story by Lily Weinacht
New Mexico cowboy Seth Hall won the tie-down roping at Cheyenne Frontier Days in July. A regular entry at the Daddy of ‘em All for the last six or seven years, Seth put down a time of 10.8 in the first round and couldn’t be caught the rest of the week. “That was a win you always dream about—getting in that situation you never think you’d be in, and that’s huge,” says the 29-year-old from Albuquerque. “Every day since then it’s been a little more real that I won and it’s been awesome. Now we’ll try to do it twice.” He was one of the first ropers out of the chute, which he says gave him less time to over think his run. “I just had to put it together and do my deal and luckily all the cards fell in the right places. I had to watch every one of those ropers and I didn’t feel at any point it was over until the 16th guy went.”
Seth, who also competes in team roping, had a solid streak throughout the month of Cowboy Christmas, picking up a check at Laramie, placing in Livingston and Window Rock, and winning second in the team roping at Prescott. He chose to start his season in June this year, focusing on training his horses through the winter and spring. “I think remembering that I’m only this age once keeps me motivated. I’m always practicing and thinking about how I can get better horses. The drive is that I’ve never had great horsepower, so I’m wondering if I could get that and would it would be like. I’ve been putting them together slowly and it’s been really good this summer.”
He divides his time between New Mexico and Phoenix, Arizona, competing in the GCPRA whenever he’s in the area. He’s currently sitting second in the GCPRA tie-down roping standings, and seventh in the open team roping heeling. The rodeos give him the opportunity to season his horses and win extra money to keep him on the rodeo trail. “As a kid, I had a lot of friends in New Mexico who rodeoed, and Taos Muncy and the Muncy family are good friends of mine,” says Seth, who grew up going to rodeos with his dad who then started hauling Seth and his sister to jackpots and junior rodeos. “I grew up going to the Muncy’s ranch and being around him (Taos). He made the NFR and I’ve always wanted to be a pro rodeo cowboy. New Mexico doesn’t have a lot of guys that come out of the state and we’ve been working at it hard.”
Seth loves both his roping events and even steer wrestled in high school rodeo, but tends to focus the most on tie-down roping. One of his main calf horses, Bay, came from Tommy and Cindy Smith, and the horse he won Cheyenne on, Jazz, started as a horse Seth planned to sell on consignment for a client until he decided to purchase the horse himself this spring. “He’s really good on fresh calves and he has a really good stop. I took a young one to Tucson this winter and won most of my money on him, so I’m hoping to have him finished up for this coming winter.”
Riding and training horses for himself and clients keeps Seth busy the year round. His girlfriend, Callie Rios-Crivers, travels with him, and her family owns a sale barn in El Paso, Texas—Rio Grand Classic Auction—which Seth helps with as well. Through the fall and winter, he aims to win the tie-down roping in the GCPRA again, as well as winning the Turquoise Circuit Finals. “My goal is to get ready for the winter and 2020. I have the horsepower and I know what it takes. Getting a good win under my belt is maybe what I needed to get to the next stage. I want to just keep living and being thankful for the wins.”
