Minico High School’s Corey Rogers wrapped up his high school rodeo career by finishing first in the all-around standings at the District VI rodeo finals. He picked up wins in steer wrestling and team roping, along with partner Kade Rogge. Rogers also finished second in bronc riding and fourth in calf roping.
Rogers will compete in calf roping at the National High School Rodeo Finals in Springfield, Illinois July 22-28. This fall, he will rodeo for Walla Walla Community College in Washington on a full-ride scholarship.

Photo © Jason Lugo

Q: What’s your best event?
A: Steer wrestling is my favorite. It’s a lot different than just swinging a rope. You’re jumping off a perfectly good horse onto a set of horns. It’s an adrenaline rush and it’s a manly event.

Q: Why do you rodeo?
A: It’s fun and it’s a gamble. I have three older sisters and all of them rodeoed. Two of them rodeoed in college and they still do a lot of amateur rodeos. My dad (Dan Rogers) rodeoed his whole life and he was in PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) for quite a while. So I just kinda fell into it.

Q: What does it take to be the best all-around cowboy?
A: A lot of practice and a lot of hours. I’ve spent a ton of time in the arena. We go about 36 hours a

Photo © Calman Lugo

week, at least. It’s fun because we make practices fun. If you get too serious, it kind of ruins it for everybody. And the best thing is to go and find someone to help you get better. We’ve been to (rodeo) school after school getting help from the big guys. Luck plays into it, too. If you draw a real bad steer on one of the gos and he takes you out of it, there’s nothing you can do about it. There are things like drawing the right steer and having good weather, if your horse is good, if you’re feeling good. It’s just a big gamble.

Q: Have you had any major injuries?
A: Not lately. I had a few concussions last fall, but nothing too serious. I hurt my shoulder two months ago and it’s been a constant battle trying to get it healed up. But I use it so much that there’s no time for it to heal up.

Photo © Calman Lugo

Q: Why did you choose to attend college at Walla Walla?
A: It’s one of the only colleges up here in this cooler area. I didn’t want to go down to Texas like a lot of my friends because it’s too hot down there. It’s a lot cooler, but they still practice all year long. I like to rodeo all year long to keep me tuned up.

Q: What do you do when you’re not rodeoing?
A: Work. And we go golfing, but I’m not very good at it. We do a little fishing and hunting when we can. I train horses; we’ve trained all of the horses we use here. I don’t do a whole lot else. This is pretty much all I do. I love it.

Q: What are you looking forward to now?
A: I’m probably going to start the PRCA this summer and try pro rodeoing just a little bit. Hopefully within the next few years I’ll start hitting the road hard. I’m going to try to make it to the NFR (National Finals Rodeo) in one of these years ahead of me. That’s my main goal, as it is for about every cowboy, I think. We’ve got good

Photo © Jason Lugo

horses and they’re all young, so we’ve got quite a few years to go on them. I’m going to put a lot ofmoney out there and hopefully get a lot of money back. But it doesn’t always work that way.

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“I’m going to try to make it to the NFR in one of these years ahead of me. That’s my main goal, as it is for about every cowboy.”