Ignacio’s Bodie Hine and a new roping partner have won a title at the United States Team Roping Championship.
Hine and Hali Williams, of Mineral Wells, Texas, won the No. 11 shoot-out competition at the national finals on Oct. 24 in Oklahoma City, taking home a $48,000 payout.
“It’s life-changing,” Hine said earlier this month from Arizona, where he is spending the winter with his family so he can compete in more roping competitions. “It’s good.”
Hine, 14, said he was nervous when he and his new partner were watching other teams compete after their runs. They had roped four head of cattle in 28.96 seconds.
Hine, the son of Richie and Jennifer Hine, has been riding and roping since he was a little kid, but team roping was always his best event, plus he likes the higher payouts in the sport.
“Everybody’s got their own adrenaline rush,” he said. “Roping is mine. I wasn’t as good at other things.”
He’s already a member of the Smarty Young Pro team, which is made up of the 80 best young ropers in the country. Hine said he plans to use his proceeds to buy another horse and continue entering competitions.
He thanked his local sponsor, Valley Feed and Ranch Supply in Gem Village, for supporting his competition.
Hine rode a 15-year-old mare he calls Cherokee.
Williams was aboard a 10-year-old roan gelding, Spiderman, that her dad bought from a customer. Her dad is eight-time Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association world champion header Speed Williams.
“Dad came home with this ugly roan, and me and mom were not happy,” William told Team Roping Journal. “He was so ugly, and he was probably 200 pounds underweight. After three months of Dad riding him, my mom took him. And my sixth-grade year, I had a big jackpot and my good horse couldn’t take all the runs. So I asked my mom if I could borrow the roan, and Mom hadn’t got back on him.”
Confirming that roping is a family affair, Bodie often competes with his brother, Chance, when they’re in Arizona.
