story by Riata Cummings
Cael Day is the 13-year-old son of Raynel and Sharlie Day from Enterprise, Utah. Cael loves that living in a rural place gives him “more opportunities to rope, ride, and have fun.” Cael is the oldest of 4 children, and he has two younger sisters, Jordan and Oakley, and one younger brother, Stetson. The family enjoys spending time together outdoors, hiking, and hanging out. Cael is an eighth-grader at Enterprise High School, and his favorite classes are weight training and United States history.
Although Cael grew up around rodeo, he didn’t have the opportunity to compete until his family moved away from Salt Lake City. “Last March, I had the chance to start team roping, and I have always wanted to rodeo, so I took the chance.” Cael had roped before on his cousin’s ranch when they first moved to Enterprise. Shortly thereafter he split his head open during a buck off, which kept him off his horse for nearly a year. But he got back on, “came a long way very quickly,” and “hasn’t looked back.”
Cael currently competes in the team roping and chute dogging. In the team roping, he is a header for Roxy Hughes and loves the “feeling of leaving the box.” So far, he has placed in the top ten every weekend of rodeo this season. Cael would like to keep gathering points in the team roping and chute dogging and is working hard to earn a trip to nationals.
Cael competes on a 20-year-old gelding named Dwight that the family acquired this July. He practices as often as time allows, traveling to rope or working on fundamentals with the roping dummy. Rodeo has taught Cael to “be a good sport about everything. Don’t brag on others or yourself or anything, congratulate others for their success, and go try and make your own.”
Rodeoing in the competitive Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association has taught Cael to focus on what matters at the rodeo. “Make sure you are doing the best that you can in every situation. Listen to the people willing to give advice and go after it with everything you’ve got.” Cael loves the social aspect of rodeo and the chance it gives him to meet and spend time with friends from across the state. One of Cael’s greatest strengths is his friendly nature, which has helped him adjust to the rodeo lifestyle.
Cael looks up to professional rodeo athlete Trevor Brazil for his prowess in the arena and determination to be good at everything he does. Another one of Cael’s heroes is his grandfather, Curtis Day. His grandfather was a close friend and confidant and taught Cael many life lessons. One of those lessons came in the form of the saying, “You know what you should do.” The mantra hung on Grandpa Day’s door at the fire station, and today it reminds Cael to be proactive, independent, and dependable. One day Cael would like to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become a firefighter.
Cael would like to thank his team roping partner, Roxy, for being a dedicated and encouraging partner. He would like to thank his sponsors, Putnam Plumbing, Urban Poppy, Open Cab Custom Leather, and Silver Sage Leather Design for supporting his rodeo career. He would like to thank the Jones family and Tee Bennett for teaching him how to rope, helping him in all aspects of rodeo, and getting him started down the rodeo road. Finally, he would like to thank his parents for being willing to help him chase his gold buckle dreams.
