With a little less than seven weeks left in the 2024 ProRodeo season, the pressure is on as Cooper Cooke looks to punch a ticket to his very first National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Cooke is the No. 6 bareback rider in the world and has a little over $125,000 in earnings this season. After having a slow July, he is back on track this month and gaining ground again in the PRCA World Standings.
At the beginning of July, Cooke was sitting in the No. 2 spot with $99,672 in earnings. Fast forward to the end of July, and he sat in the No. 6 spot with $116,740.
“Yeah, you know it was pretty tough. Tough draws, lot of traveling. My traveling partner had just got a little bit bummed up, so I was making one 10-hour drive somewhere, getting on a not so good horse, turning around, driving 10 more hours somewhere else,” Cooke said. “It was a little mentally draining, but I think it was good for me because that was kind of the point where I was like, well maybe my head space isn’t the best. So, I just kind of started thinking positive and doing all that….Talking to my family and that had helped me a lot.”
Cooke is still sitting comfortably in the No. 6 spot in the World Standings and has already earned more than $10,000 in the month of August. If he keeps it up through August and September, the Thomas and Mack will be calling his name.
Since Aug. 1, Cooke has won three rodeos, The War Bonnet Round Up (Idaho), the Jerome County Fair and Rodeo (Idaho), and the Cache County Fair and Rodeo (Utah).
To kick it off, he won $3,032 in Idaho Falls, where he rode for 88 points on Korkow Rodeo’s Tator Tot. Shortly after, he traveled to Jerome where he made an 87-point ride on Trail Ryder of Corey & Lange Rodeo. That winning ride earned the cowboy a little over $2,000.
Last week in Logan, Utah, Cooke was matched up with Legacy Pro Rodeo’s Rosie’s Flight. He made an impressive 87.5-point ride and pocketed a big $5,600 paycheck.
After doing his homework and watching a video of Richmond Champion riding Rosie’s Flight, Cooke was less than impressed with his draw; however, he decided that turning out was not an option and that decision paid off.
“I showed up there, and everyone’s telling me ‘Oh, that’s a good horse, like, it’s a bronc horse,’ and I’m like, ‘really?’” he said. “So, I went and looked at the stock stats and they had won Pleasant Grove on it, they were 85 on it somewhere else, 84, 83, so after seeing that my confidence just kind of went up and I was like alright, yeah, maybe I have a chance.”
Despite the pressure of this year’s rodeo season coming to a close, Cooke is not cracking.
“(I’m) not really (doing anything specific to handle the pressure). Just showing up to rodeos, and doing what I do every time. Hanging out with my friends, having a ball, just living my dream life.”
