story by Lily Weinacht
During AFR 39, Troy Musser was in the stands. One year later, he was backing into the roping box at AFR 40 with Ty Parkinson. The team finished fourth in the average at the finals, while Troy roped his way to the 2017 APRA Team Roping Header Rookie of the Year title. He also competed in the MSRA and finished in the top 12 in the team roping, along with the top 15 in the Cinch Team Roping Challenge at the All American Quarter Horse Congress. When he went to the pay window, his winnings were sealed in an envelope per Troy’s specifications, and his season’s earnings—$3,112—were donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
A true rookie in the rodeo world, 52-year-old Troy from Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, did everything he could to change that when he retired in November of 2016. Though he’s wanted to rodeo since childhood, Troy served in the United States Coast Guard for two years after he finished high school, then started working in construction and formed his own construction company. He branched out to buying rental properties, and now owns several hotels and a nursing home. “Rodeo is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life but couldn’t, so I knew I wanted to do this before I got too old,” says Troy. “I didn’t want to sit in the stands anymore.” His search for team roping lessons led him to AFR 39 in Atlantic City, where he made several contacts, but admits he didn’t like hearing his progress in roping would likely take years, not months.
Troy eventually contacted roper Tish Luke who put him in touch with Joe Beaver. At the time, Troy didn’t know much about Joe beyond his work as a rodeo announcer, but when he got a call from the eight-time world champion cowboy inviting him to come rope in Okeechobee, Florida, for a few days, Troy was thrilled. A few days turned into four months spent roping with Joe Beaver, Tish Luke, Casey Cox, and Jason Hanchey. Even after Troy broke two ribs when his horse, Spanky (formerly team roper Spunk Sasser’s horse) rolled with him, there was no turning aside from his goal. “We kept going and practicing all day long, seven days a week. January 28 was the World Series Roping in Jacksonville, Florida, and Tish Luke said I was entering. I had only 30 days of practice. I turned three out of four steers and about lost my wedding ring finger there, and at that point I knew I was hooked!”
Troy entered his first APRA rodeo in April in Boston riding White Horse, but retired the horse and roped off Short Go throughout the summer. “Short Go took me all the way to the finals in Atlantic City, and the week before, he came up lame, so I got on another horse, Lightbulb, and Ty Parkinson came and practiced with me. He has taken so much time out of his career to help me, and I’m grateful that someone that high up took the time to help a rookie. The whole rodeo community was so good to me; it’s been a dream come true. The long nights of driving were the hardest part of the season, but my wife, Kim, drove every night from midnight to seven, and that was huge. I also want to thank my sponsors: Rabe Rabon Saddles out of Okeechobee, Florida, The Tack Shop in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Jersey Shore State Bank.”
The Musser family congregates at Troy and Kim’s farm often, where Troy runs 45 head of Angus beef cattle, along with roping steers and seven horses. Joe Beaver helped design Troy’s arena, while the barn holds the usual farm equipment—and many memories. A wall of the barn has been designated to hold all of the flyers from rodeos Troy entered last season, along with his coats and buckles from the finals. “Montana Silversmiths created a buckle for me that has all the finals on it—APRA, Mid States, and Congress—and we had one made for our granddaughter who was born last year.”
Spurred on by his love for the adventure that is life, Troy has also earned his pilot’s license, gone deep sea diving in Jamaica, and run in the Hyner View Trail Challenge, running 17.3 miles in just over four hours. Competing in the APRA finals completed his three goals of flying, diving, and rodeoing—competing in the IPRA and PRCA are his goals this year. “Three years in a row of three things I never thought I’d be,” says Troy, who is spending the winter in Florida roping. “On my rodeo shirt collars it says “believer”—believe in God and you can do anything. If you start something, finish it, and be the best you can be. It doesn’t matter how old you are!”
