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Rodeo Ready: All-Around Roper, Chet Weitz
132 Plays2 years ago
Listen as Team Justin’s own, Chet Weitz, mentions what it would be like to hunt with Tiger Woods and shares his story about what it’s like being a roper on the rodeo road and shares stories from his childhood growing up in ag on a hunting ranch. For a full episode transcript, visit our website at https://www.justinboots.com/en/kick-your-boots-up.html
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Transcript
Introduction to Western Stories
00:00:02
Speaker
You're listening to the kick your boots up podcast, where we swap stories of the West, whether you're just waking up or getting in for the day, come on in and kick your boots
Introducing Chet White, New Justin Endorsee
00:00:12
Speaker
up. This week's episode of the kick your boots up podcast is one of my favorites. So far, we get to introduce a new Justin and Dorsey Chet whites. Chet is an incredible cowboy. And I've got to say honestly, before I tell you all about him,
00:00:27
Speaker
His record is incredible for him being new to the PRCA. I've got it commended, but let's get started with his introduction.
Chet's Early Life and Influences
00:00:36
Speaker
From London, Texas, Chet White grew up on a ranch where he got to have the ultimate hunting experience with his dad being a hunting guide and taking people on guided hunts. What a cool experience. I can't wait to get to know more about that.
00:00:49
Speaker
Something that I thought was pretty interesting about Chet is his mom is a pretty good and well-known team roper, and that's really interesting in the rodeo world. He gets to have that experience with his dad as well, but then his mom is kind of the one that has lots and lots of buckles, has done all the things, helped him out along the way. High school rodeo, college rodeo, both his mom and him got to do that.
Joining Team Justin and Excitement for Rodeo Journey
00:01:10
Speaker
So that's pretty incredible. Chet, congratulations on joining team Justin, and thank you for taking the time to be with us on the Kick Your Boots Up podcast.
00:01:19
Speaker
Yes, ma'am. Well, thank you all so much for having me and I greatly appreciate it. And I look forward to it. I'm super excited. Of course, we're excited too. And speaking of excitement, there's a lot for you going on. We're, we're in August right now. So, um, the summer runs behind us, we're getting ready to gear up. We're cheering you on for NFR. Let's kind of talk through your life and your background and back it up a little bit and tell us about where you got started and how you got started and what your life was like growing up. Yes, ma'am. So.
00:01:47
Speaker
My dad, he grew up in Louisiana and he didn't have much to do with, you know, cattle or roping or anything like that. Well, as he grew older, uh, he wanted to branch and do stuff like that. And he loved to hunt. He always hunted and, uh, he, he just always wanted to do cattle. So he ended up moving back to Sonora and London and our place. And then my mom, she always wrote, she grew up roping and.
00:02:13
Speaker
Like you said, she was a good team Roper is, you know, everybody I always talk to, they're like, your mom used to head so good. And she still does, but I guess it was way better back then. And, um, you know, they, they came together and my dad wanted to ranch and my mom always roped and, you know, they met and ended up having a family and, you know, just kind of started off ranching and
Early Roping Achievements and Progression
00:02:34
Speaker
stuff like that. Well, you know, I started swinging a rope when I was like, I want to say like 16 months old, uh,
00:02:42
Speaker
You know, going to rope in the dummy, doing all sorts of stuff. I won my first saddle when I was three at the Las Vegas dummy rope and deal that they have out there at the NFR. And, you know, I've just always grown up around it. My, we raised cattle and, you know, my mom always wrote, so she always pushed me to rope and I, she never really had to push me that much. I always just loved it and enjoyed it. And ever since then I've been hooked, started to open the dummy and started, you know, roping calves, roping steers and.
00:03:09
Speaker
It just kind of took off from there and, you know, it always went through the junior high, high school ranks, college ranks, and now the professional ranks. And so I was super excited and, you know, just, it was always a blessing that my parents always helped me, helped me out and pushed me to ranch and to rope at the same time.
