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Jerome & Haley Schneeberger 1/7/09
(Note: Tie-down roper Jerome Schneeberger and rodeo secretary Haley Schneeberger share a blog about being a full-time rodeo family. Jerome and Haley, their three kids and various critters travel several months of the year to rodeos. Haley wrote the Wrangler NFR recap.)
PRCA ProRodeo photo by Dan Hubbell: Haley Schneeberger, of Ponca City, Okla., was voted PRCA Secretary of the Year for the second consecutive year on Dec. 3, 2008 during the annual PRCA Awards Banquet held at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa in Las Vegas. Schneeberger (left) receives her award from Brent Gibson of Dodge Rodeo. |
Haley:
The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is always a great place to catch up with friends...The only problem is in Las Vegas time and money seem to be the two things that get lost at a high rate of speed. There''s just never enough time to get completely caught up. Each year the PRCA Contract Personnel Awards Banquet brings together so many great people, but again there''s just not enough time to get to say "hi" to everyone. I was extremely excited to be included again this year in the PRCA Secretary of the Year category. I don''t what to sound greedy, but after last year''s win I had forgotten to say thanks to my biggest (and littlest) supporters. I wanted to win so that I could acknowledge my kids (who get drug from sea to shining sea) and my husband for all of their sacrifices that allow me to do what I do. I did end up winning the award, which was just as incredible as the first and I did get to say my "thanks" to my family. However, after our motor home had gone out of commission from the "great flood", we had decided to leave all the kids home with my mom. I was sad that they weren''t there because for me the best part of being nominated for that award is being able to dress all of the boys up in their cute little clip on ties and get the wore out toes of their boots polished so that I can show them off and redeem myself as a mom. Since they weren''t there I had to carry around a picture in my purse to show everyone. The second best thing about the award is that it makes me realize that people do notice the job I do. It''s very easy to sit alone in a rodeo office a half mile from the arena in 100-degree weather and think nobody even knows I''m here. I''m very thankful for the life the Lord allows me and my family to live!
Since the boys were at home with my mom, Jerome had planned on flying home to help her. However, I really didn''t want to stay alone all of that time missing my kids. I''ve never been away from any of them for that long (16 whole days and nights). So after some persuading Jerome decided to stay. Once he had decided to stay, Jimmy Powers hit him up with a job to help with the judge’s flag horse. Now, being a 10-time qualifier to the WNFR it wouldn''t be easy to sit and watch for ten days knowing you should''ve been there roping. But to humble himself amidst his peers and stand holding the judge’s flag horse and radioing scores for the scoreboard crew was an amazing thing to do.
For the most part we had a great time in Las Vegas, but were anxious to leave after someone stole jewelry out of our hotel room, including a diamond ring that was given to me last year for my 30th birthday and one of Jerome''s Bob Berg Trophy buckles from Prescott, Ariz. At any rate, if there''s a bright side it was that they chose to steal it out of my room and not beat me up in the parking lot and take it off my finger.
After the last performance was over and the checks had been handed out, Jerome and I headed for home. We drove straight through ice, snow, rain, and shine. We arrived Sunday evening. We were way more excited to see the boys then they were to see us. It was still good to be home!
Another Christmas has come and gone. We celebrated with family and friends, way too many toys for the kids and mountains of wrapping paper! It was a great 2008 and we look forward to a fine 2009!
Enjoy this Schneeberger blog written before the 2008 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December
Happy Thanksgiving…which in our house translates into we’d better be getting our act together to leave for the Wrangler NFR. Since our last blog we’ve had lots to celebrate and some things to adjust to. As most of you know by now we have a new baby boy to add to the mix. We’ve also had a holiday, another birthday, the start of kindergarten, a missed trip to the NFR, and three secretary jobs (no need for the partridge in a pear tree here). Hold on tight the fun is just beginning!
