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Champions Profile
And Then There Was One by Melinda Clements
#15
Shoot-Out Roping 2011 USTRC National Champions
W
hat is the song, “To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe?” Change involves courage, commitment, focus and the determination to face the impossible. We all get in our comfort zone and many are never willing to move. Speed Williams told Manny Cunde a long, long time ago he should be a header. He was a natural at it and it was his calling. “I should have listened to him,” Cunde said. “I’ve been a heeler since I was a kid and it felt good but it wasn’t exactly right. I always had access to good head horses and I thought why not use them. It was then I made the commitment to use what I had and put in the hard work needed to make it all come together. I love being a header.” It takes perseverance. Perseverance is something heeler Rodney Melton is very familiar with as well. He knows about hanging on and how to keep trying, putting one foot in front of another until you begin to see daylight. Melton had been coming to the Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping for twelve, maybe thirteen years and he had never once made the short go round. It was a first for Melton and partner Cunde to be the high team back going into the short go round of the #15 Shoot-Out at the 2011 Cinch NFTR. As you talk about hanging on, both ropers were in a place they really never thought they would be. No doubt, it felt really good. And they were, indeed, hanging on and hanging on tight. Cunde and Melton were the high team coming back for the short go round of the #15 Shoot-Out. The thirty teams coming
26 / AUGUST 2012
Manny Cunde & Rodney Melton
back were focused on a cash purse of $267,700. The winning team would take home $68,100 as well as Martin Championship Trophy saddles, Gist Championship Gold Trophy buckles, Tony Lama Ostrich boots and Western Horseman Collectors Buckles. The key for Cunde and Melton was to rope like they had roped all day. Use some common sense, stay focused and determined and don’t do anything stupid. USTRC announcer, Ferron Lucero had explained it in a very short phrase, “Over analysis leads to paralysis.” The analyzing was over and it was time to rope and rope like you knew how to rope. “I just wanted to get a good start out of the box, rope our steer right and let Rodney do his job,” Cunde explained. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. We had roped well all day. We just had one more steer to go.” “I was so proud to be the high team coming back in the short go round,” Melton commented. “It was the first time ever for me at the National Finals. I had put a lot of work into getting to this point and it had taken a long time.” Melton