Hay Makes Hay in Lovington

By: Ted Harbin

LOVINGTON, N.M. – A year ago, Logan Hay was setting the rodeo world on fire.

He’d set a new world record with a 95.5-point saddle bronc ride in his native Alberta, then qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the first time. He continued his hot streak, earning $200,000 in 10 days and finishing the campaign third in the world standings. $340,000.

Fast forward to August 2023: Hay is in chase mode with hopes of returning to ProRodeo’s grand finale again in December. He’s 31st in the world standings, and only the top 15 at the conclusion of the regular season on Sept. 30 will make Las Vegas.

“I had to take two months off,” said Hay, who suffered a broken bone in his arm during a strange horse-riding wreck in May. “I’m going to be rodeoing as hard as I can the next couple months, so a check out of here will get me rolling again.”

He gave himself a great chance with an 88.5-point ride on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Little Bit to take the bronc riding lead at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo.

“When I was on the couch, I watched a lot of The Cowboy Channel, and I saw Chase Brooks get on him in Oakley (Utah),” said Hay, the oldest of three boys sired by Rod Hay, a 20-time NFR qualifier in bronc riding. “I said right there (that) I really wanted to get on him. He’s a little horse and really electric; those kind really suit me. I’m a short guy myself, so I get along with some of them smaller, electric horses.

“I had to come a long ways to come here, but I knew when I had that one I was coming.”

The horse is an important piece of the equation. Based on a 100-point scale, judges score up to 50 points for how well the animal bucks and 50 points for how well the cowboy spurs in rhythm with the horse’s bucking motion.

For a man coming off injured reserve, every ride matters.

“In rodeo, it’s not if you get hurt, it’s when,” said Hay, 26, of Wildwood, Alberta. “You just have to take it. It’s really frustrating when it happens, especially in a deal like that where it was a freak accident. I’m just happy that it wasn’t worse than it was and that I’m back doing what I love again.”

Following in the footsteps of a legend may not have been a choice, but he’s happy to be doing it. His dad won eight Canadian titles and was crowned the champion of the famed Calgary Stampede four times. Logan joined him as a Calgary titleist last year, and middle brother Dawson won it in July.

“Ever since I was little, I wanted to do it,” Logan Hay said. “We tried some other events, rode some steers and roped in the pasture, but it’s always been bronc riding. Since Day 1, it’s what I wanted. When you make a good ride, you don’t feel sore at all. There’s no better feeling than riding a real bucking horse like that.

“I had to bear down today. That horse doesn’t look like it, but that little guy was all there. Today I was dang sure hustling. If you set your rein down or think about hesitating, that one will buck you off and make you feel silly.”

There’s nothing silly about Hay; he’s the top dog in Lovington.

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Lea County Fair and Rodeo
Lovington, N.M.
Aug. 9-12

Bareback riding leaders: 1. Richmond Champion, 88.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Uncapped; 2. Tim O’Connell, 85.5; 3. (tie) Sam Petersen and Jacob Lees, 84; 5. Chad Rutherford, 83.5; 6. Jayco Roper, 83; 7. Kade Sonnier, 82.5; 8. Dean Thompson, 81.5.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Riley Westhaver, 3.7 seconds; 2. Heath Thomas, 5.4; 3. Billy Boldon, 5.9; 4. Tucker Allen, 6.5; 5. Bridger Anderson, 7.0; no other qualified times. Second round leaders: 1. Heath Thomas, 3.7 seconds; 2. Cody Devers, 4.0; 3. Don Payne, 4.2; 4. Tristan Martin, 4.5; 5. (tie) McLane Arballo and Bridger Anderson, 4.6; 7. (tie) Justin Simon and Jay Williamson, 4.7. Average leaders: 1. Heath Thomas, 9.1 seconds on two runs; 2. Bridger Anderson, 11.6; 3. Tucker Allen, 11.8; 4. Billy Boldon, 21.2; 5. Riley Westhaver, 3.7 seconds on one run; 6. Cody Devers, 4.0; 7. Don Payne, 4.2; 8. Tristan Martin, 4.5.

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Trevor Hale, 8.7 seconds; 2. Jake Pratt, 8.8; 3. Shane Hanchey, 9.5; 4. Garrett Jacobs, 9.6; 5. Dylan Hancock, 10.2; 6. (tie) David Trahan and Kincade Henry, 10.5; 8. Hunter Herrin, 11.0; Second round leaders: 1. Riley Webb, 7.2 seconds; 2. (tie) Tuf Cooper and Quade Hiatt, 8.0; 4. Dylan Hancock, 8.1; 5. Tom Crouse, 8.2; 6. Ty Harris, 8.5; 7. Walker Akins, 8.8; 8. Trevor Hale, 9.5. Average leaders: 1. Trevor Hale, 18.2 seconds on two runs; 2. Dylan Hancock, 18.3; 3. Riley Webb, 20.4; 4. (tie) Quade Hiatt and Chad Weitz, 21.0;7. Hunter Herrin, 22.8; 8. Walker Akins, 23.4.

