story by Lily Weinacht
Lane Schaaf from Chromo, Colorado, began competing in rodeo when he was eight, following the family tradition started by his grandfather, Jim Bramwell. “My grandfather taught me how to rope and got me into rodeo,” says Lane, now 18. “He’s a header, and he’s competed since he was little. Grandpa runs his ranch, but he’s watched me compete in a few high school rodeos, and every Fourth of July we enter the Pagosa Springs rodeo together in the team roping.”
Team roping led Lane into the CSHSRA his sophomore year when his cousin needed a roping partner. Lane both heads and heels, but prefers heeling. His junior year, he added steer wrestling to his competition, and it’s now his favorite event. “I enjoy both my events a lot, but I like that in steer wrestling, I’m not relying on a partner,” he explains. Lane’s hazer for high school is fellow steer wrestler Jace Logan, who is also sharing his steer wrestling horse with Lane. “The fact that I get to see all my friends at rodeos motivates me,” Lane adds, “and it’s fun to get away from a small town and see the world a little bit.”
He and his parents, Alvin and Terry Schaaf, and his sister DeAnn (16) make their home 30 miles from Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Lane also has an older sister, Morgan (19), who is a student at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. She plays college basketball, while DeAnn enjoys volleyball and hopes to start high school rodeoing soon. Lane is the fifth generation of his family to live on the family ranch and help raise their beef cattle. “My least favorite chore is going out in the middle of the winter at five in the morning to feed before school,” he admits, “but it has to be done!”
A senior at Pagosa Springs High School, Lane and his team roping partner, Zach Devooght, are the only two students in their school that rodeo. Lane’s favorite class is shop mechanics, and he recently finished replacing the engine in his truck — a 1974 F-250 that belonged to his great-grandfather. “I have it running now, and I plan to keep it forever,” he says. He also plays basketball for the Pagosa Springs Pirates, who won two out of three games in their first tournament of the season.
Once he’s home from school, Lane checks horses, then finishes homework or ropes the dummy. “I don’t get out to rope hardly at all in the winter, but I drive down to Farmington, New Mexico, three or four times a winter to rope at a friend’s house.” Lane’s rope horse is a seven-year-old gelding named Ace. “We normally raise all our horses and train them for rodeo, but Ace was given to my dad five years ago,” Lane explains. “Ace was malnourished, so we got him back to health and he’s been my horse ever since. I wouldn’t choose any other to rodeo on.” Lane puts the first rides on his family’s colts and does much of the groundwork, while he also enjoys driving their team of horses and sleigh. “We feed off that team of horses in the winter, and I like to take the sleigh out and drive around. Once or twice a year we’ll have some friends over and take them out on a sleigh ride.”
Lane’s goals for the 2017 season include qualifying for the NHSFR, as well as starting college rodeo in the fall on a scholarship. “I’m looking at schools in Texas, and I’d like to compete in both my events in college,” he finishes. “After college, I’d eventually like to come back to help take care of the ranch, and continue to rodeo.”
