Monty Goodwin

story by Lily Weinacht

Monty Goodwin – Way Out West

Monty Goodwin has been competing in the IPRA for three years, winning Rookie of the Year in 2011. The cowboy from Weatherford, Okla., saw all the association’s rodeos that were close to home and he decided to join and rodeo as locally as he could. For someone who travels more than 2,000 miles a week for work, local rodeos was music to his ears.
Monty, 29, is a bareback rider. The event was passed down to him by his dad and uncles, who used to ride bareback horses. Monty competed in his event on the rodeo teams at both Dodge City Community College and Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He qualified for the CNFR in 2008 but couldn’t compete due to a knee surgery. “I like to win,” says Monty. “What I enjoy about our sport is that it’s a personal deal between you and the animals. It’s not about the other guys. Everything will line up right if you do your job. Recently, I’ve thought about hanging the bareback rigging up, but every year I keep betting on myself. I just wish I had more time to go to the gym and work out so I could really ride at my full potential.”
Working keeps Monty quite busy in between weekend rodeoing. He is a representative for Superior Livestock Auction. Monty also delivers cattle all over the state of Oklahoma and parts of Texas and Kansas for Superior. His other miles come from delivering vet supplies to ranchers around Oklahoma through the animal health company that he manages. He rounds out his week volunteering as a fireman. “I’ve been volunteering for a year,” he says. “I went through an EMT training class last spring, and I’m thinking about getting more training so that I can be a full-time fireman. I help people in some of the worst moments of their lives and lend them a helping hand. It makes you think about things differently when you see the consequences of decisions, like not wearing seat belts.”
Monty enjoys bow hunting, fishing, helping his friends check cattle, laying on the couch on Sunday afternoons, and watching funny movies. He also gets on his spur board on a weekly basis and does his best to stay healthy. “Over the Fourth of July I tore my ACL, and then recently in New Windsor I got bucked off and jammed my neck and chipped two of my teeth!” Monty says. “I’m thinking about getting into steer tripping. I also really enjoy going to ranch rodeos with a group of friends here. One of my goals is to make their finals.” Recently, Monty won the IPRA Pawnee, Okla., rodeo and went to St. Tite in Quebec, Canada, which is one of his favorite IPRA rodeos. “St. Tite has good fans. Those people clap for everyone, including the tractor drivers. You can’t set a drink down on the benches where the cowboys get ready, because the crowd stomps their feet so much and make the benches vibrate!” He adds, “I still get nervous about competing sometimes, but I think of Isaiah 41:10 which says ‘…for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.’
Having qualified for the IFR three times, Monty’s aim is to win it, a goal he is pursuing with the help of his sponsor, Olathe Boot Company. “I think one thing that has made me successful in what I’ve done is that I’ve made goals and trusted God, even when things weren’t going the way I wanted. Everyone is different and that’s why we’ve got different fingerprints – we’re all going to leave different marks on the world.”