story by Lindsay Humphrey
At just 13 years old, Monte Snider went to the bank and took out a loan for $3,500 to buy his first competitive rope horse. “My dad worked on a ranch when I was a little kid and they always had horses that we rode, but that was the first one I ever owned,” said the Erikson, Nebraska, cowboy. “He was a pretty nice gelding and I called him Dollar. I did high school rodeo on him and a couple years in college before I traded him to upgrade to the next horse.” That gelding made Monte a state champion header in 2009. Perhaps this horse also gave Monte the confidence boost he needed to fully decide he wanted to become a horse trainer.
Back when Monte was younger, or what he refers to as “more limber,” he also roped calves, bull dogged, and rode bulls. He continued to jump on bulls while attending Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, Kansas. “I mostly just team rope now, but sometimes my friends will get me to bull dog once in a while.” While pursuing degrees in agricultural business, welding, and ranch management, Monte found himself starting colts for Carl Leatherwood. Monte spent 8 years training horses for Carl before moving back to Nebraska. Clearly Carl kick-started Monte’s career, but there were several other people who helped form this cowboy during his time in the Sunflower State. “Down in Dodge City two guys took me under their wing: Kent Crouch, my rodeo coach, and Kingston Chang, a rodeo teammate from Hawaii.”
Monte continues to break and train horses but stepped up his game last year when he started showing them at AQHA shows. He also day works on a regular basis and it’s a big part of Monte’s training program. He takes them out to see the country. That’s how he’s trained horses ever since he first started. “I’ve been riding horses for people since I was around 14. I got my first colt to start from a guy my dad worked for. The next summer I started 5 for him. Through high school I went over to a ranch and helped him.” Right now, Monte is riding 9-year-old Foxy and 8-year-old Chester as his main heeling mounts. “It’s really satisfying knowing that I put all the rides on them and took them from nothing to where they are today.”
Monte competed in the M-SRA when he was in high school and started back up again when he got back to Nebraska. “I just really like to compete in rodeo, I’m very competitive. I like the adrenaline and knowing that my money is on the line and that I have to win to keep going.” One of the best ropings Monte has ever competed in was the World Series of Team Roping held in Las Vegas. However, there’s a tie for Monte’s favorite amateur rodeo between Madison and Clearwater, both in Nebraska of course. “Both of those M-SRA rodeos have a big crowd that’s loud and noisy–they get me amped up. I compete best when I’m amped up a bit, right on that edge.”
When some of Monte’s horses are 5 and 6, he’ll start taking them to jackpots to get them seasoned. A majority of his business horses will go to Pitzer’s sale in the spring or fall, depending on when they’re ready to sell. Although Monte began as a header, he’s found himself heeling more often than not recently. “I found a pretty good partner (Corbit Chytka) that wanted to go and he’s a really good header, so I’ve been heeling.” Back in high school roping was all about catching every animal he could, but now Monte’s more focused on being fast and taking the best shot he can. Although Monte’s had his fair share of rodeo slumps, he loves competing so much that it doesn’t take much to dig himself out of those. “Rodeo is just something that I love to do all the time, so it’s kind of tough to find something bad about it.”