Weekend Warrior: Round Rock cowboy stays active in rodeo scene

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The rodeo bug continues to motivate bareback rider Whystle Joe.

As a weekend warrior, the Round Rock, Ariz., cowboy is looking forward to hitting the rodeo trail despite having to commute from his union job in California.

“I’m trying to make if flexible to where I can rodeo and work at the same time,” Joe said. “I go back and forth, so I catch a lot of plane rides.

“I try to make it work as best as I can,” he added.

Joe said he’s a heavy equipment operator and although he’s based in California they send him all over the West Coast.

The 27 year-old made a trip to Page to compete in the K.E.Y Ranch INFR Tour Rodeo last week and he made it worthwhile by posting a top score of 76 points aboard Western Fields.

“I’ve never heard of it or seen it, but it was a pretty good horse to draw,” Joe said following his ride Saturday night.

“He had a lot of power, and it bucks,” he said. “It’s better to have a horse that can buck.”

Joe wasn’t sure if his score would hold as Sunday’s performance featured 2022 INFR world champ Steven Dewolfe.

The South Dakota cowboy took second as he posted a 71-point ride in the final performance of the K.E.Y. Ranch rodeo.

With a 70-point ride, Wyatt Betony took third while younger brother Cauy Betony placed fourth with a 69-point score. Ryan Nez Bitsui came in next with a 66-point effort.

Prior to the rodeo in Page, Joe was sitting fourth in the INFR Tour standings.

“I qualified for the Vegas already,” he said of the INFR, which will be held Oct. 24 to 28 at the South Point Equestrian Center.

Joe earned his qualification at the San Carlos Apache Tribe Spring Stampede INFR Tour Rodeo in mid-April.

Despite earning an automatic qualifier, Joe said he’s going to continue to rodeo for the rest of the summer.

“Even though I qualified, it’s just practice for Vegas,” Joe said. “I’m not going to stop just because I got qualified; I’m gonna keep going and do the best I can.”

With his automatic qualification, this will be Joe’s third trip to the INFR. In his debut in 2021, Joe finished fourth overall and last year he covered 2-of-4 horses.

“I’m happy to be going back,” he said. “I made the finals last year and I didn’t do so good. For me to go back I hope to fill in those gaps that I missed out on.”

At last year’s finals, Joe said he had a tough time completing his rides with the tough pen of horses they had.

“They were beating me up every day, so I didn’t have a good finish,” he said.

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