Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,158
- Reaction score
- 7
NewsOK
Georgia cowboy Clint Thomas is one of 15 tie-down ropers who qualified for the International Finals Rodeo.
He is like the other cowboys. He loves to rodeo. He loves to rope. He wants to be a world champion someday.
But the 24-year-old IFR rookie also is different than the rest. He is deaf.
Thomas has been deaf since birth, but it hasn’t prevented him doing what he loves and doing it well.
"He doesn’t hear the crowds. He doesn’t hear the announcer,” said Thomas’ friend, team roper Dustin Buchanan. "He just backs in there and goes and ropes and ties them down.
"He feels like he is an equal in a world where a lot of us probably feel like he is at a disadvantage. I am inspired by him all of the time.”
In his first year in the International Professional Rodeo Association, Thomas already has locked up the Rookie of the Year honor in tie-down roping.
Thomas is the only rookie to qualify for the IFR in tie-down roping. He also is battling for the All-Around Rookie of the Year title, an award he covets.
"I want it a lot,” Thomas said by writing his answers to questions from The Oklahoman. "I have been working hard to win the all-around rookie.”
Thomas said his parents were not reluctant about letting him compete in rodeos because of his disability.
He comes from a rodeo family. His father, David, is a rodeo cowboy and so is his older brother, Matt, and younger brother, Jake.
The Ranger, Ga., cowboy was taught to rope by his dad at a very young age.
"I started roping at 2 or 3 years of age,” he said. "I’ve rode horses all my life.”
As a result, Thomas is very comfortable in the rodeo world. He has become as fast at texting on a cell phone as he has at calf roping. Texting is the primary way he communicates with his friends and other cowboys.
Buchanan, who is from nearby Rydal, Ga., said he and a few of the other cowboys have tried to learn sign language, but are not very good.
Thomas also is a bulldogger, but he didn’t qualify to the IFR in that event.
He earned the 15th and final spot to the IFR in tie-down roping thanks to a huge first go-round win at the IPRA rodeo in St. Tite, Quebec.
Thomas said it was his biggest thrill of the season.
"I needed to win to make the IFR because before September I was not in the top 20,” Thomas said. "I got a good calf and made a good run. This rodeo paid good and had a big crowd.”
Even though he can’t hear the crowd, Thomas said he can sometimes "feel” the intensity in the arena.
"There was a lot of excitement up there,” Thomas said of his win in Canada. "You could kind of feel the energy in the arena.”
Thomas hopes to become a regular at the IFR.
"I am pretty excited to be here,” Thomas said. "Hopefully, I can make it every year. I would like to be world champ next year.”
Georgia cowboy Clint Thomas is one of 15 tie-down ropers who qualified for the International Finals Rodeo.
He is like the other cowboys. He loves to rodeo. He loves to rope. He wants to be a world champion someday.
But the 24-year-old IFR rookie also is different than the rest. He is deaf.
Thomas has been deaf since birth, but it hasn’t prevented him doing what he loves and doing it well.
"He doesn’t hear the crowds. He doesn’t hear the announcer,” said Thomas’ friend, team roper Dustin Buchanan. "He just backs in there and goes and ropes and ties them down.
"He feels like he is an equal in a world where a lot of us probably feel like he is at a disadvantage. I am inspired by him all of the time.”
In his first year in the International Professional Rodeo Association, Thomas already has locked up the Rookie of the Year honor in tie-down roping.
Thomas is the only rookie to qualify for the IFR in tie-down roping. He also is battling for the All-Around Rookie of the Year title, an award he covets.
"I want it a lot,” Thomas said by writing his answers to questions from The Oklahoman. "I have been working hard to win the all-around rookie.”
Thomas said his parents were not reluctant about letting him compete in rodeos because of his disability.
He comes from a rodeo family. His father, David, is a rodeo cowboy and so is his older brother, Matt, and younger brother, Jake.
The Ranger, Ga., cowboy was taught to rope by his dad at a very young age.
"I started roping at 2 or 3 years of age,” he said. "I’ve rode horses all my life.”
As a result, Thomas is very comfortable in the rodeo world. He has become as fast at texting on a cell phone as he has at calf roping. Texting is the primary way he communicates with his friends and other cowboys.
Buchanan, who is from nearby Rydal, Ga., said he and a few of the other cowboys have tried to learn sign language, but are not very good.
Thomas also is a bulldogger, but he didn’t qualify to the IFR in that event.
He earned the 15th and final spot to the IFR in tie-down roping thanks to a huge first go-round win at the IPRA rodeo in St. Tite, Quebec.
Thomas said it was his biggest thrill of the season.
"I needed to win to make the IFR because before September I was not in the top 20,” Thomas said. "I got a good calf and made a good run. This rodeo paid good and had a big crowd.”
Even though he can’t hear the crowd, Thomas said he can sometimes "feel” the intensity in the arena.
"There was a lot of excitement up there,” Thomas said of his win in Canada. "You could kind of feel the energy in the arena.”
Thomas hopes to become a regular at the IFR.
"I am pretty excited to be here,” Thomas said. "Hopefully, I can make it every year. I would like to be world champ next year.”