After winning RFD-TV’s The American this past March, steer wrestler Matt Reeves gave much of the credit to his beloved horse Rattle, the 2019 AQHA Horse of the Year. Sadly, Rattle passed away not long after, and everyone began to posture how the tragic loss would affect the rest of Reeve’s rodeo season.
But this past weekend, Reeves proved he’s still hungry for a world title and able to get it done, winning the Cave Creek Rodeo Days with a time of 3.7 seconds on a horse named Roy.
Roy is no stranger to professional rodeo — Reeves won The American on him in 2018 and rode him in the first four rounds of last year’s NFR, where, he says, “he didn’t do anything wrong, it’s just, he wasn’t her.” Luckily, Reeves says, Roy is really stepping up in Rattle’s absence.
In a recent interview with Steve Kenyon on Western Sports Roundup, Reeves talked about losing Rattle, getting back to rodeo, the excitement in Cave Creek, performing at a fanless rodeo, his traveling partner Kodie Jang, and the upcoming Super Series Finish in Fort Worth.