Schmidt Claims San Angelo Title
- aroundthesaddlehor
- Apr 21
- 3 min read
San Angelo, TX — It was more than just a "Good Friday" for Canada’s Kolton Schmidt — it was a great Friday. He and Marshall, Texas, cowboy Will Woodfin completed the course at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo to walk away as the rodeo’s Team Roping champions.
Schmidt, who needs no introduction to the Canadian team roping world, entered San Angelo within striking distance of the Top 20 of the PRCA Standings after placing third at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, Colorado, and cashing a couple of solid checks at other winter rodeos like Fort Worth and San Antonio with McAlester, Oklahoma’s Landen Glenn earlier this year.
When Glenn decided to team up with Stephenville, Texas, cowboy Riley Kittle, the opportunity opened for Schmidt to rope in San Angelo with Woodfin.
The pair got off to a strong start, clocking a solid 4.7-second run in Round 1.“That first steer was a really nice cow, took one step left,” Schmidt recalled. “Will kind of went over the top of his saddle horn with his dally one time, but we still ended up making a good run.”
In Round 2, they picked up the pace, delivering a snappy 3.9-second run on a trickier, right-stepping steer. The run was good enough to split fifth place six ways and earned them $1,041 each.
“That second steer was straight and kind of tried stopping the first time he went, so we planned on staying away from him and just letting him do his deal,” said Schmidt. “He ended up going off to the right, and as soon as I headed him, he kind of checked off. Will knocked that one out — he was rank on that one.”
With an aggregate time of 8.6 seconds on two steers, Schmidt and Woodfin entered the Friday night Short Round as the second-highest callback behind JC Yeahquo and Ross Ashford.“It was a little bit harder to make a game plan for that Short Round steer, just ’cause you never know what’s going to happen,” Schmidt said. “We might’ve had to be 4 flat or 5.5 — we just didn’t know. But we did know that if it just came down to getting him caught, we kind of just had to leave that steer alone. I missed the barrier a little bit like I’d planned, but it allowed that steer to be all over the place. Will did a really good job, and it all worked out.”
And worked out it did. Their 5.4-second run in the Finals brought their aggregate total to 14.0 seconds on three steers, securing the win and $8,287 each.
“I’ve always loved that rodeo. It was pretty cool to finally get the win there,” Schmidt reflected.
As far as horsepower goes, Schmidt rode his good mare Rhianna (Carters Won Time Out) in Rounds 1 and 2, but for the Short Round, he was back on his grey gelding Otis.
“That was huge — getting him back in time for the Short Round,” Schmidt said. “He’d been off for 45–50 days with a slight tear in his suspensory. I was planning to bring him back next week after California, but with how everything played out, I needed him back a week earlier. The folks over at Signature Equine Hospital, Dr. Charlie Buchanan, and then my buddy Trevor Olson got him legged back up and roped on him all week for me. I had a lot of help.”
“He’s just a nice horse. Not a superstar or a world-beater, but he’s always on your team — that’s for sure.”
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