story by Lily Weinacht
“I like getting out rodeoing and seeing more than what you see at home. It’s a rush and it’s a passion that I always follow,” says Laine Moore. “If you slow down, there’s nothing to come back to, so it’s a commitment and a passion.”
The 16-year-old steer wrestler, team roper, and tie-down roper from Asbury, Alabama, started competing at a young age. His grandpa was one of the first to start roping in their part of Alabama, while Laine’s dad began rodeoing as a teenager. “My dad, Chuck Moore, has taught me everything I know since I was knee high to a grasshopper,” says Laine. “He taught me how to rope, and Dustin Buchannan has really pushed to be better than what I am and helped me with my horses and roping. He hazes for me, and Monty Stone has really helped me with my calf roping and my horses. I really appreciate those guys.”
This is Laine’s rookie year in the SPRA, while he also competes in the Georgia High School Rodeo Association and the NLBRA. He’s currently sitting second in the world all-around standings for the NLBRA, and competing in all three of his events at their finals this month. Laine heads in Little Britches but heels in the SPRA with Chris Sprayberry and Shannon Smith. “They come and rope with me two or three times a week, and I rope with my daddy most of the time or Hunter White. My sister, Karson, is eleven, and she’s in the top twenty of Little Britches in team roping and breakaway. I rope with her at home every chance we get.” Laine’s mom, Angel Moore, competed in barrel racing and breakaway roping for many years, and has recently started team roping.
The Moore family makes their home near Asbury, along with their horses and the colts Laine is starting. “My head horse, Bubba, is a buckskin I use at all the SPRA rodeos. When I got him, he hardly knew anything and had a bad bucking problem, so I rode him and he turned into a really good horse. The horse I really love the most is a little bitty gray mare, Harley, and she’s the best bull dogging horse I’ve ever been on. I bought her from a kid who placed on her at the Junior Ironman. She stands flat-footed in the box and she can really run. My calf horse is a little Paint, Gunner, and he’s really sporty and a little squirrely. I trained him myself and he’s got me where I am today.” Laine is also starting three outside colts and one of his own. “I’m trying to make her into a calf horse for my sister so she has something to breakaway on when she’s older.”
Laine will be a junior this fall at Asbury High School, and he particularly enjoys welding class. “Last year we built a smoker, and we’re building a trailer right now that we’ll finish by the first of next year. I always told myself if I was going to get a job, it would be welding, and now I’ll get my welding certification.” Laine also loves hunting and fishing, and he’s partial to the way his grandmother fries the catfish he and his granddaddy catch.
His number one goal is to win a world title and a saddle at the NLBRA finals, along with winning state in the steer wrestling this next season of high school rodeo. “I’m hoping to make it to the SPRA finals this year – my daddy’s been and I’ve been to watch, so that’s a big goal to make it to the SPRA finals and win something there.”
