There was a beautiful little girl in our area of California her name was Britney Gellerman. She was full of life. She was a star in youth rodeo with a full life ahead of her. I was away from home and my wife called me and said that Britney was sick. I said that kids get sick to which she informed me that no, this was a serious illness. She had been feeling sluggish and her energy level was down and that wasn’t like her at all. They took her to the doctor and after several tests they found out she had leukemia, not that, that wasn’t bad enough, she had the worst kind. She was a slight built girl to begin with and didn’t need to lose a pound and after a courageous fight; she lost the battle to that awful disease. All of the bad things that happen to people during chemo and radiation happened to her and through it all she never weakened she never complained and did all that was ask of her but it finally took her life. She lived in a town called Oakdale, California and its billed as the cowboy capital of the world and at one time it was. It’s at the base of the foothills in northern California and surrounded by cattle ranches and there are still a lot of real working cowboys along with some rodeo cowboys that live in the area. One of those cowboys is a guy by the name of Ace Berry. He is a working cowboy that has his won ranch but he also is one of only 2 rodeo cowboys that has ever won the NFR average at opposite end of the arena in the same year. Ace won the bareback riding and the team roping average . The only other man to ever accomplish that was Phil Lyon and he did it in the Calf roping and the bull riding. That’s legendary stuff.
Now keep Ace Berry in mind and let me tell you about the town of Oakdale. When I was young it was a real cowboy town. Feed stores, the rodeo grounds and the famous H bar B saloon, Because Oakdale is between San Francisco and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It has become very modernized, snow skiers crowd the town in the winter and nature lovers in the summer, all on there way to the mountains. The road that runs through town is called Hwy 120 and it has become very crowded. Up on the hill as you enter the town is where Britney’s funeral was to be held. The entire town had tried to help with fund raisers so when she died the entire town was there. Grown men that were tuff as nails wept before the service ever started. There were people everywhere, they stood outside and had filled the huge church when we arrived. There was a horse drawn Hearst outside the church with a driver dressed in black with a team of horses standing quietly. Ace Berry was there dressed in his everyday clothes that he wares on the ranch and he sit on his horse. He had his chinks on and he sat and stared straight ahead. On one side he held one of Britney’s horses and on the other side he held her palomino. Her Saddles were around her casket and they put her in the horse drawn Hurst and they stopped the traffic on hwy 120 and the team of horses carrying Britney trotted out of the church yard and headed for the cemetery which is about a mile away. Trotting right behind the Hearst was Ace Berry riding his horse and leading both of her horses. He looked straight ahead and everyone followed in there cars. My son told me that if anything happens to me please ask Ace if he’ll lead my horses as well because I know they won’t get away from him. I ask him to do the same the same for me and my entire family cried along with the entire town of Oakdale. It was with out a doubt the saddest day of my life. I have never doubted Gods plan but that day I did. Why do children die? Why would a child that hasn’t had a chance at life that has never committed any wrong get cancer? Give it to me, not her. I’ve had a chance at life and she hasn’t. When Children die I think those questions come to most people minds but there must be a master plan and we must carry on. Every time I go by that church I think of her as I do every month when I send my contribution in to ST. Jude’s Children’s hospital. I have contributed to St. Jude’s before Brittney was born and what better cause is there than a hospital that is committed to end Cancer in Children. Also if you can’t afford treatment St Jude’s will treat your child. There policy is that they will never deny a child treatment because of race, religion or an inability to pay. There are all kinds of causes that are worthy but that one touches my heart, I want to give more. Maybe with more money to help the scientist and doctors find a cure, like the shot that cured polio there can be one in my lifetime to stop cancer in children. One of my Goals for next year is to put on roping school where all proceeds goes to St Jude’s.
Until next month
Walt Woodard

