Quite possibly the hottest header of the 2nd half, Trey Gallais put together a strong performance this season to ride into his 4th CFR with $26,000+ in season earnings and a serious shot at a Canadian title. Gallais started the season heading for Joey Romo, picking up coveted wins at the Teepee Creek Stampede and the Sundre Pro Rodeo but it wasn't until the July 21st weekend when he picked up Jeremy Buhler that things really got HOT. Together Gallais & Buhler would storm through the back half of the season, placing at the majority of rodeos they entered and claiming the 2024 SMS Equipment Pro Tour Championship. Gallais has also seen recent success in the Rope Horse futurity game, picking up 4/5 holes at the Fall Classic Rope Horse Futurity in the 5-6 year-old heading division a week and a half ago. It was great to catch Trey and talk about horses, rodeoing, the futurity game and more as he gears up for Edmonton in a couple short weeks.
Question: How many times have you made it now and who did you rope with?
Answer: This is my 4th. The first year I roped with Kasper Roy. The 2nd year I roped with Tristan (Woolsey). The 3rd year, I made it with Tristan but roped with Denim (Ross). This year, I got Jerry.
Question: What was it like roping with Jerry?
Answer: Man it was awesome, it's pretty hard to beat roping with that guy. He's a legend up here. That's everybody's dream to rope with a world champion like Jeremy Buhler. It was pretty badass when he called me to rope.
Question: What do you think made your guys' run so good?
Answer: Shoot we've roped so many steers together through Arizona riding colts and what not. Our run from the futurities to the jackpots to the rodeos isn't much different. It's the same run, I gotta get out at the barrier, I gotta turn the cow and he rides a good position and heels em fast. I think that's our biggest successor, is that our run doesn't really change. It doesn't ever feel like we're both playing offense or both playing defense, we just go make the run we can on that cow. I think we've run enough steers together that we have a good run so it's not like we're trying to make our run faster or do too much. Shoot all I'm worried about is getting the steer turned and I know 99% of the time they're going to be stopped by 2 feet and we're winning money. That takes a lot of pressure off me, if I just go do my job, we're getting paid.
Question: What horse will you ride in Edmonton?
Answer: I'm not 100% sure yet. I was going to ride the 5 year-old dun mare that I used most of the summer. That was the plan before we lost her in kind of a freak accident here. I'm going to go try Koby Ziemmer's buckskin horse sometime here, he's using her at the WRA Finals this weekend. I've roped on her quite a bit but it's been a while so hopefully if it works I'll go get her and be able to practice on her before the Finals.
Question: What head rope do you use?
Answer: I'm a rain or shine Powerline guy. I can't actually say that cause last year I busted out the GT4 at the Finals. But I'm a die hard Powerline guy, XS or S, it depends on how they come.
Question: What's your favorite Canadian rodeo?
Answer: Ponoka's hard to beat cause it's prestigious and it's got a cool setup. Sundre's always been a favorite of mine, I've always seemed to have success there. They've done a lot there lately by getting equal money and have done a lot to the rodeo grounds. It's kind of a cool little atmosphere there and then of course it's my Hometowner so that helps quite a bit. There's a lot of good ones up here. You can't beat La Crete's hospitality so it's up there. Those 3 are all up there, that's a tough question.
Question: Who's been the biggest influence on your roping?
Answer: At a young age, definitely my dad and my grandpa. Jerry's helped me a lot with the horse part of things. I mean he's a heeler so he doesn't tell me how to head but we can break it down and talk about horses. It's crazy how much transfers between a head horse and a heel horse, if you can get em travelling and riding the right way they seem to go both ways or they'll work for both. He's been pretty cool to rope with cause we've been breaking it down quite a bit in the practice pen. When you're roping with a guy that's that good of a horseman, your practices are never dull cause you always have something to work on or pick a guy's brain about.
Question: What're some future goals that you want to accomplish?
Answer: I want to make it to the NFR, that's kind of always been a goal since I was a kid. I think that's something I can accomplish, I think it's in reach. Being a Canadian Champion has always been another goal since being a little kid. Growing up and hanging out in Rexall when my dad was there, you can't wait to go back there and compete and have a chance to win Canada just like the parents did. So yeah make the NFR and have success down there, I'd like to get to that point for sure, that's something I want to do.
Question: Do you got plans of going down there this winter?
Answer: Yeah, I need to try and get into some winter rodeos. See what Jerry thinks, he'll be in a little different spot with how much success he had this summer, he'll probably get into some of them rodeos. But I'm gonna try my best to get down there and to get qualified and if I don't set myself up for next year, try to set it up for the following year.
Question: Tell me a little bit about the futurity game and your role in that?
Answer: Those deals are pretty cool. They allow us to make horses, get em seasoned and showcase them. The coolest part is it gives a guy a chance to make a living with his rope and at the end of the day that's what we want to do. It's humbling, it's very humbling I'll tell you that. Everybody has different opinions from your own and it's cool to go out there and get other opinions on your horses. At the end of the day, I love to compete and I feel like I'm alright at showing a horse so if I can do those 2 things at once, I'm all about it.
They're getting to be pretty cool. I think the coolest part about them and I hope it keeps going that direction, is the intermediate class. That's going to get hot and I think it makes the horse industry up here better as a whole. It gives guys a reason to go and make a 4-6 year-old horse and go and put some money up and showcase them. It gives the guys who have built a nice horse a chance to show people what they've made, but they don't have to do it against the guys who do it for a living. I think that's going to get pretty cool and make the horse industry really bloom here in the next few years.
Question: What other team are you most excited to watch in Edmonton?
Answer: Denim & Kavis always. That Kavis, he's rank. Same with Denim, he stayed with us in Arizona last year and he's a beauty. I think those 2 are pretty dangerous. Kavis is a gamer and he don't care about anything other then getting it on em fast, they have a really good run together. And I'm definitely pumped up to see my boy Therman (Logan Cullen) pop his cherry there. I think him and Levi will do good in there. There's a good lineup this year.
Question: What's your gameplan in Edmonton?
Answer: I'm gonna go and turn 5 steers and hopefully get paid 5 times in the round and hopefully get paid in the average, that's my plan. My game plan isn't going to change any from the time that I started roping with Jerry, I get out of the barrier and turn the cow and if we draw good we're going to get paid.
This interview is part 1 of 3 of a Superstar Header Trifecta presented by Rein Equine Marketing:
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