Surround yourself with Winners

Earlier this month I hosted a weekend of roping in Beggs, Oklahoma. I turned fifty in May and I wanted to have a roping. The day before the roping I hosted a roping clinic for anyone that wanted to come, and it was free of charge.

Ken Bailey is a two time World Champion calf roper and a reserve world champion team roper. The roping clinic was kind of his idea. Several months ago I talked to Ken about having a clinic the day before the roping. Ken said we ought to get Marty Brock and Rob Pierce to preach. He also wanted to do it free of charge to the students. So, that’s what we did, we had some preaching and some roping, and it didn’t cost anyone a dime.

I had several preregister in the weeks leading up to the clinic. However the morning of it, I was worried we weren’t going to have many show up, but it ended up with either thirty one or thirty three students in the roping clinic. I couldn’t keep everyone still long enough to get an accurate count.

At eleven am sharp Marty Brock, a world champion calf roper and very well known evangelist gave a short sermon. The gist of his message was learning to listen, listen to the instructors that day, but also listen when God is speaking to you. I thought it was a wonderful message.

A several other World Champion cowboys were coaches. Rob Pierce is a former World Champion and he preached while we were taking a short break between the roping and tying.

Jack Foreman and his daughter Jimmie Beth Hefner helped coach, both world champions. Randy French helped, he has owned and trained some of the best roping horses over the last fifty years.

I didn’t say much to the students during the clinic. I just let all the coaches do the talking. Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect on it I wish I’d said one thing to the students.

All of my life I’ve been able to get help from some of the best there is in rodeo, and all I’ve had to do was ask. Whether it was calf roping, team roping, or bull dogging I was fortunate to learn from guys that are in the hall of fame. Ken Bailey has helped both of my kids anytime they needed it. The same is true for so many others.

I’m fifty years old now and I’ve learned one thing in my life, people that have been really successful are always willing to help others.

I’ve never been told no by a winner. On the other hand most of the criticism I’ve been given over the years has came from people that haven’t accomplished much. If I could back to the clinic I would emphasize to the students, surround yourself with winners, it will rub off on you.

James Lockhart lives near the Kiamichi mountains in southeast Oklahoma.

He writes cowboy stories and fools with cows and horses.