Cowboy hits ‘rodeo lottery,’ paired with bull for third straight week – this time in Clovis

Maybe it’s fate.

Or unfinished business.

Professional Bull Rider Roscoe Jarboe keeps getting paired with “Mr. Moody” in a rare rodeo repeat stretching across consecutive weeks.

Cowboy and bull square off again Saturday at the 103rd annual Clovis Rodeo at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds.

It’s the third straight week that the 5-foot-11, 145-pound Jarboe has randomly drawn the 1,300-plus-pound Mr. Moody of the Growney Brothers & Bridwell Pro Rodeo Co.

“Facing the same bull three times in a row, that’s like (the odds of) winning the lottery,” stock contractor Tim Bridwell said. “That’s how rare it is. It’s the rodeo lottery.”

Jarboe and Mr. Moody split their first two 8-second entanglements.

“I wasn’t disappointed that I got him again, but I’m kind of tired of drawing him and would like a different one,” Jarboe said. “It still should be good.

“We’ve been saying it’s a game. Best two out of three. Right now, we’re tied up. If I win this tiebreaker, hopefully I’ll never have to ride him again.”

Two weeks ago, he was bucked off at the Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nev.

Jarboe then redeemed himself last week, riding Mr. Moody to a third-place finish with 84 points at the Red Bluff Round-Up, about 50 minutes south of Redding.

But as cowboys have been known to say: Anything but first place stinks.

“I’m looking for the win,” Jarboe said. “Not second or third.

“He’s a good bull. But there are better ones you can score more on.”

In his rookie season, 4-year old Mr. Moody – in three attempts entering Saturday – has been ridden successfully just the one time by Jarboe.

Bridwell said his young bull might not be at the top of his game, perhaps lacking the experience to give a seasoned rider like Jarboe a real test in a rematch.

But Mr. Moody has shown “a lot of potential,” Bridwell added, “he just has to get in control with Roscoe and force him into a mistake.”

Jarboe believes he doesn’t have much of an advantage riding the same bull “because they move and buck randomly.”

But he does feel confident, knowing the pair at least have cashed before.

“I feel like I can place with him,” Jarboe said. “But I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable.

“You’re never comfortable with a bull.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Cowboy hits ‘rodeo lottery,’ paired with bull for third straight week – this time in Clovis."