00:03:29
Speaker
Oh, yes. And what a good family you have. Um, let's kind of talk about them just for a little bit. I know, uh, when I was preparing for this interview and getting to talk with you, I was talking with Darla Fisher and she had the most funny story to, to tell about how, I guess you would have been three years old. You just said, you know, it was when you won your saddle, the dummy rope and it was against like four to six to eight year olds, you know? Um, but I'm genuinely curious for you, your first saddle that you won, was it big size or was it for a three year old when you were three?
00:03:57
Speaker
Oh, it was definitely for the year old. I think I have it right now and I don't think I can even get like one leg over it. We still have it at the house. Yeah, I know it's it's a little bitty saddle. Yes, ma'am.
00:04:08
Speaker
A lot of fun thing that'll be to have one day when you get to pass it on to your kids. What a fun story that is too. I love that so much. I want to talk more about your experience getting started with Dummy Ropin because I feel like now the sport or event of Dummy Ropin has grown and become what it is today. You can't go to a Western event in the industry and not have some kind of
00:04:31
Speaker
Go rope in dummy rope and something pop up and happen. So how do you think, how important was, was it for you to get started there, to get the, the slowing it down, getting the basics, especially at such a young age. How important was that?
Importance of Dummy Roping in Skill Development
00:04:43
Speaker
It was, it was a very good, you know, you got a lot of reps in when you were young and you don't realize that until you're older. You know, I wrote the dummy all the time and I'll go ahead and throw another funny story out there where you would, so my mom and dad would be at rope ins and they'd be roping and stuff.
00:04:59
Speaker
You know, I don't know if my sister was born at the time, but she might've been real young, but I would, my mom would like, here, here's a dummy, go rope. And she would like, just let me go rope the dummy while they were roping. And, uh, I would, I would come up, I forget who I did it to, but I was like, Hey, do you mind if I borrow, you know, $4 or whatever? And they're like, yeah, here you go. Whatever. They thought I was going by like a strike while I was going by going rope the dummy. We were matching on the fast lane and, uh,
00:05:29
Speaker
ended up winning a bunch of money and gave it back to him and stuff. And, you know, I did that forever. And it was so important, you know, you don't realize it at the time. I just loved open the dummy. I was very competitive. And so all the friends and people that I grew up with, you know, guys that are going to the NFR now, we we started off for open the dummy and having matches and stuff like that. And it's just crazy to kind of look back on that. And, you know, it was just so important. You know, you don't understand that you're getting reps in and
00:05:58
Speaker
just roping it down me and it just, you know, it started off, started me off where I could actually rope, maybe not off forceback at the time to do it correctly on foot. And so that's what I found out was really important for me later on in life.
00:06:15
Speaker
I like your outlook there. That's super interesting that you appreciate the opportunity that you had as a kid to get the reps in because yes, anyone that has even tried to become any type of Roper alert has learned that you have to start slow. You have to start at the dummy before you can even get anything that moves or even try to track a calf. So, or steer. Um, so that's really, really cool. I, I appreciate that and admire that, that you're an advocate for it as well. And what a fun story too, to be able to say, you know what? I started gambling when I was three years old and I was really good at it. So that's
Influence of Hunting on Rodeo Skills
00:06:44
Speaker
really cool.
00:06:44
Speaker
So kind of going back a little bit to your family aspect, I know that you're very outdoorsy. You're an avid hunter. You get to do a lot of things outside and your dad having the opportunity to do the hunting guides. Um, I'm just genuinely curious. Do you ever get to help him on those guided tours or guided hunts? Yes, ma'am. Yeah. I do all the time. I, I love hunting. You know, if I didn't rope or do anything, I'd probably be hunting fishing all the time.
00:07:08
Speaker
And, uh, I boat hunt and, you know, just, I just love hunting a lot. And, uh, you know, my dad started out, we had, he, him and my grandpa bought the ranch in London and started out, you know, just kind of doing it for family. And then it kind of turned into more of a job than, than having a few people over that are family to come hunt. And so he kind of started, you know, breeding deer and doing deer hunts and, uh,
00:07:37
Speaker
You know, I, I greatly enjoy that. I love seeing the process of the deer breed and, uh, you know, helping them along. And it just, uh, it means a lot. And I just, I like it a lot. I love hunting. It's a challenge. I like being challenged in life too. And, uh, it's a, it's a lot of fun for me. I haven't got to help you in the last couple of years, you know, besides a couple of weekends, because I've been in college and doing stuff and going to rodeos, but.