A friend of mine stopped by one day, that is in the cattle business and he has been very successful. Not only that, but he is a positive guy. When he drove in I thought to myself, this guy has got to be miserable in this weather. He’s got all those cows and trying to feed in the rain everyday has got to be wearing him down. He walked in and I never seen him so happy. He said this is one of the greatest opportunities in my life. Do you have any Idea come spring how much feed there will be all over this state? There will be lots of grass and hay will be at an all time low. Every piece of ground will be covered with volunteer hay. I bet you a man can almost name the price he wanst to pay because there will be so much of it. He said the sale barns were full of people selling there cattle and he was buying as many as he could afford and scattering them around the country waiting for spring. He said I would love to stay longer but I’ve got to go, there is so much opportunity out there right now. I can’t stay here any longer, I don’t want to miss any of it. There I was listening to everyone on the news telling me how bad things were and I started to believe them. I had forgotten the old saying that when one door closes another one opens. I was setting there in the rain with my rubber boots on trying to stay dry and this guy is running through open doors. I took his advice. I scouted around and found and old barn that would hold about 70 ton of hay and come spring we bought cheep hay and filled that barn up. I bought as many cattle as my little place could hold and started my plan. I think I had about 100 head and I feed them that hay all the next winter and sold them in the spring. I don’t remember the exact number but I think I made almost $250 profit on each animal and there’s no telling how much my friend made.
This economy reminds me of that time in California. Everyone in the media tells us everyday how bad things are and I promise you there is so much opportunity out there if we could just figure out where it is. I don’t remember the general that said this during World War II but this guy was surrounded and people were panicking and they came to him and said what will we do? He smiled and said,” They won’t get away this time“. Because we know exactly where there at, now stop running for cover and let’s attack.
It always comes back to attitude and actions, doesn’t it? The results we get will always depend on how we decide to react to any situation; it’s up to us as individuals. Followers listen to he hipe and are convinced there’s no way out and winners attack. What group do you want to be in, I think I know which one I’m choosing.
Until next month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard

I don’t like excuses. I met an old guy one time and we got to visiting and he told me that he was a retired marine. I don’t remember his rank but he had spent 30 years in the core and he said he loved it. I ask him what the biggest adjustment he had to make when he got out and he answered immediately. He said excuses; I’m not use to people telling me why they can’t do something. He told me that in his world if he told one of his men to jump a horse over a 6 foot brick wall and he come back on hour later, there would be several things that might have happened upon his return The marine might be dead, the horse might be dead or they both might be dead. The brick wall may be torn down or the marine and his mount have accomplished there mission and they have moved on. He said the one thing that you could count on is when you got back to the wall his man wouldn’t be still standing there with his hands on his hips saying, it’s too tall. It’s two windy and I don’t think my horse can make a jump of this height. He said we go over it, through it or tear it down, but we don’t make excuses. I liked what he said so I have tried not to be an excuse maker. I think there a big difference between excuses and reasons because things happen for a reason.
So during this downward spiral I’ve been on, I’ve tried to figure out the reason I wasn’t getting the results I desire and I’ve come up with several during the year. The first was the way I was drawing. I wasn’t drawing as good a steers as everyone else and that’s crazy. Losers say that. One guy doesn’t draw any better than the next guy, 50 percent good ones and 50 percent bad ones, so we can eliminate that. Bad breaks, I worked my way into the semi finals at the Houston Rodeo which is the biggest regular season rodeo of the year and a win there and you virtually guaranteed a spot at the NFR. All I had to do is be under 7 seconds to make the final 4 and rope for $35,000 a man and I hooked my rope on the calf roping pulley in the heeling box, when I left the chute and it jerked my rope out of my hands. That was a bad break but one incident doesn’t make or break you and that was unfortunate but everyone has bad breaks. My horse was going forward when I threw my rope, so I took him to the vet and had his hocks worked on and that fixed that problem. Things got a little better, but not great. The last thing I came up with was I went to have my eyes checked. I couldn’t possibly see and rope this bad, so to the eye doctor I went and I did in deed need glasses but that hasn’t been the fix all either. In the final analyzes it’s come down to one thing, Desire, that burning desire that you have to have to achieve something great.
I read one time that the two worst things that can happen to a person is one, never reaching your goal and the other is reaching it. When I came back and decided to put my schools on hold and start competing full time again I set some goals for myself. 1. I wanted to see if a man 50 years old could qualify for the NFR. 2. I wanted to reach the $1,000,000 dollar mark in prorodeo earnings. I was at $670.000 when I started 31/2 years ago and I felt that with the prize money the way it is at the NFR now days, that was an attainable goal as well. Last, I wanted to have the credentials to be considered for induction into the Prorodeo Hall of Fame. The last one is political and I’m not a very political guy but if I did all I could do in the arena maybe I would reach that last goal.
This comeback turned out way better than I planned. If someone came up to you and said that your going to win the US open, $95,000 at the NFR and the World Championship, and Bob Feist Invitational you would say right, in your dreams. Except it wasn’t a dream, It happened, and it happened to me. It has been awesome, but then comes the thought, now what. Right after the NFR last year I should have chosen a new set of goals and went after them. I have 20 other things that I want to achieve away from the rodeo business but I decided to stay one more year and I didn’t have that burning desire it takes to do great things. I have it now but it might be too late. There’s 3 weeks left in the regular season and I’m doing everything humanly possibly to qualify one more time and get back to the NFR to rope for the title and I still have a chance.
The thing I learned this year is if you don’t have an absolute passion for something then don’t do it. If you don’t love what you’re doing and you just can’t wait for the alarm clock to go off in the morning so you can get out there and get after it, you won’t achieve great things. There are so many wonderful goals in life, a person can set your sights on, but it has to be something you want. Something you want more than anything in the world and it doesn’t matter how big or how small. It’s that spark way down in your soul that turns into a fire and then a raging inferno that drives you on past where most people would quite but that isn’t an option for a person that has that desire. We all have to find out what it is that we really want out of life. Life’s to short so don’t wait another day. Find out what it is that you really want out of life and go after it.
Until next month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard

Where ever your reading this right now, if it’s the first week of December I’m at the National finals rodeo competing for a World Championship. I’m the oldest guy at the National Finals and it should be a testament to all people that if you have a dream, go after it. All I ever wanted to do in my life was to be a world Champion and now 25 years after I won the Championship I have a chance to win it again. What’s should be so encouraging about that is I’ve told you before that I’m not a very talented guy and the reason I know that is because I’ve tried all kinds of sports and I’m bad at all of them. I played football in school. I was too slow and didn’t like people running over me. I played baseball and had dreams of the ball hitting me in the head. I boxed and didn’t like getting hit in the face at all. I played basketball and the coach never put me in a game except on time it was our home coming game and to this day I still don’t know why he put me in. He looked over at me and said Woodard your in and I said I’m what?

When I realized he was talking abut the game I got so excited I run onto the floor and on the second possession the opposing team had the ball and they took a shot and missed. They got the ball back and shot again and missed. They got the ball back and shot again and missed and the ball came right to me. Guess what I did? I shot and that would have been great but I shot at there basket and Thank God I missed. Shortly after that the coach took me out. So I’m telling you that I’m not very talented, I know what I’m talking about. If I can do what I’ve done this year anyone can reach there dreams as well but you have to begin. You have to start, take that first step and if you fall get up. Just keep getting up, crawl forward if you have to and never give up. Keep running your head into that brick wall a thousand times and when everyone else has given up keep hammering away and just abut the time you think there is no hop you see the slightest of cracks in the wall and just keep going towards the light. I think all of us are capable of great things but were afraid to fail. What if this and what if that. I got one for you. What if you never tried what a shame that would be. Pick out something that you’ve always wanted and go after it and stop worrying about other people might think. That use to hold me back. I grew up a little fat kid and when I first got into the rodeo business I tried to fit in but no matter how hard I tried, my pants were to short and then they were too long. My hat wasn’t shaped right and my shirt didn’t match my boots and then one day I looked in the mirror and said I like my shirt and I like my pants and I think my hat looks just fine and besides this isn’t a fashion show it’s a roping contest and my mother told me when I was a little kid that it doesn’t matter how old your clothes are or what they look like as long as they are clean you don’t have anything to be ashamed of she said that here wasn’t any reason that you clothes should be dirty except being lazy and that was unacceptable, So I quite caring what everybody else thought and started concentrating on what I wanted. Below average people talk about other people, average people talk about material things, Above average people talk about Ideals, goals, and there plans on how there going to achieve those things. I want to be in that third group. You keep track of what everyone is wearing if you want to but I’m not, I don’t have time. I got things to do.
I’m convinced that success is not about talent. It’s more about determination. If y9ur determination to succeed is strong enough you will succeed. It’s just that simple. All of us are born the same way, untalented. Were not born to fly jets, or climb mountains, or rope steers. We have to learn those things and I believe all of us had a dream at one time and its still in all of us so why not go after it. What happened to that dream I believe it’s still in there and it’s time to wake it up. I know I’ve heard it said about you before you’re too old and I’m telling you that your not. I’m not and neither are you. You’re too tall, too short, too young, and too thin, you’re a girl and it’s never been done before. So it sounds like someone needs to be the first and why not me.
I heard a little boy one time tell his mother, Mom I am the little boy that will be king. And the mother looked at her son and said, there aren’t any kings around here. To which the little boy said replied see there we need one. That little boy was me and we never want to forget that spark that all of us still has inside of us just because we have had set backs during our lives and things haven’t turned out like we had planed. Its not to late but you got to get up and begin. Do something everyday that is going to bring you one step closer to that goal that you have always dreamed of.
I have a wonderful fried of mine that is a Doctor and he told me along time ago that this life isn’t a dress rehearsal We will never be back here again This is it, were not getting ready for the next time. Don’t wait any longer; act now because tomorrow may be too late. If I can do it anyone can and as you read this I’m doing it. Let’s go its never to late.
Until next month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard

My Dad used to tell me that a sure sign you are getting older is that you’re always trying to remember some guys name. I have arrived at that point in my life. I’ve never been that great at remembering names anyways, but I sear it is getting worse. It is not a matter of disrespect, but when I meet someone I notice how they shake hands and the way they speak. But, I just don’t listen to their name as well as I should and there lies the problem. I even got a book one time that was about how to remember people’s names. The author said you are suppose to make up a story about someone when you meet them and that way you’ll always remember be able to call them by name. I can’t remember the author’s name but I tried that and when I would see someone I had met in my life I couldn’t remember their story either. So I would just apologize that I could not remember their name and most people consider the source and move on.

Now with all of that said, I am sure you have been in that same situation before where you are telling someone a story and you are trying to remember someone’s name and for the life of you, you just can’t say the name. The name is right on the tip of your tongue and it just will not come to you. You try to tell the person you are talking to you know ‘that guy, you know his name.’ Finally, you just have to go on with your story because you just can’t remember it. That just happened to me two days ago. There was a guy that I watched rope a lot when I was younger. He could really get out of the barrier well, he was really aggressive, and he won a lot. I remember the guy has two first names before his last name, but I couldn’t remember his name. The person I was telling the story to lost interest in my story because I was struggling so with the name thing. This morning I woke up at three AM, set up in bed, and said Gene Ray Ward. My wife woke up and asked me what in the world I was talking about. I said, ‘Gene Ray Ward that is the guy’s name.’ She asked me why I was thinking of Gene Ray Ward in the middle of the night and I said I wasn’t. I was trying to remember his name for two whole days and it came to me just now. All of us have had that happen and when it happens to me, I like it. It is like my brain is working on a problem for me while I sleep and that is a good thing. I imagine it as a guy walking through the hall ways of my mind looking in filing cabinets for the answer to the problem at hand. Thomas Edison has been quoted that when he was faced with a problem he would take a 15 minute nap and many times when he awoke he would have the solution.
I read an article one time and the author talked about a sixth sense that we all have and that is what he was talking about. He said that when we want something in life and we start to think about it our brain starts to work in that direction. That is why it is so important to think positive thoughts and think about our goals and why we can reach them instead of why we can’t. When we have a goal and we think about it first thing in the morning and the last thing at night and as many times as possible during the day, we are starting the machine in motion. Ideas start to come to life out of nowhere that will help us achieve our desired results.
Listen to this. It bothers me to waste anything. Like when you buy food and you don’t eat it in time and it spoils and goes bad, that bothers me. I think I shouldn’t have bought it or I should have given it to someone that could have used it and that way it wouldn’t have wasted. So the other day I go to get a banana at my house and your guessed it they are almost black. I like bananas, I like ripe bananas but I don’t like black ones. During my life I have thrown away a lot of bananas and the other day when I am sitting in my kitchen looking at black bananas it dawns on me. Instead of buying six or eight bananas in one bunch I will buy two perfect bananas, two slightly green bananas, and two completely green bananas and that is my new plan. I am not enjoying perfect bananas all the time and happy to say no more waste. A great idea like that came to me while I was looking at black bananas. I should have been doing that my whole life, but I never ask my brain for help until the other day. We can look at something that bad and tell ‘I would like to do something about that’ and our brain starts working on the solution. Hopefully it is something greater than black bananas, but I’m still proud of that idea. The next time you go to the super market and you pass the bananas, stop to get two, two and two and think to yourself, that Walt Woodard is a smart guy.

