Practice Paying Off for Louisiana Steer Wrestler 

Susan Kanode

            Being at home in Kaplan, La., and watching rodeo’s championship event on television was motivation for him to do better in 2010. He has started the season out more than well, winning the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver, Colo., on Sunday and then collecting a check for first place in the first round at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

            Ledoux competed in Denver, then made the trip to Fort Worth to compete here on Thursday, Jan. 21. It was back to the National Western on Jan. 24 for the finals where he ended up with the championship and $8,958. He is currently third in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standings, but thanks to his 3.5-second run in the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum last week, he has improved his position significantly.

            Ledoux earned a check for $5,140 and still gets to run at least one more steer here. He is scheduled for the second round on Feb. 2 and will hopefully have another solid performance to be among the final round qualifiers.

            “I’ve been practicing a lot,” Ledoux said. “I didn’t like missing the finals last year. So, I decided to work harder and go at it (rodeo) with a new attitude in 2010.”

            He has been spending time in Texas at Sonora and Stephenville practicing. He also has been riding great horses and depending on the advice of veterans like world champion Steve Duhon and WNFR qualifier Bill Pace.

            Finishing behind Ledoux in second place was Justin Davis, from Bartonville, Texas, with a time of 3.7 seconds. Davis earned $4,470. The top eight positions earned checks and in one of the tightest races at this year’s rodeo, there was only four-tenths of a second between first and eighth place.

            The leader board had an over-haul in saddle bronc riding. Shaun Stroh from Dickinson, N.D., moved to the top at the seventh performance on Tuesday evening with an 84-point effort on Tipped Off. There were two 82-point rides that are now tied for second place. Shane Moran who happens to travel with Stroh earned one of those. The Great Falls, Mont., resident rode Dirty Dancer. Jake Wright from Hurricane, Utah is one of four saddle bronc riding brothers that include the 2008 world champion Cody.

            The 2009 saddle bronc riding rookie of the year was Jake’s twin brother Jesse. Jake was going to college at Western Texas in Snyder and tied for the all-around championship at the College National Finals Rodeo. He is now focusing on Professional Rodeo and wants to see his name beside the rookie championship in 2010. He also was 82 points on Cat Man Do. All of these horses came from J Bar J Rodeo.

            Jesse is currently second in the world standings. The fourth brother, Alex, is also competing. The remainder of the Wright brothers will be here later in the week.

            Jason Havens, from Prineville, Ore., is now tied for the lead in the third round of bareback riding with Kaycee Feild, from Payson, Utah. Havens was scheduled to compete here on Sunday, but because he qualified for the final round at the National Western they held his horse until Tuesday night. He was 83 points on Vold Rodeo Company’s Iron Mike. He is also good on three head with a total of 242 and is hoping for a final round qualification here as well.