Jerome:
The end of September brought to an end the close of the 08’ rodeo season for me as I realized that the price of diesel combined with the distance between my place in the world standings and the 15th place were just too great. It was going to cost too much for me to take a chance on trying my eleventh trip to the WNFR. I guess there comes a breaking point when your try and want can’t overcome the financial strain of the rodeo road. I was and have been somewhat fighting my head for awhile. So after the Pendleton, Ore., Roundup , I turned out the rest of the rodeos I was entered in and came home with my family. While a part of me feels like I have let everyone down, the other part knows it was the right decision. It is hard to swallow though after I have been to the WNFR 10 out of my 12 years in professional rodeo.
Haley:
Our trip home from Pendleton was fast and furious! We had been on the road for five months straight and were anxious to get home. After a couple days at home to re-adjust, Jaden went to his first day of kindergarten. I had driven him to the school that morning as he was a little bit nervous. Of course we were hurrying so that we wouldn’t be late like normal. As we jumped out of the car I grabbed for Jaden’s hand. About that time he tripped on his flip-flops (that he just had to wear) and fell down. At the time I was nine months pregnant and apparently didn’t see him below me. I stepped right on his hand and bloodied his finger. We dusted off his knees and with tears in his eyes headed in for the first day school.
Jerome:
Since I had decided not to go to any more rodeos for the year, it was time to figure out how to make a dollar. I had gotten a call from our good friend Mike Greenleaf out in Western Kansas. He needed help gathering and working cattle for some ranchers out west of Greensburg, Kan. It sounded like a good opportunity, so I loaded up my “man rig” as Haley calls it, and headed out west. I took three horses with me and around the second day I was there thought about going home and getting some more. We had driven a herd of cows a little over eight miles one day.
Haley:
I was home exactly one week when it was time to leave for the Ariat Playoff in Omaha, Neb. Jaden was getting settled into the routine of going to school and Jerome was out in western Kansas. So Jace and I loaded up in the motor home and headed north. Since I was extremely pregnant (still), my mom loaded up and went with us in fear that I would be alone with a 3-year-old if I went into labor along the way. I was a little sad leaving Jaden behind for the first time, but knew it would be OK.
Jaden (left) and Jace spent some time fishing with dad, tie-down roper Jerome Schneeberger, last fall before their parents got really busy with winter rodeos. |
Right before we were to start contestant check-in, my phone rang. It was Jaden’s school nurse. He had gotten sick at school and wanted to come home. Jerome went and got him. After five minutes on the couch and a Popsicle, he was cured. So Jerome took him back to school. An hour or two later the lady called me back. He was sick again! Jerome again went and got him. This time it took a fishing trip to cure him, but Jerome didn’t take him back to school. The next day he went skipping off to school feeling fine and sure enough, just as the day before, the nurse called to say he was sick. I didn’t want to sound insensitive, but Jaden has only been sick one time in his life. I didn’t think it was the flu or even a cold, just a bit of anxiety knowing mom was gone. I told the lady that unless he threw up, she was not to call. I explained the situation to her and told him he was going to have to toughen up. It worked, because he miraculously hasn’t been sick since.
Omaha went great and I made it through with out having the baby. Everyone seemed a little nervous having me around. I wasn’t worried and I couldn’t figure out why everyone was. At any rate, mom and I made it home on Sunday afternoon. Jerome was waiting at her house for me because it just happened to be our wedding anniversary. We ordered pizza and watched Sunday Night Football to celebrate.
The next morning at 5 a.m. we got up to head to the hospital. Since Jerome had met me at my mom’s house we had two vehicles there. Jerome thought we would drive both of them to the hospital so that no one would have to make a trip out to my mom’s house after the baby was born. (Just a side note, I was not in labor at this point. I don’t want to sound ungrateful for the whole process, but I schedule my children’s births because I don’t have time in my crazy life for the whole surprise of labor and delivery). We parked the motor home right out in front of the hospital. At 11:37 a.m. Jaret Blane Schneeberger came into the world. A screaming eight pounds, five ounces bundle of….well at that point he looked like a big slime booger, but he quickly turned to joy. He was healthy and I was happy he was finally here! Jace was sooooo excited to finally meet his new brother, but for Jaden it was a little more traumatic since he had come home, started school, and got a new brother all in a matter of a week’s time.