Until next month,
Thank you for your time.

Walt Woodard

I know all those things are true and this year but for some reason it wasn’t working. Maybe I burnt myself out last year trying to reach the goals I had set for myself. One morning last year it was raining like it only can rain in Texas and I came in from running and my Son said, Dad, your going to kill yourself. I said at least I’d die trying to achieve something great. That’s the attitude I had and I truly believe you can take someone with mediocre talent and work your heart out and great things will happen.
So with all that said I did not work like that this year. Have I practiced? Yes, every chance I had. Have I roped my sled and studied film, absolutely! But I wasn’t a fanatic this year and I think it hurt me. Was I tired, maybe, did I burn myself out, maybe or did I just walk around with my Gold Buckle on and think that would carry me through, probably.
This year I haven’t roped up to my ability and it has been hard on me. I’ve had my moments but we all know deep down inside when were not functioning up to our potential and if you have any pride in yourself, that’s hard on a person. The thing that’s the toughest about out sport is that when we don’t function up to your ability we hold your partner back and that’s what happened to me as well. I roped with Clay Tryan this year and he roped outstanding all year. And as I set and write this we are about 20th in the standings and we should be 1st. If I would have heeled 75% of the steers he turned me this year we would be right with the leaders. So after the Salinas Rodeo in late July I went to Clay and said you have got to move on. Any other header would have cut me by now and you are loyal to a fault but you have to move on. He said you are my partner and we started together and I want you to finish but I told him that you have to move on. He tried to talk me out of it but I told him that for some reason I can’t stay focused and I haven’t been able to pull this together. I told him that if he entered me at another rodeo I wouldn’t show up. It took that to get this guy to move on and I will always admire that. In professional sports the manger cuts you or you cut yourself and that’s what I had to do. It was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make in my roping life. Not only was I giving up one of the best partners in the PRCA but I felt like I was giving up ¾ of the way through the year. I hated the feeling but I have tried almost everything and Clay Tryan deserves to be at the NFR and I felt like if I bowed out then he still had time to make it. Do I want to go back and try to finish the last part of the goal I have written down in my wallet, Absolutely, but not at the expense of him and his family, so that’s why I made the decision. Three days after I told my partner I was going to retire we were at a rodeo in Salt Lake City and Travis Tryan walked up and said I hear you’ve retired. I said that’s true and he said that him and Michael Jones decided to end there partnership and ask If I would reconsider. I said no, I can’t, I just stopped roping with your brother. He said I just need a partner for the rest of the year. I’m in the lead for the World Championship and I need a good partner. What if we go talk to Clay and if he wanted to rope with you I will rope with his new partner or visa versa. We’ll leave it up to him what ever he wants. I said Ok, sounds good. After they talked, I’m back in the game. I went from one great partner to another great partner in three days. I know I’ve got to make some changes or I’ll keep getting the same results I’ve been getting. Clay is going to rope with the great Kory Koontz and that will be a dynamite team and hopefully we can battle it out at the NFR. I have already made some major changes and for some unknown reason I have been given a second chance and I’m not going to mess this up.
I seen Mike Beers at a rodeo a couple days after this all happened and he ask me that in the three days I was retired if I received a gold watch. I smiled and said that they didn’t have time to get it to me and besides I don’t want it anyway.

