The WRANGLER Horse and Rodeo News is an equine and rodeo publication with circulation in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota, Utah and Idaho.
Issue link: http://thewrangler.uberflip.com/i/1522136
Rookies Rookies young guns bryce Derrer anD boDie mattson Discuss their PLans going into the summer run. F or most professional rodeo athletes, the summer run is an extremely stressful (yet profitable) time of the year. It takes many cowboys and cowgirls years to perfect their practice and find efficient ways to tackle such a mass amount of rodeos and so little time. So, how do the young guns do it? Bryce Derrer of Portales, New Mexico and Bodie Mattson of Sturgis, South Dakota are both up-and-comers on the pro-rodeo trail. Bryce is currently sitting number one in the Resistol Rookie of the Year Race in the Calf Roping. As of today (5/28), Bryce is currently sitting 12th in the world standings. Bodie is an all-around cowboy who is not only calf roping, but team roping as well at the pro rodeos, with his partner Trae Smith. Bodie is also sitting top 30 in the calf roping standings and is just outside the top 50 in the team roping. This will be the first time both cowboys really hit the summer run. In terms of entering, both cowboys offer different perspectives. For Bodie his priorities lie in entering up where he can make it work to both team rope and calf rope. "People don't know how hard it is to draw up the same in both of your events," he continued, "I will enter a lot of different places than other people will because it's easier for me to draw up the same. I have to strategize a lot more." As one can imagine, it's not very easy to be a two-event cowboy hitting the road. "It's a lot of work warming up two horses and having your equipment ready for two horses. But, it's something I really enjoy because when you are competitive in two events, you have two chances in one day." Bryce, is strictly focused on the calf roping, which has always been his bread and butter. While he is currently traveling on his own, he is hopping in with fellow calf roper Brushton Minton (an NFR qualifier) to head north after Sisters, Oregon. Brushton has been not only a great friend, but a great mentor for Bryce in terms of learning the ropes as well. "He's doing all the entering. He knows what places to enter, how to enter different places, and it's been nice to kind of sit back and relax when it comes to entering. The onIy thing we've had to kind of schedule around has been some of my circuit rodeos. It's going to be a fun summer," explained Bryce. Both Bodie and Bryce are thankful that pro-rodeo has given them the opportunity to explore new country. "My favorite part so far has been meeting new people," explained Bodie, "It seems the more rodeos you go to, and the bigger the rodeo, the more people you meet whether it's by introducing yourself, to drawing someone's calf, to trading, you get to associate with a lot more people." Bryce was also enthusiastic about the new people he has By Raegen DeLancey on the on the Bodie Mattson Photo Credit: Alaina Stangle Photography Bryce Derrer Photo Credit: Rodeo Bum Photography RoAD RoAD