00:08:04
Speaker
You know, I just graduated college, so I think I'm going to get to help him a lot more and go back. You know, if I'm not rodeo and hopefully not there in December, but we'll hopefully that'll come when it comes. But yeah, I know I enjoy it a lot, so I'm super super excited to do it.
00:08:20
Speaker
And I've got to say congratulations, by the way, on your graduation from Texas Tech in May. That was so, um, just so inspirational for a lot of people to be able to have, to be able to be really good at rodeo, but then also have that degree to follow back on, to fall back on. But before we move on to talk about that, I do want to ask a few more questions about the hunting because my husband says he's, he's an avid hunter. He loves to deer hunt deer. And he says that like, as a child, he just like discovered himself in the woods and.
00:08:46
Speaker
Even now, when life gets too fast and too crazy, he loves to just go sit in the quiet. So how do you think hunting has helped your, your calf Robin and your team rope in game? Uh, it's helped me a lot. I, uh, when I was young, I grew up with a little red rider, BB gun. And, uh, you know, you go hump birds or you have to sneak up on a bird in a tree and, you know, have to go do this and have a lot of patients and, you know, I,
00:09:13
Speaker
And like you said, at the same time, you know, ready on so fast and life is so fast. And so it's so nice to sometimes not, you know, don't take your phone to the stand or when you're hunting or, you know, kind of get away from everything. And it's so, so beautiful to see nature and wildlife and stuff. And it's just, like you said, it's, it's helped me a lot with patience as well.
00:09:37
Speaker
you know, not to get angry or not to get too excited or too sad, you know, kind of stay in a happy medium and patience, patience is key when hunting and to control your emotions as well. And so that's helped me a lot with not only rodeo, but life in general as well.
00:09:56
Speaker
I couldn't agree more lessons from the deer stand or, or the tree stand, you know, in, in general and life from the woods, that's the best way to live. Um, and I'm genuinely curious there too, because there's probably been an opportunity for some more elite people to come to your guys's ranch and hunt. And we don't need to name drop or anything, but for you, what would it be cool personally to be able to do to, um, be able to hunt with anyone? What celebrity would you pick? How awesome would that be? What, what would be
Dream Hunting Experience with Tiger Woods
00:10:22
Speaker
like your dream hunt? Oh gosh. I don't know.
00:10:26
Speaker
Um, my dream hunt would probably be, I don't know. I don't know if Tiger Woods hunts or not, but I would like to have Tiger. I think I could learn a lot from him. It would be more about learning than about hunting for sure. You know, he's such a good, uh, good, good athlete. You know, he learned to control his emotions and.
00:10:52
Speaker
learn to not let one shot affect game and golf is so hard. And it feels like, I feel like as rodeo people, we rodeo and golf, which are the two hardest things on our, on our mind and our body. And, uh, you know, I think you would have a lot of knowledge and it would be, it'd be really cool to learn from him, especially in a competitive standpoint.
00:11:13
Speaker
Oh yeah. And he's always got people watching him all the time. And that's very similar to PRCA. Now that you've gone pro, you know, you're, you're kind of held to this different standard. And so that's, I love that. What a good answer. I would have probably said somebody like Luke Bryan or somebody. So that's cool. Tiger Woods. I love that. But moving on further, we do need to start talking more about rodeo and your future
Horse Care and Travel Routine
00:11:32
Speaker
plans. Obviously you're, you're kind of a,
00:11:34
Speaker
an all-around cowboy per se, you're a team roper, calf roper, you know, um, but I've got to ask more about the horses aspect because, um, calf roping and team roping are very different. There's calves there. So you're going to, it seems similar, but, um, when you actually start breaking it down and getting competitive in both, is it important for you to ride the same horse or different horses? Tell us about the horses that you get to compete on.
00:11:56
Speaker
So I have different horses that I head and calf rope off of. And like you said, it, it, it takes a lot more for sure because I have to have, you know, three horses in each event. And so like I have, I have, uh, all my horses are kind of older seasoned horses. I didn't really, I went ahead and bought a couple of older horses as well. That way, you know, out on the road, there are a lot more seasoned, but I have three head horses. One's Ben Johnson, Spider-Man and Nightlinger.
