Colton, what is your favorite thing to do?
"Rope."
What is your favorite thing about roping?
"The rope."
Colton Workman of Lincoln might be a man of few words, but at age 5, the boy has many talents.
Colton is a cowboy, a roper, and possesses five saddles, three trophies and three buckles over his belts -- all won at roping competitions. He ropes standing calf dummies, during breakaway and ribbon roping events, and even plans to learn "two wraps and hooey" for tie-down roping, said Colton's mother, Brittany Huffaker.
With a little bit of luck and a lot of votes from his fans, Colton will compete in the team-roping event finals at the RFD TV American Rodeo on Feb. 28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
What makes this story even more amazing? Colton ropes with just one arm, using what he matter-of-factly calls his "nub" to pull the rope tight.
Cowboy Up
Colton was born into a rodeo family. His father roped; his mother barrel races as a member of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association. His older sisters Tabor and Kayden also compete.
Colton was born without the lower part of his left arm, but he began roping calf dummies beside his dad, Lewis Workman, when he was about one. Lewis Workman was killed in a car wreck in 2013, and Colton's stepfather, Ray Huffaker, took up the training.
"Learning to rope is very hard," said Huffaker, who has his own collection of roping awards through the United States Team Roping Championship and the Cowboys Winter Rodeo Association. "It's a lot of work. You don't just pick up a rope and start roping.
"You'll rope the dummy every day, and you'll get better every day."
He and Colton practice roping outside about an hour each day -- three days a week with calves -- and Colton hits his mark most of the time, Huffaker said. His mom said Colton swings his rope much of his time indoors, too -- and the family does keep a dummy calf in the living room for just such activity.
When asked what he likes besides roping, Colton proclaimed, "I like trophies!"
Brittany said the precocious little boy also likes basketball, hunting, cutting wood, hauling hay ... and he shows sheep and chickens with the Cane Hill 4-H Club at the Washington County Fair. He also rides sheep in Mutton Bustin' competitions at various rodeos.
The Family
Those involved in rodeo -- across the region, across the state, across the nation -- are family, Brittany Huffaker said. And through the Huffaker-Workman family's rodeo appearances, the gregarious Colton has made many friends and fans and even has his own sponsors, who pay for the child to wear patches with their company emblems on his shirts.
Colton counts eight-time world champion roper Roy Cooper and his roping family among those friends. Colton joins the clinics and competitions sponsored by the legendary rodeo family and also travels and signs autographs with them.
These appearances got Colton noticed and nominated to compete in the American Rodeo. In addition to inviting top riders in all rodeo events from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, Professional Bull Riders and other rodeo organizations, the American includes a feature in which fans nominate cowboys to compete. Colton was chosen among the top 10 of those nominations, and fans now have a chance to vote among the 10 to decide who will compete at the American. Voting ends Friday at americanrodeo.com.
If he wins, Colton -- and his partner, 14-year-old Stevie Ray Blackbird of Elm Springs -- will ride in the final round of team roping against competitors including PRCA 2015 all-around champion Trevor Brazille, PRCA No. 1 team roping heeler Jade Corkill, the legendary Clay O'Brien Cooper, Travis Graves, Ryan Motes and more from the PRCA's top 15. Colton and Stevie also will have a chance to win $100,000 awarded to the first-place team, according to the American website.
Colton and Stevie Ray have partnered before, but Colton usually throws his rope over the calves' heads -- called "the header" -- while Stevie Ray ropes the hind legs -- the "heeler." But with the presumed quality of calves at the rodeo, the families decided Stevie Ray would have a better chance at roping and holding the calf than Colton, Brittany explained, so Colton will be the "heeler."
"Those guys are Stevie's heroes," Brittany said of the American cowboys. "But Stevie is Colton's hero."
In fact, Colton picked Stevie Ray to be his partner at the American. "Stevie, will you wope wif' me?" the sweet boy asked again during their first team-roping workout one evening. Stevie Ray, very gently and very protectively, led Colton -- on a new horse, Sister -- around Marchant Hills Arena in Elm Springs.
"It's not about beating the pros," said Robert Blackbird, Stevie Ray's father. "It's about that little boy getting to do the things he loves. When he breaks that barrier on the pen, he'll never forget it."
Figures It Out
"If it ain't in you, you won't do it," Ray Huffaker said of the roping. "There's a burning in the belly, and (Colton's) got it. If you tell him you're going to saddle horses, you better saddle one for him.
"He's had a lot to overcome, but nothing stops him," he continued admiringly.
Even kindergarten. Despite possessing the grit of a rodeo cowboy, Colton was bullied by a classmate -- even to the point of punching -- because of his disability. And Colton was too tender-hearted to fight back, his mother said.
The family started an anti-bullying campaign -- "Saddle Up and Together Let's Rein in Bullying" -- with a post by his mother on Colton's Facebook page that the young cowboy's fans and friends shared to 24,000 hits, she said.
The family hosted assemblies at Lincoln and Prairie Grove schools earlier this month, joined by professional rodeo athletes including Willie Hart, a one-arm team roper; Skeeter Kingsolver, a three-time finalist of the Professional Bull Riders; and PRCA clown Gizmo McCracken. University of Arkansas cheerleaders and athletes and local beauty queens completed the lineup.
"He doesn't know he's handicapped," Ray Huffaker continued, speaking of Colton with obvious love. "That boy figures everything out -- there's the rein, the rope, the special way to hold the rope, the special way for him to hold the rope ... If it doesn't work, I try something different next time."
"I did it! I 'taught' one horn!" Colton said excitedly.
"Let me try to rope 'a feet' (of a dummy)," he moved on. Colton put on his game face and caught the legs on his first throw.
By the end of the evening -- with help from Stevie Ray and Robert Blackbird -- Colton had his horse following Stevie Ray's and was tossing down the rope, so the back legs of Stevie Ray's horse stepped into the rope, ready to be tightened.
"I like this horse," Colton called out, with his big, brown eyes open extra wide for emphasis. "She's easy for me."
"He's a determined little boy," Huffaker continued. "He learns stuff on his own. He figures out how to do it. He's learned how to open a soft drink and crack a peanut."
But Colton's not perfect, his parents finally admitted, and his 5-year-old attention span did wander during the workout ... to the other end of the arena, where some older elementary-age girls were learning to work with goats.
"Quit looking at the girls, and pay attention," his mother reminded.
"I wuzn't dooking at da dirls. I wuz dooking at da doats," Colton replied.
General News on 02/03/2016