Jordan and Nicholas Lovins are team roping partners and members of the Oklahoma Junior High School Rodeo Association.
The brothers, who live just outside Canadian, Texas, have roped since they were five years old, starting with the dummy roping, and graduating to horses when they were six and seven years of age.
Jordan, the older of the two, also competes in the goat tying, breakaway roping, ribbon roping, and chute dogging.
His heel horse is a fifteen-year-old bay named Pistol; his breakaway and ribbon roping horse is a sixteen year old sorrel named Ruby, and for the goat tying, he uses his brother’s paint horse, Stella.
Jordan, an eighth grade student, is home schooled. He loves studying math but isn’t crazy about history and geography.
For fun, he and his brother love to ride bikes and swim in the family pool. If there’s a roping or rodeo near his house, he invites all his rodeo buddies to the pool. He also likes to fish and swim at his grandpa’s house near Winona, Mo.
Nick, who is a year younger than Jordan, heads for the duo. He also competes in the tie-down roping, ribbon roping, and chute dogging.
His head horse is a thirteen year old mare named Pearl. For the tie-down and ribbon roping, he rides his brother’s horse Ruby.
Nick is a seventh grade student at Canadian Middle School. He loves math class, plays basketball and baseball, and is on the A-B Honor Roll.
He enjoys roping with his brother because there is less pressure. When he ropes with someone else, “I’m nervous because I might miss.” With his brother, “I’m not nervous.”
Jordan is the serious one, while Nick is the funny guy. He loves to make his classmates laugh, and if he tries hard enough, he can make Jordan crack a smile. With his parents, his dad will usually laugh at his crazy antics before his mom will.
In Oklahoma Junior High Rodeo, all athletes qualify for state, with the top fifteen coming back for the short go-round. Jordan has made the short round in all of his events both his sixth and seventh grade years. Nick made the short go this past year in the team roping and the breakaway roping. The boys finished as reserve state team roping champions in 2016; Jordan finished third in the breakaway and fourth in the goat tying. They went on to the National Junior High School Finals Rodeo, where Jordan won a buckle for being one of the four fastest times in the breakaway (with a 2.61 second run in the second round.)
The boys have roped at the Pro-Am at the Spicer Gripp Memorial Roping the last two years, Jordan with Colby Lovell in 2015 and Jake Barnes in 2016, and Nick with Josh Patton two years ago and Dakota Kirchenschlager last year. They enjoyed being around their heroes and roping with the pros.
They are the sons of T.C. and Kristy Lovins.
story by Mackie Ford I caught up with Haze Kuykendall, an Oklahoma Junior High School Rodeo Association member and son of Justin and Mandie Kuykendall, […]
TERMS:
Rodeo Newstm (ISSN 1934-5224) is published 12 times a year, semi-monthly May-Nov; once in Dec Jan, Feb., March, and April by Publication Printers, 2001 S. Platte River Drive, Denver, Colo., 80223. Iris Ink, Inc., parent company of Rodeo News is located at 3604 WCR 54G, Laporte, Colo., 80535. Subscriptions are $30 per year. Periodicals postage paid at LaPorte, Colo., and additional mailing offices.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Rodeo News, PO Box 842, LaPorte, Colo., 80535.
Canada Post (CPC) publication #40798037. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Rodeo News carries advertising and editorials as a service to the readers. However, publication of advertisements and editorials in Rodeo News does not commit Rodeo News to agree with or guarantee any of the merchandise or livestock advertised.
Spring 2021:
March 20-21 Ardmore
April 2-4 Lazy E Boarder Bash
April 17-18 Chickasha
May 1-2 Thomas
State finals May 20-23 Chickasha