00:12:25
Speaker
And then those are my main three. And then I have two main calf horses and my main calf horses, Montany and Mike. And, you know, it, it, uh, it takes a lot, especially doing two events to go down the road. You have to have double the horses, double the expenses, double the feed and stuff like that. And, you know, force power is such a, such a big deal.
00:12:49
Speaker
And you can't, you can't really get by with just one good horse. You have to have multiple and being two events, you have to have double that. So it's a, it's a, it takes a lot and I'm sure I'm blessed with good horse power. Yes, ma'am.
00:13:04
Speaker
Oh, without a doubt. And that was good that you got to name them, give them all their, their shout outs too. And one thing I'm curious, we were lucky enough to catch you on a day off where you're traveling in between rodeos. How do you keep your mind settled? Your horses settled in between the transition? Cause it's not like you get to go to a rodeo on the West coast, go home back to Texas and then go back to the West coast. You're obviously traveling most of the summer, most of the year. So talk, tell us about your day to day, whenever you're traveling, how you keep everything normal and your routine, good, your head, good, all of it.
00:13:34
Speaker
Yes, ma'am. I like to, uh, stay really positive, you know, throughout the day, whether if I wake up, you know, I thank God that, you know, he's blessed me with another day, whether it goes good or bad, you know, a saying that I have is every day is a good day. Some are just better than others. And so my routine, you know, I wake up, I'm just blessed to be able to do what I'm doing. And, uh, it depends on like, if we're at a rodeo, like right now today, we're, you know, I'm in between rodeos. We came from Reno. We're going to press get.
00:14:04
Speaker
And it's nice to have a little bit of a break. So we're kind of reorganizing the trailer, getting things done for what we need to do over the fourth. And given our horses a little bit of a break, we'll pony them and, you know, take care of them, give them baths, stuff like that, and kind of keep them exercised, but give them a break. That way, you know, when they're going down the road, it's so, so hard on them to
00:14:30
Speaker
stand in a trailer for so long. And it's, you know, we get out and walk them while we're traveling and stuff. That way they can stretch out and we water them and take really good care of them. But it's super nice right now. Like you said, we have a couple of days in between radios to, you know, just let them rest. And that's a big deal.
00:14:50
Speaker
I loved whenever we would travel to like to national the national high school finals or whatever I loved getting able being able to find a spot and get the horses out let them walk let them roam whatever. So that's really cool that you guys do that as well, and just to make sure that they stay ready and stay on their best best.
00:15:07
Speaker
performances as well as, you know, just to make sure that they're ready to go. But, um, along those same lines, how important is it for you to have like a daily feeding regimen, um, a daily routine with supplements, all of that stuff, um, just to keep them, you know, legged up and ready. Yes, ma'am. No, it's very important to, uh, to keep them on the same program. You know, you try to keep them on the same program that you are at home. You know, you try to feed by call it.
00:15:33
Speaker
you know, eight o'clock in the morning, or if you have to rope that morning, you feed it six or, you know, you, you try to keep them on the same program. It's hard to, especially when you're going to rodeos and they have late night slacks or early morning slacks or late night perfs and stuff like that. But it is very important to try to keep them on the same routine, um, morning and night when you're traveling on the road at a rodeo or just hanging out because
00:15:59
Speaker
You know, it's just like us. If you know you wake up and you have your coffee every morning, that's what you're going to want to do. And that's what the horses are going to want is to be fed every morning, kind of about the same time. So you got to treat them just like you would treat yourself as well.
00:16:12
Speaker
Yes, and I think that's a big misconception, a lot of people don't realize that. You rodeo guys and gals you guys take care of your horses better than you take care of yourselves either fed before you eat they're gone there to the vet before you go to the doctor so. yeah that's that's very good to hear that but kind of moving on to the future goals, I know your future is so bright and i'm just shocked that you were able to even.
00:16:34
Speaker
College and rodeo at the same do college and rodeo at the same time that was a lot because college is very hard and rodeo is very hard so I commend you there. But it's no it's no doubt to us that you have a very bright future ahead of you you have you know big goals you set them high.
