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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 22 May 2010.
Steered in the right direction: High-schooler Cody Taffer riding success at rodeo
Cody Taffer and his quarter horse Star will be competing in steer wrestling and roping finals in the Georgia high school competitions. (Curt Habraken/The Mountain Press)
By GAIL CRUTCHFIELD
Community Editor
Between graduating high school and heading off to the Army, Sevier County High School senior Cody Taffer will first see if he can win state and national titles in steer wrestling.
Cody, 18, will compete for the Georgia state title over Memorial Day weekend in Perry, Ga., and for the national title in Gillette, Wyo., the third week of July.
The son of Dale and Ronda Taffer has grown up around rodeos. His dad competed for about eight years and is a farrier.
When he was young, Cody joined in the activities held for children, such as mutton busting. But after he got too old to wrangle a sheep, he became a spectator rather than a participator, at least for a while.
A few years ago, Dale Taffer began judging youth rodeos and Cody went along.
“When he started judging these youth rodeos, I decided I would get into bull riding and bare back riding and chute dogging,” Cody said. Chute dogging, he and his father explained, is similar to steer wrestling, except you don’t use a horse. The competitor and the steer are both in a bucking chute, with the competitor holding on to the steer’s horns. Once the chute is opened, the competitor must hold on as the steer tries to get away and put the steer down as soon as possible.
It was at a chute dogging competition that Cody first tried his hand at a rodeo, and without his parents’ knowledge.
“I was called to judge a youth rodeo and I could only judge the first night,” Dale Taffer said. “He went to the rodeo that second night that I wasn’t judging and signed up on his own. One of the parents called me while I was judging (another show) and said, did you know that Cody has entered.”
He was surprised on several levels, first that his son signed up, second by wondering how he paid the entry fee.
“One of the parents gave him the money and he ended up winning,” Taffer said. “So it just started from there.”
“Dad called me after my first chute dogging,” Cody said. “He goes, ‘If mom asks, I had nothing to do with it.’”
In 2009, Cody won the championship for the chute dogging at one rodeo and reserve champion at another. This year he’s ranked second in Georgia, earning him a guaranteed spot at the nationals.
There were a few bumps and even more bruises on the way. Cody has suffered his fair share of injuries, including a broken ankle when a bull stepped on him and a concussion that lasted for four weeks. It was the concussion that convinced Cody to give up bull and bareback riding.
He fell and landed on his back his first time in a bareback riding competition, stunning him for a moment to the point he couldn’t feel his legs. He did get up after a short time and got ready to get on another horse.
“As soon as I got up, I had to be on another one,” he said.
He’s also been dragged down the arena — twice in one week.
Concentrating on steer wrestling, his father said, seemed to be the safer option for his son, so they purchased a new horse specifically trained for steer wrestling. They’ve been competing throughout the school year at high school competitions in Georgia.
They chose the Georgia high school circuit, Dale Taffer said, because those competitions are actually closer than those held in Tennessee. The closest Tennessee high school rodeo competitions is six hours away. For Georgia events, however, six hours is the farthest they would have to drive.
This year, Dale Taffer said he estimates they’ve traveled about 6,500 miles to competitions.
“Cody has to maintain a grade point average just like a football player,” Dale Taffer said. “They have to have permission from the school. It’s the same deal as any athlete. But naturally, we pay for everything, all the entry fees, traveling expenses.”
If he can win the state title next weekend, some of those expenses will be covered to go to the national competition in Wyoming. He could also earn scholarships from colleges or sponsors, Dale Taffer said.
Steer wrestling gives its competitors up to 30 seconds to get the 500- to 700-pound steer to the ground, but most riders need only a fraction of that time.
“A good winning time is around 6 seconds,” he said. “Cody’s best time has been a 7.4, which is really a good time.”
Cody said he really can’t explain what it feels like to jump off a galloping horse and basically tackle a steer weighing at least three times your weight.
“I really don’t know, it just goes by so quick,” he said.
Once he and his horse Star and the steer are released from their chutes, they’re going about 30-40 mph when Cody has to jump off to the side of horse and grab the steer by its horns. Then he must wrestle the animal to the ground using brute strength.
Cody said steer wrestling seems more difficult than chute dogging, where you don’t use a horse.
“Because you have to slide off and catch ’em, and hitting the ground ain’t fun,” he said.
gcrutchfield@themountainpress.com
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Abt 1991 - (~ 33 years)