story by Lily Weinacht
Hornell, New York, native Tim Carnes is sitting second in the APRA team roping header standings going into AFR 40. He and his brother, Drew Carnes, have roped together in the association for many years, and Tim, who joined the APRA in 2008, has qualified for the finals nine times. “I like their rodeos because they’re close—most are three to four hours from the house, and the stock contractors are good to us,” says Tim. The 28-year-old placed at Attica, New York, North Washington, Pennsylvania, and won first and second at Milford, Pennsylvania, this season.
Tim began roping when he was 12 or 13, having started out in the cutting and team penning world. “My family has always been in to cutting horses, and my parents built an indoor arena for us years ago. My brother, Drew, and I just wanted to rope, so our parents bought us steers and ropes, and we jumped in head first and started roping. My uncle roped a little bit, and he and my dad helped us out. I’ll calf rope some, but my main focus is team roping—we’re good at it!” says Tim. “We grew up sorting, and that’s helped our horsemanship skills and our cattle skills all the way around.” They competed primarily in jackpots, and Tim was a member of the inaugural NYSHSRA rodeo team his senior year. He and his brother also compete in the IPRA, USTRC, and NTRL, and Tim extends his thanks to their sponsors, Lone Star Ropes and Ranch Hand, for helping them down the rodeo trail.
Tim makes his home on his family’s farm near Hornell, where, depending on the time of year, they run 100 head of horses and 90 head of cattle. “We rent out horses to Girl Scout camps in the summertime, and we put on sortings and a few ropings at the house,” Tim explains. “I’m the third generation of my family to lease horses. We drop the horses off at the beginning of the summer and the camps take care of them, and then in the fall, we bring them home. I like the countryside here—it’s all rolling hills, and trees. It’s pretty cool.” Tim and Drew practice often since they have an indoor arena, and Tim has been leasing his rope horse, Andy, since May. Horse and rider clicked right away.
In between rodeos, Tim shoes horses for a living. He went through the University of Cornell Farrier Program, followed by apprenticing a farrier in Buffalo, New York, for two years. He set up his own business in 2009, and works with a variety of clients. “My biggest client is a thoroughbred barn for race horses. I stay mainly in my state, but I have one barn in Massachusetts and I’m 20 miles from the Pennsylvania state line, so I go there quite a bit.
“We’re either driving or rodeoing or shoeing horses. I see a lot of countryside, and we listen to music or watch Netflix. The St. Tite, Quebec, rodeo is probably my favorite of all time, and the Attica rodeo is only an hour from the house and one of the biggest in the Northeast, and I love it. I’m trying to make the IFR—2011 was the last time I made it, and I’m trying to win the APRA this year.”
