July 2009

July 21, 2009

Wow! Where did the month go? For me I spent it going down the road and doing a little steer wrestling as this is our busiest time of the year.

I didn’t have the Fourth of July I was hoping for only winning about $4,000. It seemed like I couldn’t catch a break. I either broke a barrier or had trouble getting a time that would place in the money. Oh well, that is rodeo for you. Right after the Fourth we headed up to Calgary and had a good time up there. I ended up winning about $16,000 and advanced to the final 10-man field. However, it wasn’t meant to be and I finished out of the top 4 to run for $100,000. It was still a good week as it is always nice to run for that much money and not have to spend a lot to do it. It is definitely a win-win. It was cold and rainy the first couple of days we were up there but then it warmed up and was nice.

I got back from Calgary in time to compete at the Snake River Stampede in Nampa, Idaho. I didn’t do any good there but then headed back to my homestate for the California Rodeo Salinas. This has always been one of those rodeos on my list of ones I wanted to win but had yet to finish atop the leaderboard until this year. I didn’t start out well in the first round but got things turned around in the next two rounds aboard Billy Bugenig’s horse Smarty. I finished with a total time of 21.5 seconds on three head, just one-tenth of a second faster than Brad McGilchrist with a 21.6.

It was great to finally add that title to my resume and it was a huge win for me in so many ways. Not only did the money count toward the world standings but it also counted toward the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour standings as well as my circuit. My family was able to come to Salinas so it was nice to have them there to celebrate. Hopefully this will be the beginning of many more Salinas titles.

We are now headed to Cheyenne for our two there. We will run our first one on the 22nd and return on the 23rd for our second. Hopefully all will go well and we will be back on Sunday the 26th for the Finals. I will try to keep my schedule page updated with my results so you can see how things are going.

I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer but as always it goes by way to fast. Before long we will be in Las Vegas.

That is about all the news for now, so until next time,

Luke

Two-time and reigning PRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler