¶ Weather, Roping, and Herd Appreciation
Hazen Hoffman . How are you , man ? Just great On a Sunday afternoon . Yeah , You're on the west side , aren't you ?
I am .
Yeah , it's a lot cooler over there . It's a lot cooler over there than over here . Man Oof , how cool is it there ?
yeah , well , oh , I think it's seven , maybe 70s where we're at .
Okay , yeah not too bad it's been hundreds , 90s I think . Today I think , uh , the high is at 88 . So yeah , it's , it's . It's a night and day difference , man . I was over there watching , you know , chris stapleton , and I'm just like man . It's so green , so earthy and so cool . I love this man , you know .
Just some things I miss over there , not a lot , though not a lot so , but we also get a lot more rain .
Yes and I would like that .
That's why I like that greenage man , how green it is over there .
It's not green over here , man , it's brown and smoky , yeah so if it could just for like most of the year , if it just rained once a week , it'd be a lot more enjoyable , yeah , instead of you get like three days in a row sometimes , right .
But the rain over there , the rain over there is like a mist , though it's not really downpour rain . Sometimes it is , I think , wintertime it's downpour rain , but then throughout the year it's just a mist , correct ?
We get a lot of downforce . It's where we're at . We get a lot like . Sometimes it's out of the blue . We can get it like a 30 minute , just dump .
Okay , like we don't get a lot of mist until about now okay , well , I miss it , that's all I'm saying . And gosh , we just went on a , not a tangent , but talk about weather , you know , and I just was over there and I miss it , and it's just . Oh , man , it feels good . But before we get started , man , I have to shout out .
You know , you're part of the herd , everybody that's on part of the herd .
It's great . I mean she's like in the last , I think , year and a half that I've known her , she's become one of like my biggest supporters and she's always up , Like she even comes out to like our place and she like takes pictures and stuff of like my sister and I roping and like she's all for supporting us in any way she can yeah , real nice .
And you've been part of the herd for what ? Two years in a row now , or longer , is it two ?
uh , I think it was like last , not like this last winter , but the winter before was when she reached out to me and was like hey , I want to try this , would you be for trying it ? So , like a year and a half going on to what's it like , though ?
Like what's it like . What does it mean to you to be part of her herd man ?
Oh , it's like being able to represent her is like and she's a great person , like how kind and everything she does for us , like being able to represent somebody that goes through all that effort and time and energy to like make sure that she can help us in any way she can .
It's really like a testament to her business and her being able to be a part of that it's great .
Wasn't trying to press , but no , no , not trying to press , but I just want Elaine because she does listen . She does listen . She knows that you're going to be on . I just want her to know how much she means to everybody that I have on the podcast . So she needs it every now and then . So not only a part of the herd .
You're my first tie down roper man . So before we get into it all , tie down roping man .
What did you think or feel like that was your sport um , it would have had to have been like when I was 13 , because , like my dad and grandpa , like I grew up , like when I was little little , I went to like all the rodeos watching them .
But then , like where we live , like there's nothing , like I think the only place that we can go to in the winter is like a good 35 , 40 minute drive from us . To like practice , yeah , and like we've had to start raising our own cattle and stuff to be able to like afford getting the calves to rope in the summers .
And we found a place that we can go to just down the road now and rope in the winter and we have to haul our stuff there , let's start with roping .
Roping is in the blood , the bloodstream right . Who brought the roping up ? Dad or mom ?
so dad was the one he like he's done it his entire life . Yeah and uh , my mom she she's actually from over here , my dad's from over there in hermiston but um , she wanted to get into it when she was like last year at high school and she was like rodeo royalty .
She got on like the lewis county rodeo royalty and she was going to all the rodeos as a princess and then she wanted to get into it really badly .
So dad was a roper , but he wasn't a tie-down roper , correct ?
No , he's well , he does both . I should say he team ropes to any cap ropes . But yeah , he just likes cap roping because he doesn't have to rely on somebody else who's a better , roper you or Pops ? I'd say him .
Him Okay , oh yeah . So not only are you roping , you know , you're heading pretty , heading pretty much right , and we'll talk about heading and healing and everything else , because that's like hot topic . I always like the head or the , you know , and like which one's tougher , obviously , depending on who you talk to .
You know , they just like to throw shade around and I throw shade too . I don't know how to rope , it's fun . But not only are you roping , dude , you're flipping a calf upside down and tying them up . What made it appealing to know ?
like , all right , man , uh , you know , let's just make put another twist to it , let's let's calf rope , let's tie down I think I just like cause dad did it and like that was like the main gig , cause he loved it so much and so he was always pushing for it , and like I didn't actually start team roping until like eighth grade , freshman year .
I started it after I'd roped for a couple of years . Like calf roping , once you get to a certain point like it becomes like a rush , so it's like an addiction , like that , if you can hold your slack and dismount like I can't , it's I can't express it enough .
It's like the best feeling in the world to get that send off your horse and I , just , I , just that . And like team roping , you rely on somebody to them and their horse , so there's like a whole bunch of animals involved .
Like calf roping , it's me and my horse in that calf and there's I shouldn't say there's a little more confidence , but it was like as much as I've done it , it feels a lot better , like knowing it's me and my horse in this calf .
There's just a little bit more yeah , calves aren't , you know , full-blown cow . You know they're . They're tiny , but they're not too tiny , they're under 300 pounds that's not like I think they actually have a weight limit .
Yeah , but I think the weight limit's like 250 ish , now something like that . I know it's like 250 to 75 depending on what association correct yeah , it depends on which association , but like mpr , is doing a really great job this year .
Nice calves so to prepare for that , you know , throwing calves around , do you squat , do you lift , do you go to the gym ?
I actually haven't done any of that since high school which is really really bad , because there's a lot of guys that do . But , um , it's more technique . If you can dial your technique in , it makes them all a lot better to flank and it makes it easier . And when you're actually at a rodeo , like , I always feel like I get an adrenaline rush .
So like it doesn't matter to me , like I'm just like balls to the walls , I'm going all out , I'm giving them everything I got . So , okay , are you good buddies with Wiley ? I haven't talked to him much , but I did high school rodeo with him . I think he was a senior when I was a sophomore or junior .
Okay , who's taller , you or him ? I know of him , him . Who's taller him ? Yeah ?
for sure .
It's just crazy . You guys put your body at risk doing that . I mean , I put my body at risk doing , you know , multiple day runs and stuff like that , and you guys call me crazy . I call you guys crazy and it just like it's just , it's just funny to know that you guys say man , you're crazy .
Then I say you're crazy , but , dude , I don't have animals around and throwing them around . You know , like you and Wiley , and it's just , it's just crazy to know that you're like you know what . Let's take it up a notch and get animals involved . You know , and , dude , you guys just do what you do and you're great at it .
So how long have you done tie down ?
Um , I started tying down , I think , like 13 , 14 , so seven , six years , six and a half , maybe , something like that .
You're going to stick with it . That's your sport , that's your bread and butter . What's your ultimate goal , man ? I know big leagues , but what's your ultimate goal , man ? I know big leagues , but what's your ultimate goal ?
oh yeah . Well , I mean , everybody's gonna say they want to be a world champion . But , um , I I mean I guess it's that being a world champion is the end goal and probably trying to be repeat over and over . But I just like , I just love competition part , like just being able to go to every rodeo I can .
That'd be Just getting down the road and doing it .
Did you have one this week ?
Yeah , so we actually , uh , we had Longview and Long Beach .
We was today Sunday , so we had Friday , long views , saturday on beach and you travel , man , you guys travel , but the mpra allows you guys to , you know , go from one to the next . You know , even though it's going at the simultaneously , it's like what ? It's crazy , that's awesome . That's awesome , man . It hits the competition .
Let's say you're on the side , you're about to get a mount up and everything else . What goes through your mind ? You said you talk about adrenaline , but how do you get to that point that you know it's just like , dude , it's go time ? Do you pump yourself up by by music ? What , what ? Or is it just natural , like you know ?
like I always teach myself . Yeah , like that's it , like I do , I do kind of try and like hype myself up , but like when I'm getting all my stuff , my jerk line tucked in my belt , and like my rope ready , sitting there behind the box , I'm like it's , it's super easy , hazen , don't overthink it .
It's like you gotta score , ride , rope and finish like it's a lot . It's a lot easier than a lot of people make it out to be , and I heard Trevor Brazil said it best it's like all these guys they're going out there and they're just overthinking . It's so simple . I just go and make my run . I think that was what made it so easy to be competitive .
But yeah , you can't overthink it . You just got to find the zone , I guess . And it's just like you just find your reactive state and just go at it .
So a guy like myself who watches and loves the rodeo scene right , the sport and all that entails , is it that easy to do what you do ? You guys make it that easy To do what you do ? You guys make it look easy , man , I don't care if you just started from Off the streets . Some of these kids , like yourself , make it effortless .
So like , is it that easy ?
Probably not . Well , I shouldn't say probably not , but it's you put . There's a lot of hours . There's a lot of hours that are in the behind the scenes that you don't see Right , and so it's just trying to find your solid run . I guess Make it because smooth is fast . You just got to find that smooth where everything just flows .
How often do you have a great time Like a good day ? Is it all the time ?
A good day , like money when it runs .
Well is it ? Do you say you had a good day because of the money , or did you have a good day because you went third or fourth and you know it was a good run ? What ? How do you know you had a good day ? I mean , any day you get to go to a rodeo was a good run . What , how do you know ?
you had a good day . I mean any , any day you get to go to a rodeo , it's a good day , in my opinion , but , um , all right , so you love the game .
I mean just going out and if you can do the best you can do with the calf you got and just like , yeah , winning something's obviously a good day because you're adding back to your wallet and stuff , but yeah , when you can just do the best that you got , because the draw is the draw .
Sometimes you get the pooch , sometimes you get the one that nobody wants .
How many rodeos have you gone to and competed in this year ?
This year . I want to say , like just we've gone , we've team roped it's seven and I think we hit about . We're probably around 15 . I'd say around 15 is a good number because we hit up a few of the pro rodeos this winter and we my dad and I just rope calves at a couple of amateurs before we started doing double overtime .
¶ Rodeo Competitor Conversations
What have you been doing now ? I know you went to Tillamook , but you could only go to certain ones . I know you hang out in Oregonregon a lot , or you do oregon uh competitions . What's stopping you from going to more locations ?
um , right now it's probably just like I want to ability , probably because , like you can only do you want to to find like your consistency and you just want to kind of find a good stride where you're kind of winning every other something here and there , but trying to like keep going further and not like having a good run .
You don't want to like waste your money and just keep traveling out to like Idaho , montana , california .
When does a tie down roper say you know what , let's make a run for it ? When do they do that , man ? What's the average age ? Or how do they know they're going to make a run ? Or when ?
Really it's just confidence in yourself , I think , and being able to have like the backing behind you , like financially , because it's getting kind of crazy expensive to be out and do do this sort of stuff right , the gas and yeah you got fuel , you got like . Horse trailers are outrageous . Now tires things like that . Feed for your horses horses themselves .
You said pro and amateur . What pro card are you sitting on right now ?
So PRCA , you can't you , just you get their permit and stuff . So I'm on my permit , technically Okay , and how's that ?
going .
And then it hasn't gone very well this year . I got one rope , I got my one cap at Redmond rope but , Yak Mom , I didn't draw very good .
I can't think of the other one when are you going to start taking the moment ? Like you know , start of the year . I know you guys perform throughout the year , right when you sit down with pops and everything else and with family members , whatever . You just sit down and you know you pick the big , the big five or big ten .
You know , not not so much the moneymaker but the ones that that pop out like hey , seems like I can do some damage here . Let's , let's do this one , let's do this one . You know , starting like clusters start near but where you live and then , you know , work your way out that way . Have you thought about that ?
Or have you ever looked into picking and choosing where ?
to go . Well , we kind of pick and choose , like right now , like we went to Sisters that was the other one I couldn't think of , but we went to Sisters and stuff . That's a good one . But right now we're just trying to get . My dad wants me solid before we start going to a bunch .
I quite frankly agree with him , because burning money through your pocket just entering up over and over isn't fun .
I know everybody's like hey man , you should come see me . I'm like dude . I wish I could but I don't have that much money , man . The gas is what gets you . Gas is a deal breaker for me , man A deal breaker ?
No , it's yeah .
When do you think you'll have it going full steam age-wise ? When do you think , have you given yourself a time period on when it's a make or break ?
I really like , I want to do it before I'm like 25 . Like I need to , like it's just like a motivation to push myself . I'll be 21 at the end of this year and it's like I'm just giving myself a few years . Put in the work and get out there .
All right . If you weren't tied out , what would you be doing in the rodeo world ? Probably team roping , team roping , okay . Head or heel , heel or heel .
You know I like people . My dad always told me to be a header and like I love it but I could probably care less . Like team roping , like I say it , and he kind of gives me a funny look , but like I just basically it's like the horsepower is what I really love , like between calf roping and team .
The events that we get to do I would put in the work to figure out either end .
The more I'm talking to you man , the more you're an adrenaline junkie man . You love that adrenaline dude . Okay , all right , there's different ways . I get mine , you get yours . Through horsepower . Who has it easier a healer or a header ?
Um , I think , well , it could go either way , depending on who you ask , but I like the way . Uh , some guy , I don't know , I listen to so many like these ropers on their podcasts and stuff .
