‘It pays all the bills’

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Jun 29, 2017 | Rodeo |

Rogers on track for 7th NFR

Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series featuring Navajo rodeo heroes Derrick Begay, Erich Rogers, Aaron Tsinigine and Kassidy Dennison.

WINDOW ROCK

By all indications Erich Rogers should be headed to his seventh Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in early December.

“We had a good winter season,” said Rogers, who is nearing the $1 million mark for total career earnings. “It started at Odessa and we did very good there and then we went to Fort Worth.”

They placed second in the average at the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas in early January with an aggregate of 9.8 seconds that paid them a total of $4,094 each. Later that month in Fort Worth they won the average race at the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, roping three draws in 16.0 seconds and picked up a big-time payout of $12,068.

In the month of February, they added another first place win at La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros in Tucson that was worth $9,545 with Rogers earning the all-around title. That win in Tucson was Rogers third title with the first two coming in back-to-back years starting in 2011 with then-partner Kory Koontz.

“We were drawing the right steers and that is what it came down to,” said Rogers, who added that their experience has been a key factor for their early success this past year.

“Cory and I did an outstanding job of connecting on the ones that we needed to and capitalizing on the crucial ones,” he said “It was great to get a lot of money won this past winter.”