Rodeo Goals and Injury Recovery
00:16:49
Speaker
What do you think and what are your goals for this year and then maybe for the next five years the future of rodeo for you. Oh gosh so my.
00:16:58
Speaker
My goals this year, you know, is to make the finals in calf roping and team roping along with that to win the rookie, you know, calf roping, team roping and all around. And that's my goals. You know, I kind of got set back a little bit in the beginning of this spring with my shoulder and stuff.
00:17:19
Speaker
You know, I've had quite a few people that have been encouraging me and I've stayed positive. You know, something else could have happened besides my shoulder too. And so my, you know, my goals never changed, even though I was setting out for three or four months, it never changed. And I still believe that I can make the finals this year in both. And I'm super excited for it. I've got a great team up and partner that, you know, my goal has never changed this year.
00:17:46
Speaker
For five years, you know, down the road, I, you know, it's kind of the, kind of the same thing. You know, I look to just strive to be better and, you know, hopefully win the world, make the finals this year, you know, do the same the next five years and continue to be a better person and follow God more as well. And, you know, just continue to progress my roping as well.
00:18:10
Speaker
Wow. That's so good. I'm so excited for you. I know that your head's screwed on straight. You're going to get there. And I'm so glad you brought up about your shoulder injury too, because that could have been an opportunity to let yourself get down, to let the negative talk, even to let Satan come in and tell you that you couldn't do it, but you didn't, you rebuked him and you overcame. And so talk about your experience there for a little bit, because that had to have been so hard. Yeah, it was tough. I've, uh, I've been working on my walk with God by the past.
00:18:39
Speaker
year, like a lot more than I have normally. And, uh, you know, I had really good friends behind me in college. We kind of started a little Bible study group and it was, uh, it helped me through a lot as well. You know, usually, so I guess to rewind, I had my shoulder surgery or shoulder issue right before San Antonio. And I roped at San Antonio. I dislocated it and tore my labrum, roped at San Antonio, and then had surgery right after for people that don't know. And, uh,
00:19:09
Speaker
You know, I was out for four months. Reno was my first rodeo to enter since then. And, you know, it was, it would have been really easy to get down on myself and tell myself, oh, I don't have a chance this year, or I may not be able to rodeo this year. And I never, it's kind of weird. I never really looked at it like that. You know, I went, I went a couple of days where I was pretty down about it right after it happened, you know, thinking I wasn't going to be able to rodeo.
00:19:37
Speaker
I never really told myself that, you know, I was, I was done or, you know, I think God really, you know, put his hand over me and allowed me to be positive in that aspect because I was kind of, I was kind of surprised at myself as well for not being as negative, you know, a lot more positive in it. And, uh, I was just, you know, I tried to look at the positive side, you know, I could have got hurt going somewhere. My horses could have got hurt going somewhere.
00:20:04
Speaker
you know, somewhere I wanted to go or this or that, you know, something else worse could have happened to me or my horses or friends or family. And, you know, I looked at it at that point of view and it kind of stuck, you know, seeing everybody go to Fort Worth or Boston, I mean, and all the radios in California and everybody making the college finals and just kind of sitting back and watching it. But I, like I said, I thank God really.
00:20:34
Speaker
put his hand on me and let me stay positive throughout that whole process. And I had surgery on Saturday and therapy on Tuesday, and I worked my butt off to try to get back, you know, in three and a half months to be bagged by Reno. And the good Lord blessed me to be back. And I just can't be happier to be out here rodeoing. So it was difficult, but it was good. I really enjoyed it. I got to do a lot of things I probably wouldn't have
00:21:01
Speaker
Got to have done if I would have been rodeo and you know got to hang with some friends and spend some quality time with family and I was super blessed about that. Yes ma'am.
00:21:11
Speaker
That is so needed. It's crazy how, um, we make a plan for ourselves and then God laughs, right? Like you thought you're on track. You're going to have a soup. You're going to get prepped for the summer. It's going to be really good. You're going to go through stocks or stock show season. And, um, he just said, ha ha, I have a plan for you. It's just, you know, up to it. Like, are you going to follow it? And, um, I think that was really honestly, the best thing that you could have done for yourself.