But I think healers , far as like the technical side of it , have it a little easier , but they have the harder loop to throw because I mean like as a header you gotta dial in your your score and then you gotta deal with what the steer gives you to make a corner . So your healer does have the position and can make a good throw so ?
so you're saying the healer is has it easier . Okay , those are some fighting words , man . Okay , all right , now , all right . The more . The more I get into these ropers , right , and everything else , I've noticed , they have different tastes of music when traveling . Now , when you travel , what's your go-to music man ?
I like to listen to just the country music . It's what I've always listened to . I don't really Every now and then , like my mom likes the night . The 80s and 90s , like rock every time I like . Sometimes I like to turn that on , but usually it's like 90s country .
If I have a choice like , I'll pick , like that stuff or well , a lot of people listen to taylor swift oh no , you're not one of them .
I'm not trying to embarrass you , but , dude , there's a lot of guys that will embarrass themselves and say , yeah , man , I rock that stuff . I'm like dude , more power to you .
But I mean I might do it to like mess around with one of the traveling buddies , but other than that it's not not my go-to besides your dad being travel buddy , who's your travel buddy ? Your age that travels with you mostly like we got some breakaway ropers that go with us from our town Sidney Von Moose and Maddie Teeter .
They go , like this year , they're pretty busy and trying to get things figured out , but like last year they went with us to a bunch of the rodeos . Okay , all right .
Yeah , they'll probably be like put on Taylor Swift .
No , sid , they like to jam . Sid jams out to some rock and rap music stuff that I hadn't even heard of , and it's like wow , when you approach the venue and everything else , do you have a regimen ?
Do you have your go-to meal ? Do you have special socks ? You know we're athletes , they're very superstitious , and you know they wear the same socks , same underwear . I have mine as a runner , so do you have your own thing ? Set up each and every competition ?
I mean , just go with the flow , not really . I I don't . I don't believe in lucky socks . I don't got those , um , but I do like to take all my wallet . I like to leave a bunch of stuff in my trailer before I go . I do like doing that . That's probably the closest thing to a superstition you got out of me , okay , yeah , all right ?
What's your go-to meal ? If you had a good day , how do you treat yourself ?
Treat myself . Well , I don't really do that . Usually on the road , we're just trying to find what sounds good , something that we can just eat .
What sounds good , what's your go-to ? Then , what's your go-to ?
Hospitality tent's usually a good option . What is it Hospitality ? Tentity tent's usually a good option . What is it Hospitality ?
tent . That's usually a good option . Free food , oh , free food , okay , all right . So if they have one thing over another , which one would you go to ? Like ? What's your ? If they have it , that's your go-to always yes oh , I don't , I don't .
I'm pretty picky about like . I say , I'm not picky because I'll just eat whatever , but like we gotta watch .
One year , I think , we got food poisoning from hospitality tent , and so we've we've really tried to be careful what's dad's favorite , his go-to in the hospitality dad yeah , I mean he gets , he's , he's the same way as me , he's just we just don't want that food poisoning .
But I guess , like he's , he he's the same way as me , he's just we just don't want that food poisoning again .
But I guess , like I know the one like , he says he gets tired after cheeseburgers and that's like one thing like if we're at the fair or something like I could always go for a good cheeseburger , but he says he gets tired of those and he tries to get like fish and chips . If we're like a coast rodeo , he always wants those .
Oh yeah , you can't go wrong , especially coast rodeo . Supposedly fresh , you know , fresher than the Indian ones . Okay , all right . Since I coach hospitality tents , I stay away from heated food . I just go dry food . If they have goldfish , that's my go-to Safe Goldfish yeah .
Goldfish is a good option .
Yeah , it's the safest option . Man , what's next ? What's your next competition ? How does the end of the year look ?
We have Redmond , mcminnville and Corvallis this next weekend and as far as the end of the year . If I can start winning enough for the amateurs , I would like to jump back out and see if I can hit some of the small pro rodeos that they got left , see if I could fill my permit .
But the goal is to get up and make the NPRA finals this year , because I was just out of it last year .
Okay , is there a good chance ?
I think I'm going to jump back up into the top 20 right now . Okay , I want to check at Long Beach , so I should be back up in there .
Do you eat peanut butter jelly sandwiches ?
you know I try to . I ate it so much as a kid that it's sometimes it's like it loses its um , like the desire to have one , like I do like every now and then .
Okay , okay , no , it's all good . You know , you're never too old for it . Yes , it gets worn out , but there's always different ways and variations to change it up . So Okay , isn't that ?
like your signature question too .
It is , it is , it is . It is my signature question , but it hasn't been around lately . I don't know A lot of people .
Well , isn't the new thing ? Like those pre-made peanut butter and jelly things without the crust Uncrustables .
