Canadian cowboy Beau Cooper was the Resistol Rookie of the Year in the tie-down roping in 2021 with $48,309.
Cooper, who is just 20-years-old, rode a bunch of different horses this year. He started the season on a 13-year-old horse his parents own and won a majority of his money on it. In the second half of the season, he rode a horse named Seven owned by Shane Hanchey after his paint horse “kind of quit working” in July and August.
“I’ve been pretty fortunate (with my horsemanship), my dad, he used to train horses when he was younger....I’ve gotten to ride a lot of horses with a lot of people, I worked for a horse trainer at one point,” Cooper said. “And getting to go to Shane’s house, he’s big on horsemanship too.....That’s really all it’s been about, is making sure our feeling this best and working the best and you’re going to have the best opportunity to win.”
His highlights included in Puyallup, where he won a Go-Round in front of a packed house and Calgary, where he got to compete in front of his friends and alongside his cousins Zeke Thurson (saddle bronc riding) and Ryan Shuckburgh (steer wrestling). Cooper, who grew up about 200 miles from Calgary, also won $3,500 at The Stampede.
“Man, that was so fun,” he said. “It was pretty cool all of us being there. Growing up, you get to watch it on TV and go to it, so finally getting to rope under that big grandstand was pretty cool.”