Jerome:
It had been a long day and we were all worn out. All of the visitors had left and it was just Haley and I. I was dreading sleeping in the good plastic recliner that was there in the hospital room when I remembered that the motor home was out in the parking lot. I hinted around that it was getting late when Haley suggested that I go sleep in the motor home. Boy, was I glad it was her idea!
The next morning I brought her a Diet Coke and asked if she minded that I run out by the cattle sale. She didn’t care as she had some secretary work to finish from Omaha. While I was at the cattle sale I ran into a friend of Haley’s dad that happens to be a fan of calf roping. He mentioned that a guy was coming from Canada and had a calf horse that he would like me to rope on. I was all for trying any horse as I haven’t had the best of luck for the last year or so with my horses. Since Roanie got crippled at the WNFR last year, I haven’t had a reliable horse that I can trust. We exchanged phone numbers and I told him I give him a call when I came back through on my way to out circuit finals the following week.
Haley:
Finally on Wednesday morning the doctor released Jaret and me to go home. Boy, was I glad. I had gotten so bored that at one point I had asked the nurse if there was anything around there I could help with. No one had come from Ponca City, Okla., that could drive the motor home back to our house. We didn’t want to leave it there at the hospital which is about two hours from our home. We were going to need it to go to our circuit finals the next week anyway. However, we didn’t think the hospital staff would think it was a very good idea to be taking our new baby home in the motor home. So, Jerome went out and drove our car up to the door where the nurse was. We loaded everything up in our car and waived good-bye. Then we drove out in the parking lot to the motor home and re-loaded up in it. We left my car there for my mom to take home and we drove off in the motor home.
Jerome:
Although, I had sworn off rodeo for the rest of this year, I did have our circuit finals left. I had been practicing at Robbie Schroeder’s and getting Lexus, my sorrel mare, ready. Jaden had been on fall break and the whole family had gone to Robbie’s to rope. I was also riding the show horses that would be in the World Shows over the following weeks.
I had left a day early to go to our circuit finals in Kansas City so that I could go by and try the Canadian’s horse. I took my friend Junior Lewis with me so that I could have another opinion on how the horse worked. I ran several calves on him and Junior thought I roped pretty good on him. The next morning I picked up the horse, Banker, and headed to Kansas City.
Haley:
Since Jerome had left a day early, it was up to me to get myself and the boys loaded up. I was serving as the secretary and had to be in Kansas City by two that afternoon. I had gotten up at 6 a.m. to try and get everything loaded before the boys woke up. As I was loading the motor home I stuck the hose in to fill it up with water. Then I went back to what I was doing while the water continued to run. It usually takes about 20 or 30 minutes to fill up the 200-gallon water tank. I had Jaden run out and turn the water off while I fed Jaret. I finally got the horses loaded and told the boys to get in while I grabbed the baby. I was putting Jaret in the car seat when Jaden and Jace hollered at me to come quick. When they had opened the door there was water running down the steps. I didn’t think much about it because it had been pouring rain all morning and figured they had left the door open. I got a towel out and told them get in. I was almost to the interstate when Jaden came to the front to tell me that the carpet was even wet in the bed room. When I stopped for diesel I saw what he was talking about. At some point a pipe had busted and to my surprise I had soaked the floor of the motor home with 200 gallons of water. There was absolutely nothing I could do at this point except for to roll the boys’ pant legs up and keep going.
Jace (left) and Jaden, holding Jaret, celebrate Halloween between attending rodeos. |
Jerome:
The circuit finals weren’t as productive as I would have liked. I was 11.0 seconds on my first calf and roped my second calf by a back leg. While I was warming up Lexus before the third performance a committee person walked over and asked if anyone’s horse was bleeding. I didn’t think anything about it until someone pointed out that they thought it was my horse. When I picked up her back foot I realized that it was her. Apparently a piece of the wood shavings that lined the tunnel leading into the arena had stuck in her foot and cut it open. She hadn’t taken a lame step, but I knew I couldn’t rope on her. At the last minute I borrowed the horse Tyler Garten was riding. I’m not making excuses, but it was a bit nerve-wracking. I missed my last two calves of the circuit finals, but didn’t have time to think about it as I was off to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Appaloosa World Horse Show. The show was scheduled to start at 8 a.m. the next morning on Sunday and I didn’t really have any time to waste.