Until Next Month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard

Every time I was in California to see my parents or I flew them out to see me I always wondered if this is the last time I’ll ever see my Dad? When he was at the Nation Finals he walked a little slower, his eyes were a little grayer, and he was a little more bent over. When I got the call one of the first things I thought of is what he told me when my Grandfather, his father, died. I was sad, of course but he told me something I always think of when I hear that someone has passed away. He said that all things die. You, me, the flowers and the trees, die. That’s the way the system was designed. There is a beginning, middle, and an end. When you come into this world you have to promise to leave because if you didn’t there wouldn’t be any room for the children being born. Try to live each day to the fullest and be the best man you can be. So with that thought I took my wife to the airport and came back, saddled my horse, and went for a ride. As I rode this thought came to me. One of the main reasons I have had some success in my life if because of my Dad. The way I catch and saddle my horse is because that’s the way he said to do it. When I shoe my horses I do it his way. When I get on a colt I cock his head around to my knee before I get on is because that’s the way he taught me. When you shake a man’s hand, stand up , look him in the eye. Be respectful to people. Get up early in the morning and don’t be afraid of hard work. Hard work builds character in a man he would always say. Try to have something that you are passionate about because you have to have something to look forward to. The thing that my father taught me that helps me the most, through this life is something I learned one summer day when we were shoeing horses out in the middle of the country.
My Dad made a living for our family shoeing horses. And mostly back yard horses. We would shoe two and trim an old mare in one spot. Drive 10 or 15 miles and shoe one and trim a foundered pony. He didn’t have big stables that he shoed for, mostly just everyday horses. It was the middle of summer, it was hot, and we were shoeing this knucklehead. He was tied to this big pole next to a tin barn. He wouldn’t stand still and he tried to kick my Dad a couple of times. I was getting sick of this horse. Something spooked him and he pulled back and sit down like a dog with the lead rope as tight as you could get it. He was suilled up. I mean he wouldn’t move so I ran around behind him, grabbed a rope, and whipped him across the butt in an attempt to make him go forward. Just as I did my Dad came running towards me and threw me out of the way and said. What if that rope would have broke when you were standing behind that horse. He would have flipped over and landed on you. He said when you’re out in the world you have to look around, pay attention, and think about what might happen. Think ahead!
That lesson, that day is what helps me through life everyday. It helps me when I’m in Chicago, South Miami, or in the middle of the wilderness in the mountains. When I’m at a stop light and it turns green I always look both ways just incase someone doesn’t stop before I proceed, all because of that day.
Every summer as soon as I would get out of school, I worked with my Dad, up at 6, breakfast at 6:30 and out the door before 7am, five days a week. I learned allot more than how to shoe a horse bouncing around in that old green truck every summer. When the work would get hard and it would be late in the day my Dad would always remind me of what we were going to do in mid August. Every year during the hottest part of the summer we would take our horse’s way up in the top of the Sierra Mountains and head for Gabbits meadows. You unloaded at the trail head at about 8000 feet elevation. It’s about a 4 hour ride to the most beautiful place on earth. He would lead a pack horse, as would I, and we would stay back there and fish and rest all week. It was cool and beautiful, we would cook fresh trout for dinner and it still remains my favorite place.
We would always stop half way on the ride at a place where fresh water comes right out of the granite rock. It makes a large fresh pool at the base of the rock. We would always water the horses and we would get a drink ourselves right there where the spring comes out. My Dad would always smile and say you’ll never have a better drink of water in your life then that right there and I never have.
A million miles away form that spot is a place called Las Vegas, NV. After I had left home and been rodeoing for several years I met some people that ran some of the casinos in Vegas. They wanted me and who ever I wanted to bring to come to Las Vegas and enjoy the shows and one of the people I took was my Dad. He didn’t want to go because big cities wasn’t really his thing but finally he agreed so away we went. Zegfried and Roy was at one of the hotels and we had front row seats and the show room was packed. At on point in the show they brought out the biggest elephant out and turned him around right in front of us. When he turned his but hung out above us. My Dad got up and moved back. I tried to get him to sit down but he wouldn’t. He told me in the middle of that showroom that there was a chance that that animal might step off the stage and a man will only get stepped on by one elephant in his life and it wasn’t going to be him that night.
My father wishes were to be cremated and his ashes are in his home in California. This summer after all the snow has melted in the high sierras I’ll drive to the trail head. I’ll saddle a good horse and I’ll take my Dad for a ride. I’ll stop half way and get the best drink of water I ever had and water my horses and then we’ll continue on. There’s a place that over looks the meadow and the Lake and I think I’ll leave him there. I’ll rest there for a while and then I’ll ride back.
So as I travel through this world Dad I’ll be careful and I’ll think ahead. I’ll make sure I don’t get stepped on my any elephants. Because like he said, “you’ll only get stepped on by one elephant in your life,”
As always I will remain
Your son, Walt

