odeo is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. It is in their blood. For some Texas Tech Rodeo Team members, rodeo success is part of their heritage.
A horse’s eye shows the true feelings of his heart. 
Cheylin Corman makes a quick stop after roping a steer during practice. 
Shelby Spielman is not only a successful Texas Tech Rodeo Team member but she also qualified for the Canadian National Finals Rodeo. 
The bond between Cheylin Corman and her horse is evident in their practice runs.
“My grandpa on my dad’s side is a world champion steer wrestler, and my Uncle on my mom’s side is a world champion tie down roper and team roper,” Rainy Robinson, a team member from Caldwell, Idaho majoring in agriculture economics said. “It was just bred into me, I guess.”
It was just bred into me, I guess.
The Texas Tech Rodeo Team is built on tradition, and the new coach, Jared Hofstetter, is coaching a team to carry on that legacy. The current team has many accolades under their belt buckles, including members participating in The American, members qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo, and the reserve champion Southwest Region women’s team.
The Texas Tech Rodeo Team has also participated on the international stage. Kashley Seitz is a team member from Canada, she ropes and runs barrels. While in high school, she was the first Canadian to win the all-around title at the National Junior Highschool Finals. Shelby Spielman is a barrel racing, goat tying, roping team member that has more recently made her Canadian debut.
“Outside of college rodeo, my biggest accomplishment thus far would be that I qualified for the Canadian Finals Rodeo.” Spielman said, “And I also won a $20,000 slot race this past summer, which was cool.”
Spielman was also one of the three team members that competed at The American in February 2019.
Being a member of the rodeo team requires many hours of hard work and practice. The team spends at least three hours a day practicing on their own. They own their own horses and they spend a large majority of their time breaking and training them. Each member started this sport at an early age.
“Whenever I was old enough to start entering it just seemed like the natural thing for me to do, and I have been going to them ever since,” Seitz said.
The rodeo way of life brought many of the team members to Tech as they were recruited by the previous coach Stetson Corman.
“I also was very interested in going to Texas Tech because of the opportunity to get such a high-quality education at a high-quality university,” Seitz said.
Members of the Texas Tech Rodeo Team come from all across North America. The rodeo life is part of their heritage and all have the goal to continue building Texas Tech’s legacy.