Farr ready to test his skills at national rodeo competition
Daxton Farr, right, and rodeo roping partner Noah Ashbaugh spent the past year on the junior high rodeo circuit qualifying for the upcoming National Junior High Finals Rodeo Finals June 23-29 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Daxton Farr has always had a little bit of cowboy in him.
At age 3, he would sit in the living room with his dad, Fred, who was a big rodeo guy himself and watch a rodeo. Donning his cowboy hat and sitting on his rocking horse, Daxton would watch intently, even as he roped a toy steer that was only three inches tall.
“He’d sit and watch roping on TV, and he’d be roping that tiny steer, just like on TV,” Fred Farr said of his son, a Hiland Middle School student. “He’d make this little ‘shwsh, shwsh, shwsh’ sound to emulate the roping sound.”
That was the beginning of a love affair for Daxton Farr that has seen him work hard to develop his roping skills, a work ethic that has taken him to the National Junior High Finals Rodeo June 23-29 in Des Moines, Iowa. Farr will join his team roping partner Noah Ashbaugh from Lancaster, Pa. as they try to wrangle up a championship.
However, win or lose, Farr said he is going to cherish the experience to the fullest.
“I’m going to go out there, have fun and learn,” Farr said. “One thing I do is pay attention and watch other people and learn from what they are doing. That’s one way I think I can get a lot better. I want to do well, but at the same time I want to just enjoy the experience.”
In team roping, two members on horseback must successfully rope the neck and back legs of a steer that doesn’t want to get roped. Farr is the header, meaning he ropes the head, while Ashbaugh, who is the heeler, ropes the hind legs.
The event can be over in a matter of a few seconds if done properly, so it takes great concentration, attention to detail and a whole lot of practice to perfect the art.
“It’s about being focused once the competition starts,” Farr said.
The duo qualified for nationals by competing in a series of seasonal rodeo events all around Ohio, where they accumulated enough points to qualify in the top four, earning the final spot on the final event of the year.
“We were right on the bubble, and we knew it was going to be close,” Farr said. “We had a big effort and caught both times well in the second or third weekend that really helped us.”
This is Farr’s first season in the NJHFR circuit, and he said it didn’t take long to settle into the routine although he’s been involved with youth rodeo since he was 5 years old.
“I know I’ve still got a lot to learn,” Farr said. “I really like to study the action and pay attention to little details that I know will make me better.”
It’s a matter of trust
Trust between two people is paramount to developing a wonderful relationship where they can rely on one another without a second thought.
But what about when one of the beings in the relationship has four legs?
Farr said developing the trust with his partner Noah Ashbaugh is critical but creating that trust between himself and his trusty steed J.J. is every bit as important.
“That relationship is so important,” Farr said. “You’ve got to create a trusting relationship and learn the tendencies of your horse. We do a lot together, and J.J. and I have been together for five years. He’s part of the family.”
The Ice Man cometh
In a frantic exercise like team roping where fractions of seconds are critical, it may seem that a rider would be tensed up and on edge at all times.
However, that simply isn’t Farr’s style.
While his parents sit in the stands chewing nails and becoming nervous for their son, Farr is as calm as a Bahama beach on a perfect day.
“He’s got ice in his veins,” Fred Farr said.
“I never get too worked up,” Farr said. “I’ll just do my best one steer at a time, and I’ll do whatever I can to set myself up for success and achieve bigger things.”
Communication is the key
Before roping, the two partners talk at length about the steer they will be chasing down. Farr said communication is paramount in executing properly, but one thing he does is study each steer as much as possible to pick up any tendencies that might give them an edge.
“Every steer runs different, and you have to know which one you drew so you’re prepared because they all break different,” Farr said.
Family fun is part of the joy
While competing is exhilarating, one other aspect of the rodeo circuit is the family fun that accompanies it. Farr said the participants are great and all pull for each other, which creates a family atmosphere, but being with his mom and dad and enjoying time together doing something they all enjoy is also part of the joy.