Zachary Dallas and his travel partners were faced with a decision.
After competing at the Leduc Black Gold Pro Rodeo in Alberta, Canda, the group of New Mexico State University cowboys had two options – stay in Canada for the Grand Prairie Stompede in Alberta or drive to Fort Pierre, S.D., for the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions Xtreme Broncs event.
Dallas had already stared out of a windshield for 28 hours during the ride from Las Cruces, N.M., to Alberta. Somehow, another 16 hours back across the border to South Dakota felt like the right choice.
“My buddy group, we got doubled up in Grand Prairie, Alberta, and Fort Pierre. They drew better horses, they thought, over there and I drew better horses, I thought, over here,” Dallas said. “So, I hopped in with Layton Green and Lucas Macza and we drove 16 hours straight through (June 1) and got here.”
That gut instinct that compelled Dallas to make another long drive resulted in a season-reshaping moment for the rookie, as he won the long and short rounds at the Tibbs Xtreme Broncs event.
The victories resulted in $10,642 in earnings for the up-and-coming competitor, vaulting him from 32nd in the PRCA | RAM World Standings all the way to 18th as of Sunday morning.
Dallas now has a little more than $36,000 in earnings for the season.
The decision to get back in the vehicle and keep going was based on limited intel and a lot of hope. Dallas’ first round ride against Harper & Morgan Rodeo Company’s Carolina Blue was a bit of an unknown. He had seen videos of the horse where it produced championship-winning rides and others where it was “pretty wild.”
Fortunately for Dallas, Carolina Blue was ready for action as the trip resulted in a score of 88 points to ease past Cole Elshere and Dawson Hay (86 points each) and win the round.
That set Dallas up for a less than enviable position going into the finals. At the event, short round pairings are decided by pulling a poker chip to determine who they’ll face. Because of his win in the long round, Dallas was the last person to draw.
His odds of ending up with the horse he wanted, Korkow Rodeos’ Joker Poker, were limited at best. Yet, with each pull, the name never came up.
“They kept picking horses and it got to the last four and I was like, ‘Well, there’s a 25 percent chance Joker Poker will be there.’ And then it was a 50 percent chance. And then I ended up being the last guy and I got it,” Dallas said. “I was a little nervous, but it ended up working out and got her rode.”
The 89-point effort easily won the finals over a three-way tie between Ben Anderson, Elsher and Hay (86.5 points each), securing Dallas’ biggest payday thus far.
Dallas hopes to keep the momentum rolling heading into the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., June 9-15. He helped New Mexico State win the Grand Canyon Region as a team, while individually capturing the saddle bronc region title. He’s one of 15 Aggies who will compete at the CNFR.
But before that, Dallas is back stateside for a ride in Window Rock, Ariz., and then back into Canada before coming back to the states yet again. It’s a formula that has worked well so far, so he has no plans of changing things now.
“We never really look at a map I guess,” Dallas joked about his travel plans. “That’s the cool part about rodeo. You get to see some beautiful country and places you never would otherwise.”
Courtesy of PRCA
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