story by Lily Weinacht
Cinch Moody of Stephenville, Texas, started his career with the AJRA two years ago, and won the average in the breakaway roping, ribbon roping, and double mugging during the 2015 AJRA finals. But his rodeo career began much earlier. “My dad started roping when I was born, and he had roping videos all over the house,” Cinch explains. “I didn’t watch cartoons – I watched those roping videos, and ever since I was little, I’ve had a rope in my hands.”
The hundreds of runs he has made from the roping box paid off in December of 2015. Cinch was invited to compete in the 12 and Under tie-down roping during the Roy Cooper Shoot Out in Las Vegas – and he won. “The first day, I didn’t rope very sharp, so my dad and I had a talk and figured out what to do better, and the second day in the short round, I tied my fastest calf ever in nine seconds,” Cinch recalls. “I didn’t know if I’d make it to the Shoot Out, but I did, and I told myself I was going to be aggressive at the barrier and go at every calf I nodded my head for.”
Cinch met Roy Cooper prior to the Invitational, spending his seventh birthday not only with the Super Looper himself, but also Tuf Cooper and Trevor Brazile. “The man who sponsors me and makes my saddles, Fred Werneck, had a horse that Tuf was trying out, so I was able to meet them then,” says Cinch. “I really look up to Trevor Brazile. No matter if he’s had a good day or a terrible day, he’s going to have a smile on his face.”
Like Trevor Brazile, Cinch plans to make a career out of tie-down roping. “You have so many things to do in a short amount of time with that event, and you have to have big trust that your horse will work the whole time you’re flanking and tying,” says Cinch. He also competes in the AJRA in team roping as both a header and heeler, while entering jackpots and other rodeo associations around the state.
“I enjoy the AJRA because almost every big rodeo person from Texas got their start with them, and they have really good cattle. It’s a great association to go to,” describes Cinch. “I love the competition of rodeo. It’s between you and the calf or steer you’ve drawn, not anyone else. You just have to make the best run you can and move on to the next one!”
Cinch and his parents, Shanna and Jeremiah, make their home about ten miles outside of Stephenville. They built a roping lane during the summer, though Cinch prefers to keep himself and his horses sharp with just a few runs a week. He won the AJRA finals riding a horse belonging to Fred Werneck, while Cinch’s head horse, Black, belongs to John Dutton. His calf horses are Fancy and Rio. “I have a young horse, Man Cat, who I think will be really nice,” Cinch adds. “People also send me horses to train, which helps me pay my entry fees.”
When he’s not in the arena or helping a neighbor with day work on his ranch, Cinch can be found at Henderson Junior High. A seventh grader, he runs cross country and plays basketball, while his favorite class is history. “I really enjoy Texas history,” he says. “An interesting thing about my state is that there were originally more Indians here than any other state, but now we have the fewest reservations.”
Anticipating the start of the next AJRA season, Cinch’s goal is to win the tie-down roping. “I mainly want to pursue tie-down roping, with a little team roping,” Cinch finishes, “and I for sure want to make rodeo my career.”
