourth in the average with a 25.4 on three head.

We ran our first steer during slack in Cheyenne on Tuesday the 24th. I didn’t have any luck finishing with a no time. My traveling partners found better success with Brad (McGilchrist) tying for second in the round with a time of 6.3 and Billy tied for sixth with a 7-flat. Nick was long with a 14.4. I got my second during the performance on Thursday and didn’t have much better luck. I have never had much success in Cheyenne and that stayed true this year as well. Nick found success on his second one stopping the clock in 9.1 seconds, while Billy was 11-flat and Brad was 13.2. Billy qualified back for the finals on Sunday with an average time of 18.0 on two head but ended with a no time in the finals. Brad tallied a 19.5 on two and was just one-tenth of a second out of qualifying back. Jason Miller, who enters with us, finished in a tie for the average win with a total time of 28.1 on three head. Jason rode the horse Skids to the winners circle. Skids has been the horse I have been riding all year.

I knew I was going home for a few days after Cheyenne, so I decided to leave Skids with Jason in Cheyenne and then he and Billy were going to go to Dodge City (Kan.) and Phillipsburg (Kan.). Jason really gets along well with him so I figured he could use him and then he will take him up to Great Falls (Mont.) and Idaho Falls (Idaho). I will fly back out and meet them in Loveland (Colo.) on Aug. 6.

I am now back in California for a few days and it is nice to be home. I plan to go to the rodeo in Santa Barbara and will use either one of my horses, maybe the Roan that I rode at the Finals or Trav Cadwell has a horse named Count that I rode last year, so we will just see what I get on. After Santa Barbara, I will head back out for the rodeos in Loveland, Lovington, N.M., Omak, Wash., and Hermiston, Ore. Before you know it, we will be at the first Ariat Playoff of the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour in Caldwell, Idaho, Aug. 14-18.

I am currently first in the Tour standings so that is a good feeling. Billy and Nick are in the top 35 and will be in Caldwell as well. It is nice to be first going into Caldwell but more importantly I think I figured that I should have enough money won already to make Dallas as well, which is the bigger deal. It is nice to not have that pressure, so I can just go in there and take care of business and hopefully add to that total. In past years when Caldwell and Puyallup were on the regular Tour, I had success at them so I hope the same will hold true this year. My plan right now is to ride Skids all the way through. I might call Jesse Peterson and see if he might bring his horse Gunner, the horse I have used at the finals, to Omaha. I figured I have ridden Gunner at seven rodeos and won close to $200,000 on him, so he is a good one to have under you. However, I have had good success on Skids and we have run him in different situations and he has proven he can handle the short scores and long scores. So we will just see what happens.

This year the rodeo season ends Sept. 30, so we are nearing that date. As the rodeo season winds down, I am looking forward to doing some hunting. I went bow hunting over the weekend (July 28-29). The bow hunting season around here ended on Sunday, so I was able to squeeze a day in. I didn’t have any luck but I always enjoy going. Nick has a good place lined up for us to go hunting this fall and then my dad got a hunting tag for up in Montana so maybe he will get an elk.

I guess that is about all from here. I will update you after Caldwell if not before. I hope everyone has been having a good summer and thanks for visiting my site.

Luke

July 17, 2007

I just returned from the Calgary Stampede and wanted to catch you up on everything that happened there. The Calgary Stampede was as exciting as ever. The way the committee puts on the rodeo is so unbelievable if you have not been you should make an effort to do it, it is one of the best events in the world.

I had a little tough luck in the first round of competition. I threw my steer out of my arms and didn’t have a hand on him, and that resulted in a no time. I fought back the second day with a 3.7 for a go round win and $4,500 check. The format in Calgary is so awesome just because of a no time that doesn’t mean that you are out of the competition. We ran four head back to back and they were all one headers, so a no time, doesn’t hurt you as long as you perform well on the next few. Advancement to the semifinals is based on total money won. From there the top four advance to the $100,000 round on the final Sunday, which is what everyone strives for.

With one win under my belt, I entered the third day hoping to repeat that feat. However, it wasn’t meant to be as Lee Graves whipped it on us with a 3.6 for first. Tanner Milan has been sticking it on us as well, having placed good in all three rounds so far. I split fifth for a little money but I need to do well on my fourth one to advance to Sunday, if not it will be the wild card round on Saturday.

I know that I sound like a broken record but the Calgary Stampede is the best rodeo for many reasons but one of the biggest is the people of Calgary that support the rodeo, it is nice to be thought of as a professional athlete and that is how it is in Calgary. We went to a sponsor party to meet some of the people that make it possible for the cowboys to win the kind of money offered at the Stampede and they were so awesome just to talk to and share stories with.

Day 4 went well for me. I won second and that is what I had to do to make it to Sunday. Stockton Graves did what he had to do as well, winning the round with a 3.5, I was 3.6, and Lee Graves was 3.7. It was an exciting round. As a result of my finish on day 4, I got the day off on Saturday but I was still at the arena helping some friends, Gabe Ledoux and Mickey Gee, that were competing in the Wild Card round.

The wild card round was very exciting. Mickey Gee won the steer wrestling with a 3.6 then Wade Sumpter was second with a 3.8. That was really good for Mickey since he had had a little tough luck in the first four rounds. It was good for us as well since he bought us a steak at the Keg Steakhouse which was so good. A special thanks to Jeff, the manager, for making it very enjoyable for us.

So that brings us to Showdown Sunday and the pressure was on. We first had to compete in a semifinal round and the top four times moved on to the $100,000 round. I had a good one in the semifinal round and stopped the clock in 3.7 seconds to win that round. The other guys that moved on were Mickey Gee, with a 3.9, Ronnie Fields with a 4.2, and Shawn Greenfield with a 4.3.

The $100,000 round was a quick one. Shawn ended up winning it with a 3.6, Ronnie had a 4.2, Mickey had a 4.5 but I ended up with a no-time. I had hoped to win the big money but it just wasn’t meant to be this year. I still left with a pocket full of money.

I want to thank the Calgary Stampede for hosting such a great event for all the cowboys and for making the cowboys feel like we are at home in Calgary. I enjoyed visiting with the sponsors who helped make it possible. To me that’s one of the most important things that we can do to help the sport grow. I look forward to being back in Calgary next year.

Now it is back to the PRCA rodeos and we will be on the road a lot in the coming weeks trying to hit all the big ones. Check out my complete schedule in the schedule section. I hope you have enjoyed the inside look to the Calgary Stampede.

Thanks for reading,

Luke

July 5, 2007

Well we survived “Cowboy Christmas” and it was a mixed bag of success for our traveling group. Nick (Stubblefield) and I found success but Billy (Bugenig) and Brad (McGilchrist) had some tough luck. We were extremely fortunate to have Billy’s uncle, Jim Chamberlain, and his pilot, David, get us to all the rodeos. It really helped us to be able to hit that many rodeos and it was nice of them to help us out.

Today we are all catching our breath and regrouping if you will. Tomorrow (July 6), I head to Havre, Mont., to put on a steer wrestling school on the 6th and 7th and then my traveling partners will be up in Casper (Wyo.), so I will head down there and haze for them. I will then catch a flight to Calgary for the Calgary Stampede.

To recap my Fourth of July, it was probably my second best year but I had a chance to win probably another 8 or 9,000 had things went differently. We started in Greeley (Colo.) and I posted a 5.6 in the first round, which was a solid run. Then we headed to Ponoka (Alberta), where I was 4.1 in the first round and placed second but got a no time in the second round. I didn’t have any luck in Williams Lake (British Columbia) and then was back in Greeley for my second one.

I was 4.1 on my second one in Greeley finishing third in the round and making it back to the final round in good shape. We were in Cody on July 1 for our first one. I was 4.2 on that one and finished second in the round. We then hit St. Paul (Ore.) that night and I should have won that rodeo but things didn’t work out as I had hoped. It was back to Red Lodge (Mont.), where again I had some bad luck, and then my second in Cody where I had a 5.7. That didn’t place in the round but gave me a two head time of 9.9 seconds, good for second in the average. Nick won the second round with a 4.7. We then hit Livingston (Mont.) before heading back to Greeley. I didn’t have any luck there but Nick split second and third.

I was in Greeley on the Fourth for the final round. In the short round I was 4.3 seconds, which was good for third in the round but more importantly put me atop the leaderboard in the average with a total time of 14.0 seconds. Winning this great rodeo in back-to-back years is a pretty good feat.

In the end I won just over $19,000, marking my second best Fourth of July run. Last year, I won about $20,700. I drew better this year than last and should have won closer to $30,000 but it didn’t work out that way. It was still a good run.

So now it is off to Calgary and looking for another big payday up there before hitting more PRCA rodeos the rest of the month. Stay tuned to see how it all turns out.

Until next time,

Luke