story by Lindsay Humphrey
Chisum Harriet’s been a member of the NMJHSRA for the last two years, but he’s never been able to compete with the association. Last year COVID ruined the season and now in 2021, Chisum found a little bit of bad luck while practicing. “I was roping with my cousin at home. I’m not really sure what happened but when I looked down, my thumb was cut off,” said the 14-year-old. “It was still connected a little bit. I had two 8-hour surgeries and during the second one, the top part of it died so I lost it.” The accident was on December 26 and Chisum had a long road to recovery afterward. “I was on a lot of blood thinners while in the hospital. They even put leaches on my thumb to help with the circulation after they had to reroute arteries and all that to it.”
After Chisum was released on Dec. 31, he almost bled out and had to return to the intensive care unit. While there for three days, almost all of his blood and platelets were replaced. “After getting home, I started working the chutes for my friends and family. It wasn’t until late February that I got on a horse and roped a live one again.” That was after they took all the pins out of Chisum’s thumb. “That first day, I don’t think I missed a single one. I was pretty proud of myself for that.” Prior to swinging a leg over a horse, Chisum had to relearn how to rope. It has everything to do with his grip, but his swing has remained mostly unchanged. “I used to rope with a medium but now I need a soft or an extra soft until my thumb toughens up a bit.”
As a switch end team roper, this eighth grader was moving up the ranks on the jackpot scene two years ago. His number was moved a couple of times in just one year, which prompted him to give junior high rodeo a shot. “A lot of my friends are in the NMJHSRA and my dad (Mike) did high school rodeo. They all made it sound like fun. I wanted to compete on a new level and prepare myself for high school so I could be ready to rodeo after graduation.” Chisum has heard stories from his friends about nationals and has his sights set on making an appearance as a freshman. “My doctor still hasn’t released me to rope yet and probably won’t until June, so I’m going to miss this junior high season also. I was going to rope with Treyden Gonzales but after the accident he needed to find another partner. I still rope with my friend, Ike Cline, quite a bit.”
Chisum is getting his horses legged up to rope this summer by practicing at home with his uncles, dad and some cousins. “I can always call someone in my family and they’re ready to rope with me. It’s pretty easy to find someone to practice with me.” Chisum enjoys both ends of team roping, but heeling is his favorite. His horses are a big part of why he enjoys team roping in the first place. Eight-year-old Whizzy B is on the smaller side, so Chisum only uses her for heeling. But Riddler is big enough to both head and heel. “I like getting to go new places to rope and meet new people there. My dad and I have gone to Cheyenne and Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Show Low, Arizona, those are some of my favorite places we’ve roped at.”
Neither Chisum’s mom, RuthAnn, or his siblings, Kenyon, 22, and Karley 18, rope competitively but everyone helps out on the family ranch. Both sides of Chisum’s family have a long-standing heritage built on ranching. Chisum and his family live on a ranch that his dad’s grandpa, Michel Harriet, first started. “When I get older, I’d like to continue rodeoing, but mostly I just want to come back home and ranch. My brother also wants to ranch, but he wants to do that on the ranch my mom’s family runs.” One of Chisum’s favorite pastimes on the family operation in the spring is watching all the cows with their babies.
