story by Lindsay Humphrey
Way back in January, Cody Redden set a few goals for the upcoming rodeo season: take up calf roping and win an all-around title by using the same horse in the tie-down and the steer wrestling. “I’m 45 this year and most people are done bull doggin’ by my age so I decided that I could probably rope calves for the next few years,” said the Lipan, Texas, cowboy. Since Cody is a true rookie in the event, he enters the incentive calf roping in the NMRA. At the first NRMA event of the season, Cody’s goals for the year took a hit. “My horse strained a suspensory ligament and that took him out for a few months. I had to start another horse in the calf roping.”
Roping on a self-made 4-year-old in a brand-new event is proving difficult, but not impossible for Cody. Even still, he’s thankful to have 16-year-old Pablo back in the trailer. “Pablo is a once-in-a-lifetime horse that you’ll probably only get one or two of. He’s a big, stout, 1,300-pound Hancock roan who’s a lot bigger than a steer wrestling horse needs to be but he can really run.” Cody’s used Pablo to pack elk out of the mountains at least 20 times over the years. It wasn’t until 2019 – when Pablo was 13 – that Cody started using him for bull dogging. Before that Pablo had never even seen the inside of an arena. And now, he’s the key ingredient for keeping Cody on the leader board. “I’ve been borrowing horses for the past few months, and it wasn’t until I got Pablo back that I was in the money again.”
Steer wrestling happens to be a family event for Cody. “We used to go through old photo albums and there were pictures of my dad, Corky Redden, steer wrestling. I always told him I wanted to do it. I was about 15 years old when we got a portable arena, two ranch horses and a worn-out team roping steer and got started. I threw my first steer about two months later.” Cody didn’t have many opportunities to compete before his senior year of high school, but he still caught the attention of Tarleton State University. He bull dogged for the team all four years of college. He also bought and filled his PRCA permit his freshman year – 1995.
“I had my pro card from 1996 until 2016 when I quit competing for about three years. My horse got old, and I got hurt at the same time. The new horse I started in 2019 was Pablo.” That was the year Cody joined the NMRA for the first time. He also competed in his first NMRA finals that year followed by winning the event in 2020. A second-place finish in 2021 was good, but Cody decided 2022 was a good year to compete for his first all-around title. So far, Cody’s leading both the steer wrestling and the all-around race in the NMRA. Cody also competes in the UPRA and CPRA, which are often co-approved with the NMRA. He’s doing well in both of those also. “Living in Texas, it’s been over 100 degrees a majority of the summer. We’ve been able to go to [NMRA] rodeos as a way to stay cool and have a good time.”
Usually Cody travels with his wife, Sara, and their 10-year-old son, Cade. “I’ve been with my wife for 20 years and she’s been hazing for me the whole time. She’s one of the best hazers I’ve had.” When Cade was 5 years old, he hazed for his dad. “I caught that steer and threw him down. I’m not sure if there has ever been a 5-year-old hazer before.” Even though Cade is more interested in mechanized motors than the original horsepower source, there’s still hope he’ll catch the rodeo bug. “I have a Tuf Kaf roping dummy that you can rope and tie. He’s worn his fingers out tying that thing lately. I would love nothing more than to see him following in my footsteps and make a rodeo hand out of him.”