Breakaway roping: 1. Rylee George, 2.0 seconds; 2. Brighton Bauman, 2.1; 3. Maddy Deerman, 2.2; 4. Kassidy Dennison, 2.4; 5. Taylor Munsell, 2.5; 6. Josie Conner, 2.6; 7. (tie) Macy Davenport and Madison Outhier, 3.3; 8. Alex Loiselle, 3.4; 9. Taylor Hanchey, 3.5; 10. MaryBeth Beam, 3.7.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Logan Hay, 88.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Little Bit; 2. (tie) Tanner Butner and Lefty Holman, 87; 2. Sage Newman, 85; 3. (tie) Ryder Wright and Stu Wright, 84; 5. Stetson Wright, 83.5; 6. Kolby Wanchuk, 83; 7 Clint Franks, 81.5; 8. Dean Wadsworth, 79.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 4.5 seconds; 2. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin, 4.6; 3. Kreece Thompson/Landen Glenn, 4.9; 4. Nelson Wyatt/Chase Tryan, 5.0; 5. Tanner Baldwin/Tanner Luttrell, 5.2; 6. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 5.5; 7. Clint Summers/Jake Long, 5.6; 8. (tie) Rawley Ben Jr./Hiyo Yazzi and Wyatt Imus/Caleb Anderson, 5.9; 6. (tie) Wyatt Bray/Josh Patton and James Arviso/Caston Weidenbener, 6.2; 8. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 9.6. Second round leaders: 1. (tie) Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira and Tyler Wade/Wesley Thorp, 4.0 seconds; 3. Erich Rogers/Paul Eaves, 4.1; 4, Chad Weitz/Cutter Thomison, 4.2; 5. (tie) Peyton Holliday/Kolton Good and Clint Summers/Jake Long, 4.4; 7. Justin Mascarenas/Pace Blanchard, 4.6; 8. Brenten Hall/Payden Bray, 4.8; 5. Tanner Baldwin/Tanner Luttrell, 5.8; 6. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 6.1; 7. Cody Snow/Jade Corkill, 9.4; 8. (tie) Kreece Thompson/Landen Glenn and Tanner Tomlinson/Patrick Smith, 9.5. Average leaders: 1. Clint Summers/Jake Long, 10.0 seconds on two runs; 2. Tanner Baldwin/Tanner Luttrell, 10.9; 3. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 11.6; 4. Chad Weitz/Cutter Thomison, 11.9; 5. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 13.6; 6. Kreece Thompson/Landen Glenn, 14.4; 7. James Arviso/Caston Weidenbener, 16.2; 8. Wyatt Bray/Josh Patton, 21.7.

Steer roping: First round leaders: 1. Tanner Stec, 11.7 seconds; 2. (tie) Cole Patterson and Rocky Patterson, 12.6; 4. Billy Good, 14.0; 5. Mark Milner, 14.2; 6. Coleman Proctor, 15.2; 7. Wade Shoemaker, 16.5; 8. Kenyon Burnes, 17.0. Second round leaders: 1. J. Tom Fisher, 11.5 seconds; 2. Martin Poindexter, 12.; 3. Tanner Stec, 14.4; 4. Billy Good, 15.5; 5. Red Lohse, 15.6; 6. Wade Shoemaker, 15.8; 7. Jason Burson, 16.2; 8. Erich Rogers, 16.3. Third round leaders: 1. Jess Tierney, 11.6 seconds; 2. Cooper Mills, 12.3; 3. Martin Poindexter, 12.4; 4. Roger Branch, 13.3; 5. Tanner Stec, 13.8; 6. J. Tom Fisher, 13.9; 7. Coleman Proctor, 14.2; 8. Jarrett Holliday, 15.1; 5. Don Ed Eddleman, 15.6; 6. Rocky Patterson, 15.8; 7. Mark Milner, 16.2; 8. Cole Patterson, 16.3. Average leaders: 1. Tanner Stec, 39.9 seconds on two runs; 2. Billy Good, 45.0; 3. Coleman Proctor, 46.2; 4. Cole Patterson, 48.0; 5. Martin Poindexter, 25.3 seconds on two runs; 6. J. Tom Fisher, 25.4; 7. Rocky Patterson, 28.4; 8. Mark Milner, 30.4.

Barrel racing leaders: 1. Jamie Olsen, 17.40 seconds; 2. Katelyn Scott, 17.54; 3/ Victoria Procter, 17.60; 4. Bryana Lehrmann, 17.65; 5. Rainey Skelton, 17.66; 6. Ilyssa Riley, 17.76; 7. Hailey Kinsel, 17.77; 8. Halyn Lide, 17.85; 9. (tie) Nicole Driggers and Lisa Anderson, 17.97; 11. Halle DeWitt, 18.07; 12. Jana Bean, 18.08; 13. Carly Longo, 18.13; 14. Erica Heckman, 18.15; 15. Tarryn Lee, 18.25.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Trey Kimzey, 89 points on Stockyards Rodeo’s Cheddar Biscuit; 2. Trevor Reiste, 88.5; 3. Deklan Garland, 87.5; 4. T Parker, 86.5; no other qualified rides.

Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com