By Ruth Nicolaus
Brandon Vaske is the first person in his family to rodeo.
The Alva, Okla. team roper grew up around horses and cattle in Burt, Iowa, and competed in
high school rodeo, qualifying for the National High School Finals before graduating in 2008.
He spent two years at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, tie-down and team roping, and then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva.
Brandon graduated from Northwestern with a general agriculture degree.
He has been a Central Plains Rodeo Association member since 2014, and that year won the year-end title with heeler Shannon Frascht.
Brandon looks for consistency when he considers a heeler. “Somebody that catches every time,” he quipped when asked what makes a good team roping partner.
When he’s not roping, he rides horses and takes in outside horses. In addition to the CePRA, he has rodeoed in the Kansas Pro Rodeo Association, United Rodeo Association, Iowa Rodeo Cowboys Association, Interstates Rodeo Association, and at U.S. Team Ropings and World Series Team Ropings.
For the past several years, his head horse has been a twelve year old yellow gelding named Shag. Shag is a “work in progress,” he said, but wins for him. “If you draw good, he stays out of your way and gives you a chance.”
His hobby is roping and horses. “Everything I do revolves around roping,” he said. “I always have a bunch of horses standing around, and if I’m bored, I can always get on one or shoe one.” He shoes his own horses and the occasional horse for a friend.
When his parents George and Sandee, and younger brother Brody and sister Brittany can, they love to watch him compete.