If I had thought that the circuit finals had gone bad, I was in for a rude awakening for what was to happen at the horse show. The two horses that I rode are both good horses, but are a bit green for calf roping. The first horse I rode didn’t work to bad, but the second horse….! As I rode him into the box I could feel him start to tense up. I slowly turned him around and backed him into the corner. All of the sudden, he leaped and tried to jump out of the box. When he did this he got both of his front feet hung over the top rail of the panel. We were stuck! I finally asked the judge if I could step off and help my horse out of the jam. Once I got the horse off the top rail, I re-mounted and quickly nodded. Since I had caught both calves and had qualified times, I made the finals of the show. I was worn out from my overnight drive and the finals weren’t until later that evening, so I found an old couch in the stall area and went to sleep for awhile. I figured I would sleep off my stellar performance and start fresh.
Haley:
The week after the circuit finals was an important time as we figured out what everyone was going to be for Halloween. Jaden ended up being a pirate, Jace was a bullfighter, and Jaret was a tiger. For the first time (considering until I moved to Ponca City I didn’t know you could even go into town to trick-or-treat if you lived in the country) we went trick-or-treating two nights in a row. The city had blocked off several city blocks in town and business had booths that the kids could play games to win candy. The second night, the actual Halloween night, we went back into town and rang doorbells up and down my brother’s street. After about five houses Jaden was done because his bag was too full. Jace, who kept lagging behind, wanted to keep going because his bag didn’t have very much candy in it. I couldn’t figure out why his was so empty when they had been to the same houses. We went on to a couple more houses and I started paying attention to Jace. He didn’t have very much candy because after the people would put the candy into his bag, he would dig it out and eat it before he got to the next house. He was eating the candy as fast as the rest of us were trick-or-treating!
As if Jace (and Jaden too) hadn’t already consumed enough sugar, the next week was Jace’s 4th birthday. I was off to Dallas for the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship and Jerome had gone to a couple of ropings, so neither of us were with Jace on his birthday. My mom’s family had gotten together and threw him a party complete with cake and presents. When we all got home the following week Jace told us all about his party and what a good time he had. Jerome and I thought that he must not have missed us being there, until amidst his story he said, “Hey, I thought you were going to take me to Chucky Cheese?” Oh, the dreaded pizza place from…well anyone that’s been there knows what I’m talking about. He had caught us. So with guilty hearts we talked him out of going to Chucky Cheese and settled for having some friends and family over on the following weekend.
Jaden (left) and Jace (far right) pose for a Christmas photo with the newest member of the clan Jaret, who was born in September. The Schneeberger kids travel many months of the year on the road with mom, rodeo secretary Haley, and tie-down roping dad, Jerome. |
Wow, it is quickly approaching the holiday season. Jaret is nearly 8 weeks old now and is starting to “talk” to us. Jaden and Jace have both started YMCA basketball with games on Saturdays and practice three times a week. I’m kept busy with driving the boys to their activities, preparing for the WNFR, where I’ll serve as the assistant rodeo secretary and keeping up with Jerome’s roping practice sessions. We only have a few days left until we leave for Las Vegas and it seems as if I could use a month. However, we are excited for the opportunities Las Vegas brings even though Jerome isn’t roping. It will be an adjustment for all of us including the boys which aren’t quite clear as to why Dad is going to Las Vegas and doesn’t get to compete. I’m up for PRCA Secretary of Year and am honored to be nominated once again. We have also consigned two pick-up horses and a bucking bull to the Bucking Horse and Bull Sale held at the South Point Hotel Equestrian Center.
It’s so true what they say; when one door closes another is opened. For us, this year’s WNFR will be filled with blessings – just not the kind in the arena that we have become accustomed to the last several years. But then again, it’s good to know that this holiday season we are blessed in so many other ways!
Sincerely,
The Schneebergers
All photos, unless otherwise indicated, courtesy of Jerome and Haley Schneeberger
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