Rising temperatures mean rising bank balances for Zack Jongbloed.
Jongbloed owns a FunJump waterslide business in his hometown of Iowa, Louisiana, which cranks up the profits in the summertime.
The tie-down roper and steer wrestler also makes a good living in ProRodeo, where the summer is equally critical to your bottom line.
Jongbloed kicked off the lucrative summer season with a win at the Woodward (Okla.) Elks Rodeo on June 10, after tying down a calf in 7.7 seconds, three-tenths ahead of his nearest competitor. The win at the Playoff Series rodeo was worth $3,787.
“I had kind of a slow winter, so to place good at a couple of rodeos the first week of summer gives us something to build on,” Jongbloed, 24, said. He also won third in Eagle, Idaho, bringing his weekend earnings to $5,975.
Jongbloed and hauling partner PRCA World Champion Haven Meged started their week on Monday morning, June 5 in western Oklahoma before venturing to the Northwest for Sisters, Ore., and Eagle.
With performances Wednesday through Saturday, Jongbloed had a week of waiting to see if his run would outlast the competitors to come.
“We waited through a bunch of perfs,” Jongbloed chuckled.
For the victory, he called upon Pig, the 17-year-old chestnut gelding that carried him during his first trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2022. Jongbloed finished third in the average and won better than $100,000 and ended the season ranked sixth.
Though Jongbloed notes that Pig excels on short setups like the Thomas & Mack, the cattle in Woodward’s huge Crystal Beach Arena created a situation that felt smaller.
“The calves were softer,” he said, “so it made it like a shorter setup.”
The key in Woodward was scoring.
“The calves were a touch slower, so you really had to score and set your run up,” he explained.
Though he didn’t have luck in his second event, steer wrestling, Jongbloed’s tie-down victory also allowed him to pick up the All-Around title. He noted it was his first time to earn money in Woodward.
Though he finished a respectable fourth in the All-Around world standings a year ago, the Woodward title will be his last for a while as he focuses solely on the tie-down roping for the coming months.
“It’s so hard getting up at the same time at the same places,” he noted.
Jongbloed and Meged were enjoying a rare few days off as they gear up for rodeos in Utah, Nevada and Colorado in the coming days. A trip back to Las Vegas is the goal and Jongbloed is well within striking distance, now ranked 31st in the PRCA | RAM World Standings.
“That’s the main goal this summer, stick to the same game plan as last year and hope for the same results,” he said. Other winners at the $169,285 rodeo were bareback rider Tim O’Connell (87 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Black Kat); steer wrestlers Ty Bauerle and Tyler Willis Ravenscroft (4.1 seconds); team ropers Clint Summers and Jake Long (4.3 seconds); saddle bronc rider Ean Price (87 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Foul Motion); breakaway roper Taylor Munsell (2.2 seconds); barrel racer Lisa Lockhart (16.94 seconds); steer roper Cole Patterson (31.5 seconds on three head); and bull rider Trey Kimzey (87.5 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Bonfire).
Source: ProRodeo
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