Yeah those things . That's the lazy way , man . That's the lazy way , man . That's the lazy way Now if you tell me you change up from crunchy to creamy every now and then and different mom and pop jam or jelly , you got me going
¶ Rodeo Competitor Chats and Bonding
, man . If you say you toast it , even better . You say you put pickles in your peanut butter jelly sandwich . You know that's more interesting , but it's not my type man . I don't like there was pickles .
One of my mom's friends and she told me this , but she was uh . She said they'd put doritos in their peanut butter and jelly I could see that I've heard that . I've heard , I've tried that a couple times and it's like it stabs you in the mouth and I'm just like no , it just ruins it .
Oh man , Is it Cool Ranch or Nacho Cheese that they put in ? I think it's Nacho .
Cheese , the originals , any rodeos east side of the state I don't . We just got to look at the schedule .
I think a lot of it's going to depend on how we do this next weekend because there is a big like four or five rodeo weekend where they got like near Goldendale , yeah , and it's just going to depend on how we do because my sister's also going with us and so we're trying to make it all work since we're there for a majority of the rodeo .
Can you keep us posted , keep us posted on how , how you do in the next few months , cause it's good , it's about to get hot , getting hot , especially in the rodeo world . And yeah , it's , it's , it's fun time , it's fun season . Right now it's going to get there there . So you're my first calf roper and I'm happy that you were able to answer those questions .
One question , oh yeah , that's right . One question that I've noticed , or that I've wanted to ask you , that I noticed during pendleton roundup , right when you're watching calf roping , right after they tie the heel , you know the , the hooves and everything else , right , yeah , they , they don't push off , it looks like they push off , but they okay time .
Well , when I was in pendleton roundup last year , someone did it , man , he did a remarkable job , time and everything else right , blew everybody out of the water . But he got DQ because apparently when he finished tying he pushed off . But , dude , it's like , did he push off ? But you know , he , apparently the judge saw , saw that he pushed off .
But it's illegal to push off Right when you tie you just put your hands up .
Once you call for time , it's it , you're done .
The only thing you can touch is your horse and when you get back on okay , well , it just it didn't make sense , because I'm like dude , that guy like blew everybody out of the water . He could have won first , you know . And all of a sudden he gets DQ'd because they played replay and it was just like did he play a show ?
Well , did he . If you jerk your cap over backwards too , you can get DQ'd . That's crazy .
So if that happens . That does not sound easy , man . That does not sound easy . Like you said , it does not sound easy . Easy Like you said , it does not sound easy . There's so many different variations , man , and ways to ruin your weekend , your day , by not making money because of an animal .
Crazy , yeah , but that's the joy of it . Ups and downs .
That's the adrenaline . Huh , what gets you more pumping the dismount ? Or taking the calf and throwing it over or tying it Dismount ?
Just getting the smooth dismount down the rope . It's just the greatest feeling I've seen some big boys . That's the part that I crave the most . Once I get down to the the cap , I have to tell myself to slow down yeah , I've seen some big boys .
Man , what was it John Day last year ? Man dude ate hard . He finished , but man , he dismounted and he couldn't stop and he ate hard , man . Oh yeah , it's a lot worse when your foot's still in stirrup and you hit the ground .
he couldn't stop and he ate it hard , man , oh yeah . It's a lot worse when your foot's still in stirrup and you hit the ground .
I can't imagine man . Okay , I've had a few of those Embarrassing .
Oh yeah , okay , it was like junior rodeo years , so that was a learning curve .
What about the ladies man ? Do you have a lady ?
No , not at the moment .
So if you eat it , you're going to be like there goes my chances .
I feel like I do enough stupid stuff . Aside from that , that might ruin the chances .
You're my kind of man , man , you're honest dude , I like that man . All right , so you come around here , even Goldendale , you know , in the next couple months or two , yeah , next couple months . Let me know I'd be glad to visit with you . I still haven't met elaine , so hopefully , hopefully , one of these days we can get together .
I just don't hang on the west side much , you know it's like yeah you know , this week , this week , seattle next weekend . I mean this is the most I'm gonna spend on the west side of both states . I was in Seattle last night , I'm going to Bellingham next weekend and then Salem the weekend after , so this is the most west side I get .
¶ Upcoming Visit and Family Greetings
So let me know your schedule , man , send me your schedule . Look forward to seeing you live once you know for once , and maybe have a couple of goldfish or two . Look forward to seeing you live once you know for once , and , uh , maybe have a , have a couple of goldfish or two . Sweet Sounds good , man , sounds good . Tell , tell pops .
I said hello and I'll let Elaine know that , uh , that we had this conversation and uh , yeah , till next time . Yeah , we'll see you next time .