MOUNTAIN STATES CIRCUIT: BREAKAWAY
Mental Toughness Hoar Wins Average and Punches Ticket to NFR Open
By Kristen M. White T o say that it’s been an interesting season for Charity Hoar might be an understatement. So, for her to come out on top of the average in breakaway roping at the Mountain States Circuit Finals, being the only woman to catch in all three rounds, is sort of just par for the course. Hoar broke the barrier in the first round after “being too excited,” but knew that it wasn’t over until it was over, so she had to employ mental toughness to make it through the rest of the rodeo.
third in the average) that had caught in both rounds. But Hoar didn’t let herself become consumed by the thoughts of “I just have to title. She was the only roper to catch all three, so the broken barrier didn’t hurt her. Photo by Tanya Hamner Despite a broken barrier on her first calf, Charity Hoar, was still able to leave the Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo as the average champion. Hoar finished the three run average in a total time of 19.9 seconds to take the
catch this calf” or the merry-go-round of what might be. “I told myself that I wasn’t going to worry about that night’s run, that I needed to focus and stay away from the whole pressure of catching ‘one more calf.’ Just go rope and trust the process,” she said. The mental game is something Hoar has been working on in a big way for the past year. Last year at the WPRA World Finals, she didn’t rope a single calf and in talking to her husband, Stuart, they agreed she was too caught up in her head and needed to adjust.
Charity Hoar kept her focus at the Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo and in so doing she roped her way to the average title and a spot in the NFR Open in July. Hoar will be making her first trip to this lucrative event in just the second year that the NFR Open is featuring breakaway roping. Photo by Tanya Hamner
“Lynn Smith helped me a ton,” Hoar said. “We had a heart-to-heart and she sent me lots of links to coaching books and mental prep books. And then I sat down and made out my goals for 2022 and the process goals to get there. “The other thing that really changed was that I used to speak pretty negatively of myself, thinking that I couldn’t do what the other girls were doing, that I didn’t ‘have the right’ to be there and compete with continued on page 28
“I knew I could rope every calf, there was no doubt in my mind,” Hoar said. “And there was a point where I jokingly told my husband that I’d be the only girl to catch all three. But realistically, with the level of competition in our circuit, I didn’t expect that at all.” Still, it happened. In the first round, Abbea Fares and Peggy Garman tied in 2.5 seconds for the round win, and in the second round, Erin Johnson won in 2.3 seconds. Hoar was out of the money again in the second round, but caught, keeping things alive. After the first two rounds shook out, Hoar knew it was just herself and Taya McAdow (who would eventually finish
Erin Johnson took home the year-end title in the Mountain States Circuit and will compete for the second straight year at the NFR Open. The three-time WPRA World Champion Breakaway Roper is so thankful to be in the middle of the breakaway roping boom and is able to experience all these new opportunities. Photo by Tanya Hamner
DECCEMBER 2022
WOMEN’S PRO RODEO NEWS 17
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker