MINERVA – Curtis Todd is known throughout the state for his timing, speed, agility and strength. He consistently makes the top ten in the state qualifying events he enters, yet a majority of Milam County residents have never heard this athlete’s name. Because he is a cowboy athlete, who competes in western sports like calf, team and ribbon roping, goat tying and chute dogging and is home schooled, Todd’s weekly workouts, dedication to his sport and passion for horses goes relatively unnoticed.
The 14-year-old, Cameron Rodeo Team member, competes almost every weekend of the year, in an effort to hone his skills and make it to his goal of winning a state championship in roping.
“I have four more years of junior rodeo and high school. There’s still plenty of time for me to reach my goals,” Todd said, from his home in Minerva. “I went to state in seventh and eighth grade.”
Todd has already met with a lot of success in his young career. He made it to the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in calf roping in 2017 and 2018. This year he was sixth place in tie-down event. (See his rankings on this page.)
Like other athletes, Todd has teammates that he competes with, Tyler Calhoun of Anderson in team roping competition and Ann Warrick of Cameron in ribbon roping. Unlike other athletes, Todd also trains with four-legged partners.
He has five different horses he said he rides in competition. Two are for team roping and three are calf-roping horses.
“My favorite horse is my tie-down horse Tadpole,” Todd said. “He is my favorite because he seems to make the most consistent run every time, and he is just a good horse all around, for me one of the best.”
In roping, Todd deals with many variables that are out of his control like unpredictable animals and a lot of chance depending on the stock that a person draws.
For instance, this year at state he ended up in sixth place in tie-down, because he didn’t draw a good calf.
“We were able to watch videos and time the calf,” he said. “On the short go, he ended up running faster than we anticipated and I didn’t make it, but still I’m proud I was able to compete in that event.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY – He is following in the tradition of his mother Tish Curtis, who did some barrel racing as a teenager and continues to compete.
“I used to barrel race and I still barrel race when I can. I’ve been riding horses my whole life,” Tish Todd said. “I did it some when I was a teenager. My aunt is Vickie Caffey, and my grandfather Curtis Caffey was a roper.”
The Caffeys are well-know horsemen and women in the Rockdale area. Vickie Caffey is a horseback rider and Curtis Caffey was a founding member of the Rockdale Roping and Cutting Club and the Rockdale Saddle Club.
It’s a hard road Todd has decided to take, but he’s getting excellent instruction from Justin Maass, an eight-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo tie-down roper, who has amassed Professional Rodeo and Cowboy Association earnings of over $1.3 million and owns Maass Performance Horses in Giddings.
“I go down to Giddings and take lessons from Justin Maass,” Todd said. “We have bought lessons from him several years. I’ve been going to him for the last four years.”
Unlike the top pro athletes in many other sports, rodeo competitors have no contracts and no guaranteed money whatsoever. They have to place high at every rodeo they go to if they want to have a check to cash at day’s end.
The entire Todd family understands the hard road Curtis has embarked upon. Curtis rodeos nearly 52 weekends a year with his mother Tish and father Mike in tow.
“We’re gone most weekends. We are somewhere off roping,” Tish Todd said. “We get a weekend off once and a while.”
He hones his skills on the family’s 25-acre ranch, where Todd practices nearly every day.
“I work hard at it every day. I try to practice three times a week,” Todd said. “I go out and rope a dummy or a calf and I work out three times a week to keep in shape.”
Todd will fine-tune his skills this summer where he’ll be competing in rodeo events the entire month of July. This weekend he will be at calf roping competitions in Giddings and Bren-ham.
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