Walt Woodard

The Grinch that stole Christmas is about the fact that maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more. I like it so much I read it to my family on Christmas Eve every year, it’s a tradition. You might think it’s strange that I read The Grinch that stole Christmas but its my house and I like the message and it makes me feel good, So I read it every year. But the Book I remember most is about a little train that has a heavy load and he stops along the track and picks up more cargo and keeps stopping to get more cargo, and then starts going up the hill. The hill gets steeper and steeper and he keeps straining and as he’s trying to pull the load up the hill he tells himself I know I can, I know I can, you remember the story don’t you? You already know the next line, as he tops the hill and starts down the other side he says I knew I could, I knew I could. The struggle to the top is tuff, but we must struggle and strain like the little engine, but he was successful because he kept believing in himself and repeating, I know I can, I know I can, we all must keep believing that we can top any mountain we set our minds too if we keep believing that were going to accomplish our goals. You have to believe you’re going to win or your beat before you start. I know a guy that no matter how bad things get he thinks he’s still going to win. He can be way behind with one or two steers to go and he still acts like he’s right in the thick of the race and you know what? A lot of the time the contest will fall apart and here comes this guy right through the destruction smelling like a rose and on to victory. I’ve tried to become more like him in that respect because I used to be a gloom and doom guy. If things went smoothly I would cruse to victory but if there was a bump in the road I would always look back and say, if we just hadn’t hit that bump. Go on! The bump is behind you and you can’t turn back time, charge ahead and expect victory because you never know. I applied that philosophy recently in Herford, Texas. Steve Percella is involved with a lot of wonderful people and they put on a roping that’s in honor of a wonderful man who passed away by the name of Spicer Gripp. Parts of the profits go to the youth in the area and it is a great event held in early August and its one event I will be at every year. The Open roping is extremely tuff with great steers, wonderful prizes and big pay off. This year I was 20 seconds on three steers with 2 to go and was right on the lead. On the forth steer and didn’t ride my horse as well as I should have and I was a little out of position so when I roped the steer by both hide feet I lost a leg and got a 5 second penalty. Now against the best ropers in the world in a 5 steer average that’s usually the kiss of death but not with my new attitude. The high teams started with the 12 fastest teams from slowest to fastest. My partner and I was in 8th position and they were only paying 4 $16,000 for first, $12,000 for 2nd $8,000 for 3rd and $4,000 for 4th. We were 6 seconds on our last steer and were winning it with 7 teams to go. I never hope anyone misses and I believed I had a good shot at winning. Cody Cowden who is a great roper from California and who had roped great all weekend missed. A Couple of teams moved me to 3rd then Steve Precilla is up and he never misses but not today, he missed. Big Al Bach is up and he roped out of this world all day and his loop doesn’t even go under the steer. One other team moves me so I’m Winning 4th with one team to go, Speed Williams and Clay O’Brien Cooper. All I have to do is get by possibly the greatest 2 ropers that has ever lived and I am going to win $4,000 dollars. Speed gets a great start ropes the steer great, like he always does, his horse slips and the champ falls off. Now in his defence no one could have stayed on but the bottom line is his horse didn’t fall all the way down and the greatest header that has ever live fell off and I won.
Did attitude have any thing to do with all those great ropers having trouble? I don’t know but something did and I wonder how many times I have beaten myself by not believing that I still have a chance. It’s never over until it’s over, if you keep telling yourself that you always have a chance. Remember that life’s battles don’t always go to the swiftest or strongest man. But sooner or latter the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.

