story by Lily Weinacht
Brodi Jones of Erda, Utah, finished second in the RMPRA standings in the heading last season, and he’s currently sitting in the top five for the 2017 season, competing with his cousin Braydin Evans. “Braydin is in high school, so once his rodeos start up, it’s a little hard, but even though we didn’t go to as many rodeos, we still made the finals, and it was a good year,” says Brodi, 21. He picked up roping when he was 10 and started rodeoing in sixth grade. “My dad rode bulls in high school and afterward, but he quit by the time I was born. What really started rodeo was when my uncle started working on a ranch and my dad bought a horse so he could help. It escalated from there!”
Brodi rodeoed for Utah, qualifying twice for the NJHFR and competing in the NHSFR his senior year. He also competed twice in the Silver State International Rodeo in Winnemucca, Nevada. Roping is now a family-wide tradition, and Brodi and his parents, Casey and Tracy, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, are all neighbors. “We do everything together, and we try to help each other grow and become better,” says Brodi. “I’m always trying to learn new things that can help me grow and become a better competitor and win more. Every day the ground is dry, Braydin and I try to practice. Our family will help depending on who feels like being in the chutes that day, but most of the time we run the air pressured chute.” His two younger sisters, Birklee and Bristel, have also started rodeoing.
While Brodi competed in all of the boys events when he was junior rodeoing, he narrowed it down to team roping and tie-down roping in high school. He both heads and heels, but says his favorite event depends on the day. “Team roping pays more, but tie-down is more of an adrenaline rush. I always say that team roping pays for my tie-down roping addiction.”
A junior at Weber State University, Brodi won the tie-down roping, team roping heading, and all-around for the season, roping with heeler Brody Adams. The men’s team finished reserve in the NIRA Rocky Mountain Region. “This will be my second time going to the CNFR – I went in both my events as a freshman too,” says Brodi. He’s studying professional sales and commutes to school two days a week, working on the rest of his studies from home. “I want to use my degree to help sell myself to sponsors, and help their companies as they help me go down the rodeo trail.”
He rides a blue roan in the tie-down roping named Punjab. “My mom came up with the name because of the guy on Annie that controls animals,” Brodi explains. “He came from one of my mentors, Jared Aravae, who lives in Blackfoot, Idaho. My head horse is Quervo, but my dad calls him King because he doesn’t do much around here. I take him to rodeos and big jackpots, and he’s probably the best horse I’ve ever ridden in the heading. He came from Brendon and Tiffany Crozier in the Basin.”
In between school, Brodi sells trailers for C&R Trailers, taking anything from bumper pull to stock and living quarters trailers when he goes to rodeos. “I just started that this year, and I’m learning a lot about trailers and how to sell them. My goal in the near future is to compete and do good at the college finals. I’ve been pro rodeoing the last two years, and my long-term goal is to compete in the WNFR. I feel like I work hard enough that I can do it.”