Faith and Positivity in Overcoming Challenges
00:21:32
Speaker
So it's so exciting to see the future for you because you've been so diligent. You've been working hard. I know you were doing all the physical therapy you could to get back on and
00:21:40
Speaker
Reno was a pretty good success for you. I'm not going to lie. Like it was pretty good. So it's looking so good. Um, especially with the season coming to an end very, very soon in September, there's a lot of money to be won. Lots of more opportunities still to be had. And here at Justin, we are so excited for you. We wish you the very best of luck. We know you're going to do awesome. And we're so proud that you're on team Justin, of course.
00:22:02
Speaker
Um, but before we go, we want you to have the opportunity to, um, allow everyone out there to kind of hear your story and see your story too. So where can we follow you on social media? Where can we keep up with you on the day to day travels of rodeo? Yes, ma'am. So my, my Instagram is shut whites 11. And you know, I, I, I don't post a whole lot, so I'm trying to get better about that posting, you know, where I'm at, what rodeos I'm going to my schedule. And you know, like you said, day to day life and Facebook as well. Uh,
00:22:31
Speaker
You know, I, I try to keep everybody in the loop. I didn't realize how important that was until, you know, here recently. And so, uh, that's, that's kind of where you can follow me and, and kind of go along our day. And, you know, I'm super excited that y'all allowed me to be on team Justin and I can't wait to represent y'all. And I'm just super excited about it. I love, you know, what y'all are and y'all's products and who y'all stand for. And, you know, y'all mean a lot to me and I greatly appreciate it.
00:23:01
Speaker
Oh, of course it's, you're, you're an easy pick for our team here because you, you stand for all the same core values that we do as well. So I know that, um, it's going to be a very, very good partnership and we're excited to cheer you on along the way really quick. Before we go, I've got to ask, well, what's your piece of advice that you'd like to give to anyone that wants to get started in rodeo or maybe they're in a rut in rodeo. What advice would you tell them?
Advice for Aspiring Ropers
00:23:25
Speaker
My advice would be to.
00:23:29
Speaker
You have to keep going, even if people tell you you can't. So like, that's what I live off of people that tell me I can't do something or, you know, sometimes almost like kind of make up a scenario that says, you know, somebody said, I can't do it. So I'm going to try to do it. And the thing is, you know, if you're trying to get into roping or in a rut in roping, you know, you can't get too high and you can't get too low. You have to stay that.
00:23:58
Speaker
positive, happy medium and you have to put God first and you know, God will bless you if you put him first and I've been super blessed and I just, I think hard work, you know, it's, it sounds so simple, hard work, but it, it, you know, it, it really is. If you put, if you put the hard work in and you put the work in and you, and you try and you, you really, really want it, you know, you will get there, you know, it,
00:24:28
Speaker
Michael Jordan, he got cut from his high school basketball team. And he put the work in and he made it. If you look at Michael Jordan, you never would have thought that. You would have thought he would have got drafted first round NBA pick, stuff like that. But he kept working and he put the work in and that's what I try to do. I put God first, put the work in, don't get too high, don't get too low. And you stay the happy medium and God will bless you, so.
00:24:57
Speaker
Wow. Well said. It's hard to believe that you're so young. That's really great advice. And someone out there really did need to hear it. I think I got a little piece of, of something from that too. So Chet, thank you again.
Support from Justin for Chet's Future
00:25:08
Speaker
We wish you the very best of luck as you cross the finish line, headed to the NFR we'll be cheering you on. And, um, we're just so excited for you. Everyone here at Justin will be praying for you, cheering you on and, and supporting you all along the way. Well, thank y'all so much. And, you know, I'm like I said, I'm super excited to represent y'all and I can't thank y'all enough.
00:25:27
Speaker
Thank you, Chet. Thanks for joining us on Kick Your Boots Up. I'm your host, Taylor McAdams, and we can't wait to share the next story of the West. Until then, feel free to like, subscribe, and leave us a review. Follow us on social media at Justin Boots to keep up with our next episode. And we'll see you the next time you kick your boots up.