story by Kyle Eustice
“I work so I can rope,” joked Ash Flat, AR native Glen Allen. The 59-year-old contractor’s passion for rodeo started when he was a little kid. Growing up, nobody else rodeoed in his family, but he quickly found his way to a saddle.
“I got into team roping around the mid-‘80s, when I was in my early 30s,” said Glen. “I love it every day.”
Glen participated in his first rodeo in the mid-‘90s, although he roped in rodeo jackpots around home. He started taking it seriously in the late ‘90s, when he joined the USTRC. After competing for a few years, he ruptured a disc in his back in 2002.
“I had to pull out of the event,” explained Glen. “I had just sent in my entry fees, too. I went to the doctor and he said I had to stop riding horses. I told him he better mark that off his list and forget it.”
Undeterred, Glen kept riding and steadily improving. In 2003, he went to the USTRC National Finals and won in the gold plus division, taking home a gold buckle, which he promptly showed off to his spine doctor.
“He told me he knew I wouldn’t quit [laughs],” said Glen. “I thought I would never top that win. I had bought another stud in 2001 and started showing him in the AQHA in 2004. He qualified every year for four years and is an AQHA Performance Champion.”
Glen competed in the USTRC that year, as well. His horse, Leo’s Night Heat, qualified for the World Finals and finished in the Top 15 in the heading category. In 2005, his horse was also in the Top 5 in the heading category.
In 2010, he competed in the team roping category at the USTRC National Finals with his son, Jared. After a few years off, Glen joined the ACA 50 Plus division in 2013, where he’s currently riding his mare, Chic, and has been for the past three seasons.
“We showed her for year in the AQHA and I’ve had her now for five years,” said Glen. “Last year, she was nominated as head horse of the year. Everyone tries to buy her. Last week, I was offered $25,000 for her, but I said no. I’ve developed a great relationship with her.
“She’s really cool for a mare,” added Glen. “She’s like a cat. She’s so quick. She’s a much better horse than I am a rider [laughs].”
When Glen isn’t working on a 1600-acre ranch with his son, building custom homes, raising his 22 horses, putting up hay, practicing, or at the rodeo, he’s hunting and fishing with his 11-year-old grandson Little Jared or “L.J.,” or spending time with his other two grandchildren, Addie, 8, and baby Alafair, who just turned a month old. He also has an incredibly supportive girlfriend, Debbie, who he likes to canoe with on nearby Spring River and roots him on at all of his events.
“She gets really involved with the horses,” said Glen. “She encourages me and wants me to win. She’s a great supporter.”
In the future, Glen wants to keep winning. He has no plans of retiring any time soon. “I’d like to win the ACA Finals in the 50 Plus category,” said Glen. “I just need to devote more time in it. My goal is also to get my grandson roping and hauling him to where he can win and on one of my horses I’ve raised. I want to pass it down to the next generation.”
