story by Lily Weinacht
Troupe Coors from Loveland, Colorado, made his debut at the NJHFR earlier this summer in the team roping, where he and heeler Seth Anderson finished fourth in the nation with 40.38 on three head. “In the short round, I missed my dally, so I had to run back in and dally, but it was a really fun experience,” says Troupe, 15. “I learned that anything could happen, and if you don’t have your best run, it’s okay. You forget about it and worry about your next run. We hung out with friends a lot and went swimming a few times. My mom cooks really good meals at the rodeos, so that helps me keep going, and it’s just so fun that it seems to go by really quickly.”
Troupe started rodeoing three years ago when he joined the CJRA. “My parents didn’t do rodeo, but we moved to a place where we could have horses, and my oldest brother started roping first and I wanted to get into it too,” recalls Troupe, who got his first horse, Pilgrim, from Wes Lay. Troupe also competed in tie-down roping, goat tying, and ribbon roping last season, but his favorites are a tie between team roping and tie-down roping. “I like calf roping because it all relies on you, you have to be athletic, and it makes you work a little bit more. In team roping, I like having a friend and partner to rely on. I’m really happy with how I finished at state finals. I came in kind of lower at state finals in team roping but finished third, as well as second in tie-down roping and first in goat tying.”
Practice is a daily occurrence that often involves the entire family. Troupe’s parents, Rebecca and Shane Coors, join him and his siblings, Buck (17), Rett (13), Johanna Blake (11), and Esther Grace (10) in the arena. They also have an older brother, Ace, who lives in Texas. Troupe is helping Johanna Blake with team roping and breakaway roping, and he competed with Buck in the CJRA in team roping, where they finished fourth in the year-end standings.
“I don’t think of rodeo as work. It’s a good time to hang out and fellowship with people and have a fun time, but also to learn and grow, and it’s just a good place to have community,” says Troupe. “I want to keep God first in my life—He’s the most important, and that’s what matters most, even in rodeo. The Dickens family—Skip, Joey, and Kyle have helped me so much with my roping. I know I wouldn’t have gotten where I am without their help over the past few years. Rod Gracey also helps me a lot with my roping and horsemanship. I am roping in CSHSRA with his step-son, Jacob Haren, so I get a lot of help from them. Other men who have greatly influenced and inspired me, both in roping and in my faith, are Jacy Dickens, Dirt Terrell, and Trent Sharon, who disciples and teaches us in Cowboy Church each weekend.”
A homeschool student, Troupe is a freshman this fall and enjoys math, though he admits he’d much rather be out with his horses all day. He rides a gray gelding, Gus, in the tie-down roping and recently started heeling on him, and can head, heel, and rope calves on his sorrel horse, Mouse. Troupe headed off his brother’s horse Easy last season to rope with Seth, but is switching back to heeling this fall. He also enjoys downhill skiing and doing tricks in the terrain park, and his dad is teaching him fly fishing. “We’re going to try to get out a lot this fall to fly fish, and our first high school rodeo is in Eagle, and I’m going to fish in the river,” Troupe finishes. “My goal for the high school rodeos this year is to make it to Nationals with Jacob, honor God, and treat people well along the way.”
