story by Michele Toberer
Trey Moore started out as a farm kid in Summerville, Georgia when a buddy from school introduced him to the world of rodeo as a 9-year-old 4th grader. What started out as something he encouraged his dad to let him try because it sounded like fun, has turned into a major portion of the Woodland, Alabama cowboy’s life. Trey has been a member of the Southeastern Professional Rodeo Association for 7 years and in February he earned his most recent SPRA champion bareback rider title; giving him a total of 6 of the champion bareback buckles in addition to his SPRA champion all-around title he earned in 2016. “With bareback riding there’s always a big adrenaline rush. Besides the talent it takes, there’s the physical end to the sport. You can’t get on a bareback horse unprepared or you’ll be embarrassed; you get out what you put in. If you outwork the other guys and dedicate yourself and your time to it, you’re going to win.”
Trey has always been more interested in the rough stock end of the arena, but starting out it was calf riding, which led to bull riding, that gave Trey his beginning in rodeo. “I also competed in chute dogging in the Georgia Junior Rodeo Association and was able to win the all-around champion cowboy title with just two events, calf riding and chute dogging.” After calves, Trey stepped up to steers for about before his dad, Robert Moore, convinced him to try bulls when he was 12 years old. “We were living in Alabama then, and about 5 minutes from my house Tim Cox had a practice pen in Ider, Alabama. I practiced there for a couple years before I started competing in bull riding, which I did for another 3 or 4 years. Lance Etheridge talked me into getting on my first bareback horse in 2010, and I hated it the first 10 or 12 bareback horses I rode. But he and my stepdad, James Bearden kept encouraging and helping me and one day I got on and committed to it, and it took off from there.” Trey ended up trying multiple events by the time he was in high school, and he competed in the Alabama High School Rodeo Association during his senior year. He competed in every event but calf roping and cutting, finishing as the 2011 AHSRA champion bareback rider and reserve champion bull rider. Trey also finished in the top 4 state steer wrestlers and top 10 team ropers for Alabama.
Following high school, Trey competed for a semester on the Howard Community College rodeo team in bull riding, steer wrestling, and bareback riding, before taking a couple years off to work and rodeo back in Alabama. He then attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma where he had begun to focus his efforts on bareback riding. From 2017 on, Trey competed in multiple associations at the professional level, and won several rookie and champion bareback rider titles across the southeast. He finished as the PRCA Southeast Circuit bareback champ after winning all three rounds at the circuit finals in Davie, Florida last November. “I really appreciate Lance Etheridge for all he’s done for me over the years. He really took me under his wing and carried me down the road for a few years.”
The SPRA is quite a family affair for Trey, as he often is competing at rodeos where his mom, Lisa Bearden, is working as a SPRA secretary, and his stepdad, James Bearden, is working as a SPRA judge. His stepsisters, Laci and Cristi, as well as Trey’s wife, Chelsea, are also often competing as barrel racers. “Chelsea and I have been married for 2 ½ years and it’s great that we’ve been able to rodeo together. We have a 2-year-old daughter, Denver Grace, and I also have a 3-year-old son, Tatum Huxley.” Trey works as a Cleburne County deputy sheriff, and Chelsea owns an online boutique named Homestead Apparel. Trey and Chelsea recently bought an old farmhouse and some land in Woodland, Alabama, where they plan to continue working towards their goals of building a herd of cattle and developing their farm.
