story by Lindsay Humphrey
If you don’t recognize Bode Baize by his name, you’ll surely know him by his tack of choice: Corriente. His dad, Wayne, started the saddle and tack aspect of the business almost 30 years ago. Bode added the custom buckles and awards in the last 12 years. “We advertise at ropings a lot and we’re riding in the saddles that we build,” said the El Paso, Texas, team roper. “A lot of times we’ll rope a steer and then come out the other end and someone will come up and talk to us about the saddle they just bought. We build a relationship with our customers over the phone, but it’s neat that we can interact with them in person also.” Bode is at least the third generation in his family to be an avid roper and rodeo competitor.
“When I first got started, my grandad (Sonny Campbell) and my mom (Jewel) helped me the most. They taught me the basics of riding and roping. As I advanced, my mom used to put the rope on the horns in the chute so she could turn them for me.” After Bode had the basics down, his dad helped him move up as a roper and now he’s a 9+ heeler and 7 header. When Bode first started, he was focused on heading but enjoys switching ends on a regular basis. “I heel more often than head, but I like doing both so I can enter more and then I don’t have to hammer my heel horse.”
As a businessman during the week, Bode and his family are almost always at a different arena on the weekends. “Team roping is probably the easiest event that you can get with not putting a lot of effort into it constantly. You don’t need the very best horses to be competitive and you can practice enough during the week after work to still have fun. It’s just a very user-friendly event.” When Bode first started roping more than 20 years ago, the events were few and far between. He liked how this built the anticipation for an event. “Everyone used to get the Super Looper Magazine and that’s where we got our info about an event. That magazine and word of mouth is what brought everyone out. They would get thousands of teams.” Today, finding a jackpot or rodeo on any given day of the week is easy. It’s helped make the sport more accessible to new ropers but lowered the numbers entering each event.
One of Bode’s most memorable accomplishments as a roper came when he was 14 years old. He was crowned a USTRC champion in 1999. “At the time it was a happy moment for my mom more than anything because she put so much effort into getting me to that point. I had no idea what I had accomplished, I just wanted to rope the dummy with my friends once I was done.” Another notable win was taking fifth place at the George Strait Team Roping Classic. “It was a heck of an accomplishment later in life, especially now that they don’t have it anymore.” Bode first joined the NMRA more than 10 years ago. It was a strategic move for this team roper who’s always dreamed of winning an all-around title.
“I’m not a high-level calf roper, so it’s neat that they have the incentive calf roping that I can enter. That gives me a chance to compete in two different events and I don’t have to beat the best of the best, it levels the playing field in that event.” Living in El Paso means Bode is close to the New Mexico boarder and many NMRA events. He tries to take his wife, Angela, and their daughters – Brylee, 4 years, and Lexi, 4 months – to new places every chance he gets. “This is a lifestyle more than anything; I don’t get burnt out because all my friends are there and we’ve been doing it together forever. We don’t really do anything else. We get together every weekend and go rope somewhere. I don’t think it will ever change. My mom is 71 years old, and she still competes at a high level in barrel racing.”
