A new horse can require a bit of an adjustment period before a cowboy really starts clicking with him. But then sometimes, that cowboy is Shad Mayfield and big wins happen right out of the starting gates.
That’s what happened when the 2020 PRCA World Champion Tie-Down Roper purchased Harry, a horse he’d had his eye on for some time. With only a few runs together, the pair stormed the Walla Walla (Wash.) Frontier Days for a big win after roping two calves in 16.1 seconds.
“I bought him out here on the road, just got him a couple of days ago,” Mayfield, 22, said. “I’ve been seeing him since he was young and never could get my hands on him.
“He was awesome. This was the perfect setup for the type of horse he is, and it was great to get our first win together.”
Mayfield roped both his calves in the Tuesday morning slack back on Aug. 29.
“I had to wait all week to see the outcome,” Mayfield chuckled, noting that rodeo weeks just seem a bit longer than normal weeks. In the interim, Mayfield roped at other Playoff Series rodeos in Ellensburg (Wash.) and Filer (Idaho). He got news of his Walla Walla win while in Lakeview, Ore., where he was also sitting first with just a Labor Day performance still to go.
“I rode my other horse here,” Mayfield said, agreeing that a ProRodeo cowboy can never have too many in his arsenal. “I rotate them, choose whichever one fits the setup and the calves best.”
In Walla Walla, Mayfield and his new stick, Harry, laid down the gauntlet early, winning the first round with a run of 7.8 seconds.
“We won the first round, so I knew on the second we just needed a smooth run to be good in the average,” Mayfield explained. He did just that, tying one up in 8.3 in the second round for another go-round check and dominant average win.
“It all worked out.
“This win definitely helped our confidence in each other,” he said of Harry, confidence that will be important as ProRodeo hits the final stretch of the 2023 regular season.
“These next couple of weeks are big and having another horse like this boost your confidence,” he said. He’ll next compete in Lewiston, Idaho, before heading to the Playoffs in Puyallup at the Washington State Fair.
Mayfield is currently fourth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings, comfortably into his fifth straight Wrangler National Finals Rodeo after a long hard-fought season.
“It’s been the longest summer,” he said. “But I love to rodeo, I love to travel so as long as there are rodeos to go to, I’ll be out here.”
“I’m ready to be home but it’s still too hot in Texas to go home,” he added with a laugh. “I’ve been wearing my sweatshirt all day here.”
Other winners at the PRCA Playoff Series rodeo were bareback riders Dean Thompson (85.5 points on Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Warrior Wagon) and Cole Franks (85.5 points on Big Stone Rodeo Inc’s Fired Up); steer wrestlers Tyler Waguespack and Jace Melvin (8.4 seconds on two head); team ropers Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin (9.4 seconds on two head); saddle bronc riders Kade Bruno (87 points on Brookman Rodeo’s Flirtacious) and Wyatt Casper (87 points on Big Stone Rodeo Inc’s Wine + Dine); breakaway roper Kelsie Domer (2.3 seconds); barrel racer Megan McLeod-Sprague (17.08 seconds); steer roper J. Tom Fisher (37.3 seconds on three head); and bull rider Josh Frost (88.5 points on Brookman Rodeo’s Mojo Risin).
Courtesy of PRCA