Until next month
Thanks for your time
Walt Woodard

Since I have been in the roping and rodeo world all of my life. I love animals, from the roping steers, to my blue heeler, all the way to my horse I really enjoy being around them. I think the strength and power of a horse is one of the things that I really respect. When I was younger a lot of the horses I rode, my family and myself broke themselves. A person really develops a bond with them when you do that, but because of my schedule now I don’t have time to develop two and three year olds anymore.

So because of that I buy horses that are around five that are someone else has brought along slow and has taken them to some small jackpots. I try to slowly put them into my system. I bought a horse just like that about five years ago in Oklahoma that I have really enjoyed, but he has been a challenge. He is everything the guy said he was and maybe a little bit more. When I bought him they told me that he had two other owners and that he would rally watch a cow, he was very quick, you could head or heal on him, he was pretty to look at, but he was a little watchy. I should have asked for the definition of watchy, but I got caught up in fact that he was fast and pretty so off to Oklahoma I went. When I got him home I didn’t have him two weeks and he bucked me off. Three days later he did it again. My son said that I wasn’t even trying to stay on him, so he was going to help his old man out, so he started riding him. In one week he had bucked my son off twice. But because the horse has so much ability we stayed with him and he is now my number one horse.
Over the years when I’m in the Oklahoma area I have had two different guys approach me and tell me that they were previous owners of Little Gray. The guy I bought Little Gray from said that he never bucked him off, so I though maybe it was something we were doing wrong. One of his previous owners said that he had attacked his dog and killed it. The other guy acted like he had never bucked with him. He said he did buck with me one time and broke my pelvis, but that was the only time. Well, I told him that counts! Long story short, is he has taken a lot of riding to get all of that out of him and I still don’t entirely have it all out. But, a guy once told me that a horse’s body will give out before his mind will and it Little Gray’s case that is true. His feet and his joints bother him a little bit, but because my joints bother me too I think we are a good match for each other. I am always concerned about his soundness, because I wouldn’t perform up to my ability if my feet were hurting me. So, I don’t practice on him as much as I would like. Sometimes because of it he doesn’t work as well as he should, because he is fresh so it is a little bit of a catch twenty-two. Danged if I do, danged if I don’t.
My son dates Jackie Dube and she is a barrel racer. She was runner up to the World Championship and her family has made a living with race horses their entire life, so she is very good with soundness problems. After watching me ride Little Gray and being around me and him, she suggested that I give him Silver Lining Herbs with his feed. Now before I go on, let me tell you I don’t like change. I believe that one of the reasons people aren’t successful is because they change with the wind. Maybe if I so this…. or maybe if I did that…. To that I have always said just roll up your sleeves, work hard and keep doing what you are doing. I am hard headed and hard work has always been my motto. I think a lot of people would be better off if they possessed more of that. I think I have worked hard a lot in my life and sometimes I would have been a lot better if I would have worked smarter instead of harder.
When people suggest change to be I always think of the contestant on The Price Is Right. Just in case you haven’t watched a TV in the last twenty years, it’s a game show where the contestants have to guess the price of the prizes and the one that comes closest wins. Well there was one game show where they give the guy four cards with different prices on them and he has thirty seconds to run and hang the correct price on the four prizes on display. When he thinks he has them correct he has to run over to the big handle and the machine displays the number he has correct. Almost every time the guy will have two correct and for some reason he’ll run back and change everything, go back and pull the handle and a big zero comes up. The buzzer goes off and he wins nothing. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to be running around like I’m crazy changing everything, every time the wind changes direction. But, to keep up with the times a person has to be open minded. You have to be open minded and be willing to change, but still stick with your core beliefs. So with that said, I have been feeding my horse Silver Lining Herbs and you can’t believe the difference it has made. I am not making this up, or exaggerating in any way. I am telling you it has made my horse more comfortable and because of that I am able to practice more on him and his performance has improved. It is tuff for me to change anything in my program because I don’t want to be the guy that pulls handle and gets the big zero. By being a little more open minded I have made my horse’s life better. As a result it is going to be easier to reach my goals. His joints are feeling better and mine are still sore so I wonder if I could take those herbs as well? I may need to in order to keep up with my horse. I’ll keep you posted.

Until Next Month,
Thank you for your time.

Walt Woodard