By Ted Harbin

Photo Courtesy of PRCA File Photos by Lara St Jacques

Much like any craftsman, Rocky Patterson has a way of making things work in ways nobody else could.

In rodeo, passion is the driving force. It’s the love of the game at its most core level. Before he added any credential to his name, Patterson was a cowboy who wasn’t afraid of the work necessary. It’s come in handy in his lifetime, which includes the 1992 Rookie of the Year, 28 qualifications to the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer roping and four world championship gold buckles.

Cole Patterson wasn’t born when his father first competed at the steer roping finals in 1994. He wasn’t very old when Dad won his first title in 2009, but they have more than genetics in common. Cole, too, is a steer roping Rookie of the Year, having earned that in 2019, the year of his first qualification to the Clem.

Cole is also a four-time world champ, having won his first rodeo gold in 2021, then adding the last three to boot. He became the third steer roper in ProRodeo history to win at least three in a row. The first was “The Legend,” Guy Allen, who won 11 in a row beginning in 1991 – Allen owns 18 world titles, the most in the event’s history. The second was Trevor Brazile, who claimed three of his six steer roping titles from 2013-15.

Rocky and Cole became the third father-son tandem to win steer roping world championships, joining the McEntires, John (1934) and Clark (1956-57), and the Goods, Charles (1975) and Gary (1979).

How did Cole follow so closely in his father’s footsteps?

Whether by osmosis or just paying attention, Cole learned from one of the best to ever do it. They worked at it. Rocky wasn’t afraid to train a horse for steer roping, which needs a unique set of equine skills. He won one of his gold buckles on the back of a horse he got from a feedlot, and he showed his oldest son those tricks of the trade.

In a story for ProRodeo.com, Cole talked about Dunny, which has been named the PRCA Steer Roping Horse of the Year. Just eight years ago, Rocky was putting both the dun horse and his son through the paces together.

“He did train the horse; I was just piloting the whole time,” Cole said. “Dad was training me and the horse at the same time, but he just wasn’t riding the horse.”

It instilled horsemanship and work ethic, things that never go out of style.

Maybe that’s why the family owns eight gold buckles.