story by Hannah Crandall
Down an eight-mile dirt road near Long Valley, South Dakota, 30 miles from Kadoka, Denton Good lives on his family’s ranch. The 17-year-old homeschooled senior values his family, hard work and rodeo. Denton competes in steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping and ribbon roping. “Bulldogging is my favorite event, but I just love rodeo in general. Any part of rodeo, I’m usually game for.”
Denton, son of Allen and Beth Good, has been riding horses since he was three, started hazing for his dad when he was about five and has been rodeoing since he was six or seven. “From there, I never quit rodeoing. I’ve always wanted to bulldog. I’ve always loved rodeo, always wanted to rodeo.”
Denton competes in the National Little Britches, 4-H and South Dakota High School rodeo associations, as well as in the Northwest Ranch Cowboy’s Association and the South Dakota Rodeo Association. The young athlete has won three national titles (2015 NLBRA World Champion Junior Team Roper, 2017 NJHRA Champion Team Roper and 2018 NLBRA World Champion Goat Tyer). He also ended up 5th at the 2020 Jr. Ironman and 2nd at the 2020 Junior World Finals in the 16 & under steer wrestling.
One of Denton’s biggest dreams is to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2022, which is the first year he will have the opportunity to compete at that level. His other plans include attending the Western College of Auctioneering, possibly going to horseshoeing school, continuing to train horses and anything rodeo.
Denton rides an 11-year-old sorrel named Hitch when steer wrestling that he partners on with Casey Cowan from Ft. Pierre, South Dakota. Denton had no intentions of buying a steer wrestling horse when Casey sent Hitch for Denton to tune-up. However, he has had a blast competing on him ever since. “He’s a great horse, probably the easiest horse I’ve ever trained. He loves his job. I can heel steers on him. I can use him on the ranch. He’s my main horse, and I would pick him any day. He’s just handy in any place.”
Denton’s daily life now, when he is not going to rodeos, consists of horseshoeing, building fence, working at the sale barn, taking care of things on the ranch, practicing and training horses with his father, grandfather and older brother. “It’s a family affair. Everybody is always giving advice or pointers and helping each other, no matter if it’s ranching, horse training, rodeo or business choices, like with my fencing business. We are just one big team.”
When COVID hit, Denton decided to continue doing his schoolwork online, as the closest high school for Denton is 30 miles away. Homeschool gives Denton more freedom to pursue his passions wholeheartedly, whether that be on the road or at the ranch. Denton’s grandfather, Gordon Good (See story on page 18), recently had a stroke in October 2020, making it a blessing that Denton and his older brother are both completing their schoolwork from home. “Before the stroke, he worked like a 30-year-old. After the stroke for two weeks, he couldn’t talk or anything. It was good that my brother and I both did schoolwork online. Otherwise, Dad would have been shorthanded.”
While Denton’s entire family is supportive of his ambitions, he considers his grandparents to be his biggest supporters. Although, Denton had no hesitation when asked who his heroes are. “My dad and grandpa, for all that they taught me and all that they do.”
Denton has many accomplishments to be proud of, but he is most proud of rodeo, his horses and his family’s ranch. “Besides rodeo accomplishments, I guess I would be most proud of the horses we have and really any part of the ranch or the place we have here. That’s always something to be proud of.” The Good family raises, trains and sells performance horses, specializing in steer wrestling and hazing horses. They train about 70 quality performance horses annually.
Denton’s favorite quote is ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’. Denton’s dreams have always been centered around rodeo, and Denton believes he has the right support system to accomplish all his goals, both inside and outside the arena.
